Dublin Murder Squad
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Dublin Murder Squad |
| Abbreviation(s): | DMS |
| Creator: | Tana French |
| Date(s): | 2006-present |
| Medium: | book |
| Country of Origin: | Ireland |
| External Links: | Tana French |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Dublin Murder Squad is a series of novels written by Irish author Tana French. Each novel has a different protagonist, but each follows a case in the heart of Ireland with overlapping, psychologically complex characters who get involved in cases tied to their pasts. French's writing has been widely praised by critics for being both literary and accessible. A critic for the Washington Post described her as "one of the most talented crime writers alive."[1]
Of the decision to give each novel a different protagonist, French says:
- I know that's not the standard way to do a series. The more traditional way is to take a detective and stick with the one narrator throughout the series. But I'm interested in books that deal with the crucial turning points in the narrator's life. [...] So when I was finishing "In the Woods," I figured, okay, I can either stick with this guy and keep dropping the poor guy into huge life-changing moments every year or two and he's going to wind up with a nervous breakdown within three books. Or I can do the more traditional thing where you stick with the detective through the smaller ups and downs of life, like P.D. James' amazing Adam Dalgliesh, where you see him through the whole arc of his life. But while I love reading that, I'm not interested in writing that. I want the big, crucial moments. So kind of my only option was to switch narrator. And I also like the idea that that narrator switch, moving a secondary character from one book into the narrator of another, it lets me play with the fact that nobody really knows the truth about another person. Your view of somebody will not be the same as their view of themselves, and what one character, one narrator presents as the truth about another character, in the next book, the other character may present as a complete invention or imagination.[2]
In 2019, a TV series based on the books, Dublin Murders premiered.
Fannish trends
Early fanfiction mostly centred on the relationship between Rob Ryan and Cassie Maddox, the detective protagonists of In the Woods and The Likeness, respectively. Other work has explored the non-detective characters involved in the cases, such as the groups of friends in The Likeness and The Secret Place. The vast majority of the fanfiction has been posted at the AO3, and much of it has been written in conjunction with the annual Yuletide rare-fandoms fanfiction exchange.[3]
Archives & Fannish links
- Dublin Murder Squad Series - Tana French works on Ao3
- Dublin Murders(TV) works on Ao3
On tumblr:
- rosalinddevlins.tumblr.com, a blog "dedicated entirely to Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series"
On livejournal:
- dublin_murder.livejournal.com, for discussion and fanworks
References
- ^ Book review: 'Broken Harbour' by Tana French; accessed January 21, 2016.
- ^ A Conversation With Author Tana French, NPR's The Diane Rehm Show, August 12, 2013; accessed January 21, 2016.
- ^ Dublin Murder Squad - Tana French - works; accessed January 21, 2016.