Following retirement, former Chicago detective Cal pursues his dream of moving abroad to settle down in a picturesque Irish countryside. He barely has time to acclimatise to his new surroundings before word spreads amongst the locals of his law enforcement past. A young member of the community, Trey, arrives on Cal’s doorstep, urging him to uncover the mystery of their missing brother Brendan. Although he believes Brendan ran away, Cal agrees to look into it, mostly because he feels sorry for Trey.

With THE SEARCHER, Tana French constructed a tremendous slow-burn novel. While the mystery is well-crafted and engaging, it’s ultimately the story about the relationship that fosters between Cal and Trey, as well as Cal coming to grips with his own family’s dysfunction, thousands of miles away. Cal’s interactions with the town’s colorful characters, most notably love interest Leena, and his neighbor Mart, created a welcoming, almost cosy atmosphere that at times, had reminded me of my own hometown on the east coast of Canada; one that inherited Irish culture for its own.

How Cal goes about tracking down Brendan is different from his usual work as a detective – he has to be wary about the town potentially rejecting him if they view him as an outsider and someone to be mindful of what you say around. The last thing they need is someone being nosy and looking to upset the natural order of things. I thought this was a clever approach from French in showing how a life-long cop had to adapt and change his style of investigation to better suit his continued standing in the community. There is a reason small towns often provide the perfect setting for crime novels. So much is often hidden below the surface by the town’s residents that it’s almost like pulling a thread on a sweater to make all the peace and tranquillity unravel quickly.

Although Tana French has crafted a nearly flawless set of novels with her Dublin Crime Squad series, I do think THE SEARCHER was strong enough to stand on its own as a one-off. However, for someone who really gets in the weeds with her characters like French, I was happy to see that she wanted to go back to this world and write a sequel. Glad I have that on the shelf to dive into next!