I’ve never liked crime novels, crime movies or even dressing up as a criminal on Halloween. However, this past year I’ve started reading Tana French. Last night, I finished The Trespasser.

The main character, Detective Antoinette Conway, is a much-disliked member of the Dublin Murder Squad. To be fair, her language, attitude, actions and full-throated anger, would not win her popularity contests in any setting. She and her partner, Steve, have been given a difficult case, made even more complicated by the fact that the victim struggled with many of the same issues that beleaguer Antoinette.

Tana French is an amazing writer. As a reader, you are firmly and completely settled into Antoinette’s point of view. As the story unfolds, you see, hear and feel it from inside her head and heart. Of course, a strong point of view makes for engaging prose. I couldn’t put the book down. The dialogue is amazing, although many of the Irish idioms went straight over my head. Every page contains lots of swearing, but somehow swearing in Irish sounds quaint. (For example, the word “gobshite” can’t be too awful, right?)

Tana French never wastes a word or an action or a character. If she puts something on a page, it makes sense later. As you read, it’s worth your while to pay attention to details.

What I love about Tana French’s writing is how meticulously and accurately she portrays the emotional landscape of her novel. As the story progresses, we see who people are at their core and get a glimpse of why they do what they do.

I loved the way The Trespasser ended. The plot provided enough twists and turns that I was surprised. Yet, when I went back over the details, I realized that the ending seemed inevitable. I won’t wreck the end for you, but I will say that the story wrapped up in a way that felt redemptive and satisfying.

Even if you have no stomach for crime novels, you may want to pick up one of Tana French’s books just to check out her masterful writing.