Coming off of the Dublin murder squad series, so was expecting a lot to be fair.
Tana French again delivers with masterful writing with the Searcher. The plot could be a bit quicker and more unpredictable, but she is masterful enough that it as still well worth the read.
The Searcher stars a former Chicago policeman who is fully trying to get away from the world. Throughout the novel, we get different takes on really what Cal is trying to get away from… maybe its a bit of a bad relationship with his ex wife, maybe its a little bit of the drama on the Chicago force, maybe its just a little bit of the fast pace of life in the world outside of sleepy Irish towns. in any case, the story unfolds as Cal gets to know his neighbors. Mark is a nosy but jolly neighbor that is Cal’s main source of town gossip. Trey is a 12 yr old boy, seemingly never in school, that swings by his place to harass him. We find out that Trey wants him to investigate his older brother Brendans disappearance. This hasn’t gotten any attention because of Trey’s family’s social status in the area, and also the prevalence of boys in that town to flees to the big city of Dublin to pursue a more fun and bigger life. So after prodding and realizing that Trey is right, nobody cares, Cal agrees to look into it.
During the investigation, Cal becomes close to Lisa, another single woman in the town, a relationship Mark encourages. During the investigation, Cal finds out Brendans involvement in a drug plot with a city gang, and Brendans actual murder at the hands of town folk. Importantly, he finds that Trey is short of Teresa and she is actually Brendan’s sister. More of a manslaughter than a murder, Cal is forced back into the role of decision maker, this time without the necessity of law and role to guide his judgement. He decides that what is best for those still living is to let the case lie, and embraces his second chance to help a young girl through a hard time after encouragement from his daughter.
Perhaps because is a missing person case instead of a murder, or because it is written to be more of a slow burn than a thriller, I think that the plot of The Searcher could be quicker, and just the story could have been more interesting. But the character development of Cal, Trey, and their neighbors was phenomenal, and French’s writing and detail good enough to keep you enthralled even through a meandering plot.
My brother,sister, and I have a podcast where we are going to talk about the Hunter. Would love for some feedback about any of the podcasts we have. Also though, just want to hear everyone’s thoughts on this one.
linktr.ee/beyondthephirstpage
by pcornell99