This is a brilliant mystery; all of French’s books are a treat to read. There is very little place: the first half of the books is all procedural because a veteran homicide detective is training a novice partner, and then the psychological emphasis begins, the “why” of a horrific crime and unexplored secrets in the mind of the crime investigators.
Another French novel I read this month (The Secret Place) is set in a Dublin boarding school for girls: the 16-17 year old girls are secretive and manipulative with lies, deceit and gleeful bitchiness that confound the investigation into a murder. In other words, the mysteries of young adult female minds is explored wonderfully.
Another brilliant 
A psychological mystery thriller by (for me) a new author. A serial killer abducts a 15 year old girl and keeps her for 39 days but does not kill her. The question of why, in other words classic survivor guilt, plagues her in her adult life. This was better than “After I’m Gone” which is a cold case mystery but both are worthwhile mystery books.
The story of Irish immigrants to NY tenements in the 1920s. Parents and siblings die in a fire so Niamh/Dorothy/Vivian at age 9 is loaded onto the orphan train and sent to the mid-west for hopeful adoption which generally becomes indentured servitude. The story is told as 1929-1943 flashbacks as the 91 year old Vivian is telling her story in 2011 to a contemporary participant in foster care. Parts of the story have a somewhat predictable Charles Dickensian feel, especially of the sad story of hopeless and cruel care at ages 9-10 but overall this is a very satisfying read.
A beautifully written story in the aftermath of WWI, in particular secrets and silence because of with-holding conversations, and the toxicity of internalizing grief. This is a companion story to Itani’s brilliant earlier novel Deafening. Itani is a Canadian literary treasure.
A brilliant telling of a post-apocalyptic future after a virus rapidly kills >99% of the world’s population. The story alternates between the present which is 20 years after the plague, and the back-story of the key characters. There are some very satisfying inter-relationships between characters that are revealed slowly, including the importance of an unpublished graphic novel. This is an excellent entertaining 
A fascinating story about parents and their two children, where the parents create performance pieces that involve their children as important players. The events are usually in public shopping malls. As adults, the children deal with the aftermath of their strange upbringing. The story is really about the power of art when art is in conflict with life and love.
A very tough story about the kidnapping of a young woman (wife/mother) in Haiti and the horrifying aftermath of 13 days in captivity, and her ongoing trauma (classic PTSD) after her release.
What David Read 