The Searcher: The mesmerising new mystery from the Sunday Times bestselling author

The Searcher is quite different from Tana French's more action-packed Dublin Murder Squad series. It's more of a slow-burn psychological drama/mystery, and is at least as much character- as plot-based. I really enjoyed reading it. Retired Chicago detective Calvin (Cal) Hooper has bought a run-down rural property near the (fictional) village of Ardnakelty in western Eire (Ireland), and is in the process of restoring it to a habitable state. He has begun to make acquaintance with several of the local farmers, and often enjoys a drink at the local public house. Ever the detective, Cal realises that someone's hanging around his property and covertly observing him, and one day he manages to flush out local 13-year-old, Trey Reddy, and slowly begins to gain the child's trust. It transpires that Trey's older brother, Brendan, disappeared without trace several months previously, and Trey is desperate for Cal's help in trying to find out what's happened to him. Has he simply left his poverty-stricken family behind, to seek work in Dublin or England, or has something more sinister befallen him? Reluctant at first, Cal is gradually dragged into the search for Brendan, despite frequent warnings from friends and strangers, some violent, to leave the matter alone. Tana French's writing evokes the beauty of the natural landscape of rural Ireland, as well as the day-to-day struggles faced by many who live there. The characters of Cal and Trey are well-developed and multi-faceted and there's a strong and varied cast of supporting characters. Underpinning the unfolding drama is Cal's sense of isolation and not knowing who to trust, as a newcomer to a place where everyone knows everyone else's business, often for generations back. Enmities and alliances run deep and are not always evident on the surface. I found the developing understanding between Cal and Trey, who have both become prickly "loners" for their own reasons, fascinating and heart-warming. The Searcher is an engrossing and beguiling novel, and well worth the read for those who enjoy a more literary style of character-driven crime drama or mystery. My thanks to the author, publisher Penguin UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

The Searcher is the second stand-alone novel by award-winning Irish author, Tana French. Cal Hooper is settling into his dilapidated house on a piece of land near the tiny village of Ardnakelty in the west of Ireland. He’s enjoying the challenge of restoring the place to liveable, and walks in the bracing country air. The locals are more welcoming than he had expected, and he looks forward to fishing, hunting rabbits for stew, and making friends with a treeful of rooks. He’s also enjoying the fact that his “mental alarm systems were switched off, the way he wanted them” but, as he works on mending an old desk out in the yard with his grandfather’s tools, “the back of his neck flared. The back of Cal’s neck got trained over twenty-five years in the Chicago PD. He takes it seriously” so he waits patiently until the cause, a young teen, gains the confidence to show a face, and even longer, to make a request: worries over the disappearance, six months earlier, of an older brother, plague this younger sibling. Trey Reddy is convinced that nineteen-year-old Brendan, who would never have left without saying where he was going, has been kidnapped, but the Reddy Family’s poor reputation almost guarantees dismissal by the Guard. Cal considers it likely that the young man has run: either to something better than the village can promise; or from some threat, perhaps for something he has done. Could those Dublin drug boys in the pub be involved? Here, though, Cal has no authority, no resources. Quite contrary his every intention, Cal finds himself making what he believes are subtle enquiries about Brendan Reddy. Of course, in a tiny village like Ardnakelty: “A guy can’t pick his nose around here without the whole townland telling him to wash his hands” and he finds himself on the end of an equally subtle warning off. He’s made Trey a promise: will he now leave it there? Because “It feels like a vast, implacable failing in his character that he can’t come up with just one good solution to offer this scrawny, dauntless kid.” This plays out against a background of hard-drinking local farmers, sheep being mutilated in the night and the youth who don’t escape to the city tending towards either mischief or suicide. And in the back of his mind, forty-eight-year-old Cal is still haunted by the failure of his marriage and concerns for the daughter he has somehow apparently let down. Whatever readers might expect from Tana French, this one is no fast-paced, action-packed thriller; in store is a slow burn read that allows the reader to get to know the protagonist well, to understand this principled ex-cop, his philosophy of life and his observations: “around here mockery is like rain: most of the time it’s either present or incipient, and there are at least a dozen variants, ranging from nurturing to savage, and so subtly distinguished that it would take years to get the hang of them all”. The support cast, too, is a pleasure to meet: quirky villagers of whom Cal takes their measure to tailor his words and actions to fit. Nonetheless, the plot is intriguing, with red herrings and a twist or two to keep it interesting. The Irish landscape itself is a character in this novel, and French’s descriptive prose is often exquisite: “The next morning is all soft mist, dreamy and innocent, pretending yesterday never happened.” With more than one local intent on matchmaking Cal with available women, and a poteen party, there’s plenty of dry and sometimes dark humour, not the least in Cal’s inner monologue, but also in some of the dialogue: “Face on her like a bulldog licking piss off a nettle.” Utterly enthralling. This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Penguin UK.

Tana French is among my favourite thriller writers and The Searcher is a genuine tour de force. The plot revolves around Cal Hooper, a twenty five year veteran of the Chicago police force who, following a bitter divorce, decides to buy a fixer upper in a quiet Irish village. He wants peace and quiet, he wants to put police work behind him, some dreams are doomed to disappointment and he finds himself drawn into the case of a missing boy. This book has destroyed my sleep pattern, keeping me up until all hours because I couldn't bear to put it down. If you haven't read any of Tana French's novels before, don't waste any more time...start NOW!