The Searcher, published in 2020, is the first book in a crime novel series written by Tana French. The book introduces us to Cal Hooper, a retired Chicago cop who moves to a small village in the West of Ireland. Wanting a quiet, peaceful life, Cal has bought a beat-up house and is restoring it bit by bit. To pass the time when he isn’t restoring his house, Cal takes long walks and goes fishing. Some nights, he goes to the village pub.
Then a thirteen-year-old local kid, whose older brother is missing, asks Cal for help. Although reluctant to give up his peaceful life, he agrees to help the kid in exchange for the kid helping with his house. However, some people in town don’t like the fact that Cal is asking questions and warns him off. Having come to care about the kid, Cal ignores the warnings. He wants to give the kid some peace of mind. Besides, now that he’s been warned off, the cop in Cal wants answers.
Like any good fiction read, the book includes several interesting secondary characters. We meet Noreen, the shopkeeper, who tries to set Cal up with her widowed sister, Lena. We meet Cal’s older neighbor Mart. And, of course, we meet Trey, the local kid Cal is determined to help.
The book also includes quite beautiful nature imagery. For example, Cal says everything always smells of damp because it rains so much. Other examples include the rooks (or crows) laughing at him and the bog being murderous. I really can’t do the author’s writing justice. You’ll have to read the book to see what I mean.
Finally, the book presents a decent mystery. Although it starts out as if it could be cozy, this mystery is dark. But anyone who has read the author’s previous books wouldn’t expect cozy.
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