This was a bit of a slow-burner but I really enjoyed it. The tempo may have been slower than other books I normally devour (including Tana's The Wych Elm') but it was even-paced, well-constructed, and compelling from start to finish. The main character, Cal, was such a relatable character, I felt like I knew him! And his relationship with the town and its residents was very interesting. The only criticism I have, if I can make one, is that I was hoping Cal got Tray a bike in the end! It's not a criticism per se, I was just expecting that and looked forward to being further moved, hehe. It was a great novel though, through and through. A sad yet heart-warming tale.

I cannot express the excitement I felt when I opened up my email to discover I had been approved to received a review copy of Tana French’s new novel from Netgalley.

Tana French’s skill at crafting a tense and suspenseful crime novel is clear from her Dublin Murder Squad books, and the standalone novel The Wych Elm. If you are a crime fan and enjoy a tightly-plotted crime procedural with regular shots of action, you will love her novels.

However, this is not why I love Tana French and will return to her writing time and time again. Her most evident skill lies in the characters she writes. In The Searcher you will find her usual Irish characters, this time with a more provincial slant. Set in the beautiful, but sometimes disconcerting and unsettling, Irish countryside - the characters are farmers and shop keepers; lone women striking out on their own; children running wild and teenagers desperate to leave. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that these characters are simple. Far from that, French uses her inestimable skill to craft characters that feel so real that you could visit them in their rural Irish idyll.

Into this strides Cal, a retired cop from Chicago, unhappily divorced and keen to leave behind a life of racial tension and gun crime for something more simple. Getting back to his roots, huntin’ and fishin’ for his dinner, and taking the time to work on the run down cottage by the mountains he bought from pictures online. He speaks to his adult daughter on the phone, bemused by his choices and occasionally exchanges a terse few words with his ex wife - but mostly he immerses himself in his new life, enjoying, to some extent, his role as outsider and forming new bonds and relationships with those around him.

Things are not to stay so simple though. Into his life sneaks Trey, a scruffy kid from a ‘bad family’ who wants answers and wants them now. Somewhere between a wild animal and a tortured soul, Trey sidles into Cal’s world and he finds himself unable to walk away. Of course, this lands him in a whole heap of trouble and he finds himself embroiled in a mystery that he has no right to be investigating.

I loved the book, and was only disappointed in myself that I showed little restraint and wolfed it down in only a few sittings! Now it’s finished and I’m left wishing I could spend a few more hours shooting the breeze with Cal and seeing how things turn out for the characters. But that’s Tana French - they characters become so real, it really feels like the cliché ‘they could just walk off the page’ is completely true.

Enjoy!