The Wych Elm

by Tana French, Penguin Random House

The Wych Elm is a family chronicle centred on a large old house with a vast garden in the Dublin suburbs. Three cousins have been going to the Ivy House all their lives, spending school holidays there with their beloved bachelor uncle Hugo and getting up to mischief. When Hugo comes down with an incurable brain disease, 28-year-old Toby moves in to care for the old man. Toby himself is recovering from head injuries sustained during a burglary at his city flat and struggles with memory lapses, so when a skeleton is found inside the wych elm of the title in the garden, Toby suspects he may have been responsible, but can’t remember what he might have done. The cousins get together regularly at the big house, reminiscing about old times, but not exactly helping Toby with his fears. The reader is left guessing until the mystery is solved with a surprising ending to a superbly crafted novel.