Cal is an American ex-cop who has moved to a small town in Ireland for a change of scenery. While he busied himself with renovating his home, he noticed that he was being watched. When he confronted his onlooker, it turns out to be a kid, and the kid came with a purpose. Trey's brother had been missing, and after hearing around that Cal used to be a cop, Trey asked him to investigate his brother's disappearance.

This is my first Tana French book. I know she is famous for her Dublin Murder Squad books, and if this is the amount of character detail I would find in her works, I am much inclined to read her previous works. At first I was unsure of her writing because she was taking quite some time before events begin to transpire, using the first chapters of the novel to draw out the kind of person Cal is. It does help with the storytelling; while Cal has the experience of a trained investigator, he is limited to the confines of being a civilian in a strange and foreign land. In a way, this isn't a usual mystery novel where thrilling events happen from one scene to another. The events do transpire slowly, but it leans heavily on Cal's character and his relationship with the people in the town, and the secrets that he begins to unearth through his inquiry.

I like Tana French's writing style. As I mentioned I was initially unsure about this because I don't take well to lengthy descriptive narratives, but when the story started to progress, I was immediately engaged. The pacing was done very well; it helps establish the repercussions that would eventually emerge as the narrative progressed.

*I requested a copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review*

I think this is my favourite Tana French book ever. This is artful storytelling at it's very best. There is everything here to love, good plot, great pace, realistic and interesting characters, reveals and twists and a cracking ending. Perfection in a book. I was lost in this from start to finish and honestly didn't want it to end.

Beautifully written, suspenseful and mysterious. Tara has told a story that makes everyone question what is the fine line between right and wrong. This will keep you guessing. It threw up plenty of surprises along the way for me. I was totally thrown off and had a few jaw-drop moments with certain reveals.

Carl Hooper is retired from 25 years in the Chicago Police Force and has bought a run down house in a small Irish village with plans to renovate and live a quiet life. Sometimes plans don't work out as you expect. Carl gets to know the locals in this very close community and is slowly accepted with his warm personality but not everyone is happy he is in town.

When a young kid desperately asks Carl to help find his older missing brother Carl is torn. He thought his detective days were well behind him. This kid won't give up and with local police not bothering to take it as anything but a young lad leaving town Carl agrees to help. I LOVED this kid! One of the most memorable characters I have come across in a book in a very long time.

I have lived in Ireland and Tara depicts a small Irish town perfectly. Her use of certain Irish slang and lingo is excellent but don't worry if Ireland is not familiar to you, she will draw you into the sometimes suffocating closeness of life here.

Her characters are brilliantly done and I fell in love with many characters in this book. There are plenty to dislike also and as Carl digs deep into the secrets of this small town not everybody is as they seem. Many times Tara surprised me with reveals around characters that left me somewhat speechless. SO well done!

A tale of torn loyalties, small-minded life, secrets and complex relationships that will keep you engaged from page one. I hungered for more of these characters and felt empty once the book was done. This is a literary thriller that stands as one of my best reads of 2020. Get this one onto your bookshelf for sure!

Sorry Tana French fans but this book just didn’t do it for me. It’s a mountain of a book, set at an extraordinarily slow pace, epically detailed but just lacking substance.

Don’t get wrong, I love big books and I also don’t mind reading books that are slow burners. But with this book I just found it all a bit too predictable and I feel like I’ve spent far too much time reading about how to sand a desk, shoot rabbits, talk to birds and about his memories of family life.

I was expecting this to be a real bed of mystery and to feel the tension rise as Cal (our main character) starts poking around in things he shouldn’t. But I’m left wondering what genre this book really is. Yes it’s a crime fiction, but that element is not the majority of the tale.

I like French’s style of writing. Her descriptive style is just beautiful and a joy to read. But sadly I feel more time could’ve been spent on driving the narrative so that to avoid a disappointing story.

Thanks to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

As a lover of Irish fiction, I was immediately drawn to this novel because of the setting in rural Ireland and I wasn’t disappointed. It’s a leisurely-paced narrative in the traditional Irish style, with brilliant character studies and pitch-perfect dialogue.
The plot involves a newcomer to an area - an ex-cop from Chicago relocating to a remote Irish village - who gets drawn in to a missing persons case, whilst having to adapt to a different way of life and social rules. In this respect the novel follows the archetypal Western genre of the stranger in town who is called upon to sort out trouble - the film “Shane” comes to mind.
There are many evocative descriptions of place and local customs. and the story was so engrossing that I began to feel as if I were part of the local community - making me reluctant to finish reading and leave it all behind!

Tana French's name is no stranger to the book reviews section of my blog, and her 'Dublin Murder Squad' novels are one of my favourite crime series. I was excited to hear that French had a new novel out, even if it was a standalone novel (her last standalone, The Witch Elm, made it into my top 10 books of 2018). Unusually for French, a) the novel is set in rural western Ireland rather than Dublin, and b) the story is told in the third person.

The protagonist is grizzled, retired Chicago cop Cal, who moves to Ireland after his divorce and buys a falling-down cottage in a small town. He is hoping for the quiet life, but soon begins a strange almost-friendship with young Trey, a troubled child from the notorious Reddy family. Trey's older brother disappeared suddenly several months earlier and wants Cal to find out what happened. Cal initially refuses and yet somehow finds himself on this fool's errand, becoming increasingly drawn into the mystery and into the town itself. But not everyone is happy about his new mission, and asking the wrong questions of the right people might make Cal regret ever crossing the Atlantic in the first place. Like many of French's novels, The Searcher is a slow burner, but if you stick with it, you'll be rewarded with a deeply satisfying psychological thriller, in which the sense of place is evoked as powerfully as the keenly observed characters

I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin General UK for an advance copy of The Searcher, a stand-alone novel set in the west of Ireland.

After 25 years as a Chicago cop and a difficult divorce Cal Hooper moves to a small village in the West of Ireland for an escape and a quieter way of life. He spends his days fixing up his wreck of a cottage, fishing and drinking in the local pub until a local kid comes looking for help in finding his missing brother, Brendan Reddy. Cal doesn’t see how he can help and doesn’t want to but gradually finds himself looking into it.

I enjoyed The Searcher which is a beautifully evocative depiction of rural Ireland where nobody’s business is really secret and everyone has an opinion. It could be said that the novel reflects the ambience as it is slow to start and develop, for example the ask for help doesn’t come until about a quarter of the way in. By then, however, the reader is well settled in to Cal’s life and ready for anything, including an unexpected solution.

The novel has a crime but I don’t feel that is the focus of the novel as it’s solving takes a meandering and circuitous route. It’s more a story of an outsider trying to settle into a literally foreign environment and of a lonely man trying to do the right thing. I’m a crime buff and am’t much for character analysis but I found this fascinating. I liked Cal and his dilemmas and, having no knowledge of Irish rural life, I couldn’t work out if neighbour Mart’s homespun philosophy was real or a caricature. It didn’t stop me wondering.

I found The Searcher slow in parts but on the whole I can recommend it as a good read.

I am a big fan of Tana French but did find this was a bit of a departure from her usual writing.
This is very much a slow burn but I absolutely had to read after I heard it was a Chicago cop moving to rural Ireland.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it for a cozy winter read.

#The Searcher #Tana French #NetGalley
Having never read a Tana French book and seeing some rave reviews about her work I was excited to see what The Searcher had to offer. An ex Chicago cop moves to Ireland for a fresh start and ends up helping a young boy find his brother - sounds good. However, I struggled to make it through the first half which was an awful lot of description about the surroundings and the locals and a plot doesn’t seem to come together until over half way through by which point I’m afraid i has lost interest. If, like me, you’re a fan of a page turner then this is definitely not it but for those who like a slow burner and something to think about this might be more up your street.

I usually love Tana French, but this book was very disappointing. The writing's good but it is far too slow and meandering. I skipped most of the second half and then skipped to the end to find out (most of) what happened.
The Wych Elm was similarly slow, but I did finish that.
Can we go back the Dublin Murder Squad please ?

This book kept me reading as I wanted to know what happened to Brendan but I found it drawn out and slow, I thought I may be near the end at one point but when I checked I was only at 50%. There were plenty of times I thought of giving up, could I read about another wall being stripped and painted or that desk being sanded or being at the shop or in the pub. I guessed a certain person would be involved early on. The French books I have read in the past (albeit a fair few years ago) have had shocking content that you didn't see coming that is why I kept reading, but not with this one it was bland for 99% of the time. I was disappointed with this book.

You should read this if only for the lovely Irish banter. Marian Keynes meets Maeve Binchy with Patricia Cornwall joining in. This book is so much more. How can a book be lovely, sweet and also terrifying. I will definitely be on the look out for more Tana French books.

a spare stripped back narrative that reflects the life chosen by its protagonist in rural ireland fare the hectic city cop goes through divorce.As a fan of Tana French it wasnt what i was expecting but still compelling and genuine. A mystery that a man just has to solve despite the resistance he can feel all around him. He has come for a quiet life but he cannot leave this one alone.
read the full review at booketybook.com

Thank you to Penguin UK and Netgalley for giving me an arc for this novel in exchange for an honest review!

The Searcher is my first Tana French novel and it has definitely left me intrigued to try some of her other work. The searcher follows the story of Cal Hooper, a retired and recently divorced cop from Chicago who moves to a remote Irish village in the hopes of having a quiet space to explore this next stage of his life. His plans are interrupted when a local boy, Trey, pesters Cal into looking for his missing brother Brendan. Unable to ignore the request Cal decides to look into it and soon realises that the peaceful Irish landscape of his new home has an underbelly of dark secrets and hidden motives.

This novel was a hard one for me to rate but overall I have settled for 3.5/5 stars.
So let’s start with what I loved about this book.

The setting. The setting was incredible. From the very first page French brought the sights and smells of Ireland alive. Throughout the novel you can just close your eyes and picture every rolling hill and mossy stone, the feel of the rain on your face and the call of rooks in the trees. The setting really felt like it’s own character and I loved that. When a book can completely transport you to where the story is taking place is just one of the best feelings and this book did that for me. The other part of this book that was alive were the characters. This is definitely a novel that is more character driven than plot based. I loved seeing the tumultuous and unlikely relationship between Cal and Try develop throughout the book, their scenes together were amongst some of my favourites. The other villagers were all so fully developed and had so much personality. There was a lot of humour sprinkled throughout which was really enjoyable to read within such a sombre tale.

Where this book did fall short was the plot, because there wasn’t that much of it. This book meanders along very slowly and the real action of the novel only really starts to take place at about 70-80% of the way through. If like me you enjoy slower, atmospheric tales than this might not be such an issue, but if you are going into this expecting an exciting , edge of your seat thriller then you are going to be disappointed. The main mystery/crime of this novel is also not the most exciting. There is no great mystery with twists and turns, it’s one you can see the outcome of from the start which is why it felt quite disappointing.

Even though this book had a slower plot and is still grips you. The setting digs it’s fingers in and doesn’t let you go because each time you open the book, you experience it. The characters are memorable and there is a beautifully sad underlying message of lost youth and family. Although not necessarily a heart-racing mystery thriller, The Searcher is still an atmospheric mystery that is a more than enjoyable read.

Powerful book about love, family and relationships, and a Thriller too! Will be recommending to friends and family. This book will stay with me for sometime.

I had high hopes for this. The premise of an ex Chicago PD cop, moving to Ireland to start fresh but deciding to help a young boy find his brother was so appealing. BUT, the first 20% is all description of the surroundings and local people and the real plot doesn’t really come into it until 1/3 of the way through. There was too much description and not enough action for me. It’s definitely not a thriller and maybe, if you enjoy a slow burn, this one is for you. I however, can’t do slow burners...

I am a huge, huge fan of Tana French and so I was really looking forward to this.
There is something about French's writing that I find almost hypnotic, especially in the descriptions of countryside and the flow of dialogue.
I don't want to give away any of the plot but its beautifully written and I loved it. Hugely recommend.

A slow burner that you do need to invest some time in. It pays off though as if gathers pace in the second half. Lots of twists and turns deliver a solid plot with well rounded characters.

Very much enjoyed this.

The concept of a detective retiring to a rural area and the characters he meets there is a bit different.

It’s a slow burn but full of suspense and keeps you hooked.

Cal Hooper has retired from the Chicago police force after 25 years and relocated to Ardnakelty, a small backward village in Ireland. He is hoping that he can be left in peace to lick his wounds following a difficult divorce and devote his time renovating the old house he has bought. However, once a policeman always a policeman and when a young lad comes knocking asking for help to find his missing brother, Cal finds himself unable to turn him down.

Tana French is one of my favourite authors and I have read every single one of her books. She is the absolute master at setting an atmospheric scene. She quickly drew me into the colourful world of Ardnakelty. My view from the widow was no longer tarmac, but instead rolling hills. I could hear the crows and feel the heat from the logs crackling in the open fire.

The inhabitants of Ardnakelty hold many secrets close to their chests. Cal may have thought he was buying into a nice quite backwater but under the radar runs a dark seam with a village hierarchy that threatens to destroy him. Does he carry on with his quest to find Trey’s brother or pack up and go back to Chicago!

Ms French, your twist halfway through the story blindsided me. That was one massive gamechanger that I never saw coming!

What I would like more than anything is for the author to write a sequel because my time with Cal was far too short.

This wonderful dark thriller was a joy to read from beginning to end.

Another gorgeous book by Tana French: I’ve loved all her other novels and this one doesn’t disappoint, it was thrilling captivating & you won’t be able to put it down. It was a little slow at first but when you get sucked in I can guarantee you’ll be stuck!