Tana French (born 10 May 1973) is an American-Irish writer and theatrical actress. She is a longtime resident of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland. Her debut novel '' In the Woods'' (2007), a psychological mystery, won the

Edgar Edgar is a commonly used masculine English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Edgar'' (composed of ''wikt:en:ead, ead'' "rich, prosperous" and ''Gar (spear), gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the Late Midd ...

, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards for best first novel. ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' has called her "the First Lady of Irish Crime".

Personal life

Tana Elizabeth French was born in

Burlington, Vermont Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...

, to Elena Hvostoff-Lombardi and David French. Her father was an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

who worked on

resource management In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective development of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include the financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or ...

for the

developing world A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreeme ...

, and she lived in numerous countries as a child including Ireland,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

. French attended

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

, and trained in acting. She settled in Ireland and has lived in Dublin since 1990. French and her husband have two daughters.

Works

French was enthralled by both acting and writing since her childhood but eventually focused more on acting. She grew up reading mystery and crime novels. She trained as a professional actor at Trinity, and she works in theatre, film, and voiceover. In her later 30s, her passion for writing was rekindled. She began writing her

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

in the months-long lulls between castings; '' In the Woods'' was published in 2007 to international acclaim and received rave reviews from many publications. ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' praised French, saying she "expertly walks the line between police procedural and psychological thriller in her debut" and that "Ryan and Maddox are empathetic and flawed heroes, whose partnership and friendship elevate the narrative beyond a gory tale of murdered children and repressed childhood trauma." It received several literary prizes, was a bestseller in hardcover and paperback, and has been termed a 'dream debut'. In 2014, '' Flavorwire'' included it in their ''50 of the Greatest Debut Novels Since 1950''. As of 2015 more than one million copies of ''In the Woods'' have been sold. The second novel, '' The Likeness'' (2008), presents the story of the first novel's co-lead, Cassie Maddox. It quickly achieved high positions on bestseller lists in various countries and stayed on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list for several months. In its reviews of the novel, ''Kirkus'' praised its mix of "police procedures, psychological thrills and gothic romance beautifully woven into one stunning story". In an interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', French stated that Donna Tartt's '' The Secret History'' was an influence on '' The Likeness'', opening up the "landscape of friendship as something worthy of exploration and something that could be powerful enough to trigger a murder." The first six novels are part of the Dublin Murder Squad series. This series does not follow one particular detective, such as Hercule Poirot or

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

; each book focuses on a new main character. After publishing ''The Trespasser'' in 2016, French published two standalone novels, ''The Witch Elm'' and '' The Searcher'', both of which are also set in Ireland. French noted in an interview that ''The Searcher'' was intended to be a standalone story, but she felt compelled to revisit the setting with another novel. French's ninth novel, ''The Hunter'', was released in March 2024. ''The Hunter'' was published to positive reviews. Bruce Desilva wrote, "And as usual, in a Tana French novel, the characters are well-drawn, the dialogue is superb, the settings are vivid, and the tight prose is often lyrical." A major story element is the strong summer heat, unnatural for Ireland, creating tension and reminding characters of the subtle threat of climate change. In many of French's novels, she explores the idea of class and wealth, inspired by the

Celtic Tiger The "Celtic Tiger" () is a term referring to the economy of the Republic of Ireland, economy of Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, a period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment. The boom was dampened by ...

and the subsequent 2008 recession's effect on the Irish economy.

Dublin Murder Squad

* '' In the Woods''. Viking Penguin, 2007. * '' The Likeness''. Viking Penguin 2008. * '' Faithful Place''. Viking Penguin, 2010. * '' Broken Harbour''. Viking Penguin, 2012. * '' The Secret Place''. Viking Penguin, 2014. * ''The Trespasser''. Viking Penguin, 2016.

Other

* '' The Witch Elm''. Viking Penguin, 2018. * '' The Searcher''. Viking Penguin, 2020. * ''The Hunter''. Viking Penguin, 2024.

Awards

* 2007 - Finalist, ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller for '' In the Woods'' * 2008 - Winner, Edgar Award for Best First Novel for '' In the Woods'' * 2008 - Winner,

Anthony Award The Anthony Awards are literary awards for mystery writers presented at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention since 1986. The awards are named for Anthony Boucher (1911–1968), one of the founders of the Mystery Writers of America. Categori ...

, Best First Novel for '' In the Woods'' * 2008 - Winner, Macavity Award, Best First Mystery for '' In the Woods'' * 2008 - Winner, Barry Award for Best First Novel for '' In the Woods'' * 2010 - Finalist, Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller for '' Faithful Place'' * 2012 - Winner, Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller for '' Broken Harbour'' * 2012 - Winner, Irish Book Award, Irish Crime Fiction Award for '' Broken Harbour'' * 2012 - Nominee, International Dublin Literary Award for '' Faithful Place''

Television

In 2015, Euston Films & Veritas acquired TV production rights. Sarah Phelps wrote the screenplay, which she based on both '' In the Woods'' and '' The Likeness'', for the eight-episode series of '' Dublin Murders'', commissioned by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

and

Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

, with

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

later joining the project. Filming commenced in 2018 in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and

and continued in Dublin to late February 2019. Broadcast began on BBC One on 14 October 2019, on RTÉ One on 16 October 2019, and on Starz on 10 November 2019.

References

External links

*
Theme issue of ''Clues: A Journal of Detection'' on “Tana French and Irish Crime Fiction” (vol. 32, no. 1, 2014)Interview with Tana French in Shots Ezine July 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:French, Tana 1973 births Writers from Burlington, Vermont Alumni of Trinity College Dublin American emigrants to Ireland Irish women novelists Irish crime fiction writers Women mystery writers Irish stage actresses Edgar Award winners Anthony Award winners Macavity Award winners Barry Award winners 21st-century Irish women writers 21st-century Irish novelists 21st-century Irish actresses Living people Tana French Actresses from County Dublin Actors from Burlington, Vermont Actresses from Vermont