“Everyone knows a wife and kids tie you down. What people miss sometimes is that mates, the proper kind, they do the same just as hard. Mates mean you've settled, made your bargain: this, wherever you are together, this is as far as you're going, ever. This is your stop; this is where you get off.”

Irish writer and theatrical actress

Tana French is an Irish writer and theatrical actress based in Dublin. She is known for her crime fiction, especially her debut novel, In the Woods, published in 2007. In the Woods won the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards for best first novel. French has become closely associated with psychological mystery writing, and The Independent has called her "the First Lady of Irish Crime".