"The Searcher" by Tana French, Viking, 464 pages, Oct. 6, 2020.

Retired Chicago police detective Cal Hooper moves to Ardnakelty, a remote village in Ireland.

He plans to fix up the run-down house he's bought, to hike in the mountains, and to forget he was a detective. When he was working, he mainly handled property crimes and fugitive apprehension.

The local people are reluctant to accept an outsider, except for his neighbor, Mart Lavin. And for the past week and a half, Cal has known that someone is watching him. It is Trey Reddy, 13.

Trey is one of six kids in a poor family. His father left them years ago. It takes him two weeks to tell Cal that his brother, Brendan, 19, has been missing for months. The family didn't report it to the police because they think the police wouldn't do anything.

At first, Cal refuses to get involved. When Trey harasses him, he agrees to look into Brendan's disappearance. Cal starts talking to Brendan's friends, using the ruse that he wants to hire Brendan to work on his house. He soon realizes people have secrets, even in small towns. Cal is good at reading people, but is slow to realize that people may have deeper motives.

"The Searcher" is the first of French's books written in third person. This is a stand alone novel. You'll be tempted to skip over some parts like a chapter with drunk men arguing in a bar. Don't skip them, because those things are important to the plot. This is a master class in plot development.

"The Searcher" is outstanding. French's writing is superb. There are moments that are so good that I went back and reread them to make sure I hadn't missed anything. "The Searcher" is one of French's best novels. And that is saying something because I really like her Dublin Murder Squad series.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley and Edelweiss in exchange for a review.

Another very satisfying mystery by author Tana French, SEARCHER brings us a retired American police officer trying to find himself in Ireland after much personal upheaval. The small village he chooses for his sojourn is filled with memorable characters and the countryside is brimming with travelog-level appeal. A youngster approaches him for help findIng an older brother and our hero just can’t help getting involved. While the ‘police work’ angle is fairly straight forward the self-reflection he embarks upon is rewarding. This is a stand alone book and enchanting. I received my copy from the publisher through Netgalley.

The Searcher is Tana French on her absolute A-game and I’m so here for it. Anyone familiar with her work knows how beautifully she crafts realistic, flawed characters and the ones in this book are some of her best. Searcher is a much slower burn than her popular Dublin Squad books, but no less effective.

The story here is incredibly atmospheric and relies heavily on familiar characters and an immersive setting. French paints a picture of misty fields and dark, looming mountains that is so convincing you really feel like you are part of that backdrop. Add to this the familiar characters of any small, country town – the gangs of old fellas, the gossipy shopkeeper, that one family everyone talks about. It’s a place where families have lived for several generations and everyone knows everyone else’s business. Not much happens until one day something does. People are happy to gossip and talk until there’s suddenly that one topic that is entirely hush. It’s all so superbly crafted that readers familiar with small town life will feel perfectly at home while those new to the dynamic feel well-acquainted in no time.

French knows how to write characters that readers will connect with and truly care about. In a novel like this one, that is much more character-driven than some of her other works, this works to her advantage when crafting the storyline. As readers we care about the people we are encountering long before we know there’s a mystery that needs solving. We are invested well before we know why we need to be, which is just another nod to how perfectly French writes.

As for the plot of this story, it’s well-constructed, but moves much more slowly than any of French’s other works. As a huge fan of hers, I was surprised but not at all off-put. The storyline is like the setting – it’s something that rambles and unfurls slowly, meandering along as we go. There’s nothing especially dire, no one is pressed for time. That isn’t to say that there isn’t action or a sense of urgency, but it’s a story that doesn’t mind taking its time to unwind before laying everything out before you. In typical French fashion, readers can expect a solid conclusion that feels reasonable and doesn’t punch out of left field. Everything connects beautifully and feels logical – everything we like to see at the end of a standalone mystery.

Overall, an excellent read that swept me away. I cared deeply about the characters and found myself incredibly invested in the mystery at hand. I reached the end feeling satisfied, but so sorry to let this world and its vibrant inhabitants go. Highly recommend!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Viking for offering an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Tana French is one of my auto-read authors. I picked up In the Woods on a whim at a bookstore when I was first getting back into reading years ago and fell head over heels for her writing. So I was definitely going to read The Searcher. While I would love another Dublin Murder book, I'll take the standalones if it means I get to read her books!
In terms of both style and my enjoyment, this book falls between the Dublin Murder series and French's last book (The Witch Elm). With the main character being a former police officer (though he is an American who has relocated to rural Ireland). He gets caught up in helping to investigate the disappearance of a local young man at the urging of his young sibling. I've read that this is French's take on a western, and it definitely has that male dominated, lawless feel.
On one hand, it takes a long time for it to feel like much happens in this story, and I think there was some room to trim the 464 pages of this book. On the other, there were some unpredicted and fascinating turns in this story that I really enjoyed. I think this one will be a must for other Tana French super fans, but if you're new to the author I would recommend starting with the Dublin Murder Squad books to get invested in her style.

The Searcher by Tana French is a slow moving thriller/mystery set in a fictional Western Ireland town. French's writing is lyrical and immersive as we follow ex-cop Cal try to find some peace to settle his mind after 25 years on the Chicago PD force. Once he meets a troubled teen searching for his brother his investigative tendencies awaken as he vows to help.
🧡What I liked: I like the writing style very much. It wasn't rushed or too drawn out. The perfect pace in my opinion. Dark, immersive and character driven.
❤ What I loved: I loved the supporting characters in this novel. Mart the old timer neighbor trying to set Cal right on the way things move in the small town. Noreen, the gossiping store owner who knows everyone's business and isn't to shy to spread it around. Lena, the tough as nails widower living life as she wants to and not wanting to get involved in the town's happenings. I also loved the Irish dialect it really grounded the setting.
🤎What fell flat: there was only one part I had to skim over... a descriptive part where they hunted for rabbit, killed it and prepared it for dinner. Too much gore for me. 😢
Overall, I loved this slow burn novel, it was beautifully written and will be looking for more by Tana French.

An entertaining yarn whose characters are more compelling than the mystery presented. I really liked Cal as the protagonist who is surrounded by many colorful personalities within a new environment, and particularly enjoyed the western tinge of the book. The writing by French is top notch as usual, but I wish that the story hadn't been so straightforward and unsurprising to really hook my interest.

The Searcher is about a middle-aged, American, ex-cop who moves to a rural community in Ireland. His former beat was missing persons in Chicago. Often, it feels as though he could have come from any where in America. He forms a friendship with a young neighbor whose older brother has gone missing, and he sets out to discover what he can about the brother's whereabouts. In doing so, he prods deeper into the private and personal lives of his neighbors and the less seemly aspects of his new area. I did not find this character to be as compelling as some of the main figures in her previous work. While fans of Tana French will find the descriptions of the landscape and its role in the narrative to be familiar, her new protagonist is not as deep a character study as we have seen from her before.

I never thought I would be able to say, “Yes, I DO have a favorite Tana French book” but I can with this one. I always love her book, but with Black Lives Matter in the forefront of the news, I find Cal Hooper, the retired policeman from Chicago, has a lot to say about race relations as well as continuing concern about why his wife left him. He wants to not only understand her, but their grown daughter’s feelings. When he decides to move to a small Irish village, he is looking forward to peace. Hah, as any resident of a small town can tell him, interpersonal relationships are multi-layered. Add to that, a rugged single American man is obviously in need of a wife. Most compelling to me in the story is his befriending of a 12-year-old in need of friendship and a decent meal. Trey, who we assume is a boy, turns out to be a girl. Hooper has been having Trey help him refinish an old desk. Mart, Cooper’s neighbor, makes sure he knows that a grown man hanging out with a young girl is fodder for the town gossip. Things really heat up as Cooper tries to find out what has happened to Brendan, Trey’s 19-year-old brother. Not only is the solution to the mystery satisfying and hits close to home, but French has created a lovely village background for the story filled with a vivid mix of interesting residents.

Different to anything Tana French has written before, The Searcher is both downbeat and satisfying. Nothing much actually happens, but for fans of French's work there is much to appreciate in the small-town dynamics and the layered relationships. I wasn't sure the love interest for Cal really added anything, but despite its slowness I got a lot of enjoyment from this.

This new French novel was a new twist on her mysteries set in Ireland, her homeland. Here, we meet an American ex-cop expat living in Ireland in hope of putting his disappointments of a broken marriage and a career in Chicago police behind him. He finds that his life isn't quite ready to let him rest in the character of Trey, a teen who seeks his help to discover what became of older brother Brendan Reddy who vanished months earlier with no trace, and a village not willing to share what it knows. This one is dark in the ways of so many of French's Murder Squad mysteries, but still delivers on the mystique of Ireland and its long history and lush and harsh landscape. The addition of an American to her work rattled me at first, but I saw where that allowed the novel to take us exactly where we needed to go as the clues reluctantly came into view. Another great read by one of my favorite authors.

A burned out Chicago cop, Cal Hooper, retires to a small rural village in Ireland seeking peace and quiet. When a young local kid, Trey, pesters him for help in searching for a lost brother, he ends up getting involved in just the things he was trying to get away from. Terrific characters (loved the interactions between Cal and Trey) and wonderful Irish atmosphere. Lots of sheep, bogs, drinking and singing at the local pub, and Irish dialect. Not exactly an action packed adventure but instead a slow burn of a heartfelt, well written mystery with secrets, complex friendships, and questions of ethics and morality.

Tana French does a superb job creating an atmosphere to her scenes so that you feel as if you were there. This is a well-written novel with well-developed characters. Her characters come to life as you gain insight to their personalities and temperaments. The pace is slow - it is definitely not a fast-paced thriller. French takes time to generate an understanding of her characters behaviors and beliefs that lead to their actions - as well as, an immersion into the setting and scenes. There are a few segments of the novel that felt too lengthy to me - readers need patience when plowing through those to be rewarded with a complex and disturbing mystery.
Cal Hooper worked 25 years as an officer in the Chicago police force. He becomes disillusioned and burned out. He decides he needs a major change in his life. He retires and moves to a remote village in Ireland. He wants a quiet lifestyle. But he is approached by a local kid whose brother has disappeared and pesters Cal to investigate. Cal starts asking questions which unearths a sinister undercurrent to what is perceived as a quaint and peaceful village - this small village is full of generations of townsfolk who are not as they appear, I will be forever leery of places in my travels after having read this novel. I enjoyed getting to know Cal as he contemplates the sense of friendship, morality, ethics, and the interpretation of justice. He is fundamentally a good person. He presents us with many thought provoking and compelling scenarios. I hope to meet him again in another Tana French novel but he most definitely needs to move to another village. He is, just like we all are, "searching" for the meaning of right and wrong and the significance of our lives.

I love Tana French and this book did not disappoint. A Chicago cop retires to a small Irish town where he gets caught up in the aftermath of a local crime. This story addresses trauma and family relationships. If you enjoy wild landscapes, small town eccentricities, strong girls, and relational restoration, this book is for you.

Despite her name, Tana French knows Ireland, the Irish, and their ways as well as any popular writer going. So when ex-Chicago cop Cal Hooper shows up in a patch of the auld sod he gets the full Monty of Irishness. Supposedly fleeing his own demons to lose himself in honest toil fixing up a decrepit farmhouse, he lands in the middle of some deep seated feud that burns hotter than a peat fire. He also finds himself taking an interest in a 13-year-old who’s been treated rough and broken down. So instead of tending to his DIY tasks Hooper’s blue genes kick in and he gets tangled in a plot thicker than day-old Guinness. The village good old boys are not just booze-happy rednecks it turns out. But I found this Tana tale to be long on atmosphere and short on plot, all fleece and no flock. In other words, very little mystery to support the atmosphere. So if you’re wanting a bitta rollla-polla with your tea, have at it. I’ll wait for French to get out of the bog and regain her stride.

I think this is the first book by Tana French that I have read, but it definitely won’t be the last. Her writing is wonderful, at times I almost felt like I was in Ireland! The characters were relatable and realistic which is sometimes hard to find in mysteries. The mystery itself wasn’t a big one, the story focused on the characters and what it is like to live in a small town where honesty and integrity are valued as well as traditions.

I really enjoyed Cal’s character. From the summary I expected him to be older, but he is only in his late 40’s. He left the Chicago PD for various reasons which are explained and explored over the course of the book, as well as his reasons for moving to Ireland. He just wanted to be alone and leave policing behind him. But he finds that when he is presented with a problem, he just can’t seem to let it go. I really liked how he approached and thought about Trey. I liked that he thought about how it would look to have a preteen hanging around his place and took precautions to make sure people knew that he only had good intentions towards the child. I also liked his relationships with the various neighbors and the people in town and that he was aware how small towns work.

Although the story is well paced, it might seem slow, because there isn’t a whole lot of action. No high speed chases or shoot outs here. Just good old fashion police work, talking to people and asking the right questions. The atmospheric writing and Cal’s musings about life and his neighbors is what will keep you wanting to pick this book up. The mystery was good, there were times where I was second guessing what really happened to Trey’s brother, but the big reveal wasn’t a huge surprise. There was one small twist, that I did not see coming at all which was fun. Not super important to the mystery, but a good surprise none the less.

This is a slow burn mystery with some nice, quirky characters and wonderful writing and dialog. It will be a great book to curl up with some rainy, fall afternoon.

Loved the slower pace of this story which made the lovely descriptions and and character introductions possible. The Irish setting is depicted so well that it's easy to feel the chill in your bones! The novel's main characters are such likable people that I'd love to read a sequel. Ms French certainly can articulate her characters' emotions and thoughts to draw the reader in.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Group/Viking for the ARC to read and review.

is there anything Tana French can't do?? The Searcher is, quite simply, a masterpiece. It's a top notch thriller in every sense--tension, check, lives at stake, check, brilliant psychological stuff, check-- and the setting, Cal and what happens. It's so brilliant and well, as I said, it is a masterpiece.

Right from the beginning of Tana French’s atmospheric new novel, you know that the main character has no idea what’s really going on in the picturesque little Irish village where he has chosen to move in order to “get away from it all.”

Cal Hooper is a retired Chicago cop with a grown daughter, an ex-wife who he still misses and a fixer-upper on the outskirts of Ardnakelty, a small Irish village filled with quaint characters who meet up routinely at the Pub. Quirky decision, but there it is. He keeps his new neighbors cautiously at bay until one of the local teens latches onto him and asks that he help find his older brother who has been missing for several months. Cal finds it odd that no one is especially curious about what happened to the brother, including his own mom.

This is one of those books where the location is a major character. The place is filled with ominous rooks chattering in the garden and rain clouds that dampen everything. There are also not that many characters, which leads to the book having a very claustrophobic feel. Cal can’t do anything without everyone in the village knowing his business.

I am not a long-time Tana French fan as many are but I value the level of care that she takes with her characters and plotting. This new novel will not disappoint.

Tana French promised that this book would be less depressing than "The Witch Elm," her previous novel, and she keeps that promise -- "The Searcher" is almost uplifting and even heartwarming -- and at the same time, it manages to be creepier than "The Witch Elm" was. More uplifting and creepier at the same time is a serious achievement in my book, but I shouldn't be surprised that French would manage to achieve it.

Cal has retired from his job as a Chicago policeman, divorced his wife, and more or less started over in a small fixer-upper home in rural Ireland -- a new and quieter existence, where he is happy to devote himself to home improvement grunt work, and building casual and cordial relationships with nearby neighbors. Part of what gives this book its sense of calmness and kindness is that French follows Cal through his regular routines, Of course, things get complicated. As Cal spends more time getting to know the people and the location, as he builds relationships, his sense of the village changes. He becomes friends with Trey, who comes from a poor family on the village outskirts. When Trey asks for Cal to use his police skills to help find a missing older brother, Cal finds himself grappling with questions of the village's past and its future -- and these questions have the potential to cement or uproot Cal's peaceful "new" life.

Sometimes French has dazzled precisely because she can write multiple characters -- but in this case, the through line and heart of the novel is Cal's steady presence, and his determination to do the right thing, even in the face of uncertainty. A comforting read for the ongoing pandemic, despite the darkness.

Tana French is a gifted author. Her latest book is filled with great characters, tight 0lotting, and keeps you guessing to the end. One of hormone heart-warming books.