The Searcher by Tana French is an adult standalone novel about a retired cop who moves to a small town in Ireland to get away.
Retired detective Cal Hooper moved to a remote village in Ireland in the hopes of putting aside the cop part of his brain that always has him looking for trouble. But it turns out that small town living has intricacies all its own and Cal will have to use a whole new set of instincts to get by.
When a local kid from the “wrong” part of town starts showing up at his house, Cal must break out his detective skills one more time. What do they say about trouble? Don’t go looking for it unless you want trouble to find you. And trouble has certainly found Cal.
I liked this quaint little mystery, even if I wasn’t overly thrilled with the ending. Cal is a very likeable guy and he fits in well with the rural, nosey citizens of the town. I liked his polite, solitary, yet analytical nature. And his relationship with Trey is handled really well, built up throughout the story.
This story/mystery builds really slowly but I didn’t actually mind it because it goes with the vibe of the town and it’s citizens.
Though I sort of saw the twist coming and I didn’t necessarily like the ending, I don’t really see how it could have ended any other way and that, in a sense, was satisfying.
This one gets 3.5-4 stars from me.
That’s all for now!
-M-