Tana French can be a bit hit and miss around these parts. The Likeness couldn't pass the first bar of suspension of disbelief, and The Wych Elm left such a bad taste in the mouth that The Searcher lay dormant for four years. The Searcher is neither of those books. For better or worse, French hits a hard reset each time she puts out a new title, and it is to be taken on its own terms. The Searcher's terms are quite favourable indeed. 

 

Retired Chicago police officer Cal Hooper has decided to start a new life in rural Ireland, renovating an abandoned house and minding his own business. When 13 year old Trey Reddy comes asking for help finding Brendan, the eldest Reddy brother, Cal has to balance the peace that he's found against his instinctive taste for justice. 

 

French's approach to The Searcher is languid, to say the least. Cal is slow and methodical about his home improvement projects, and French is the same way about building her character. Cal is an outsider and, though he's been in town a bit longer than the reader, he's still feeling everyone out. It's very far into the piece before we find out why he retired, but it was very American of him. 

 

Cal is an arresting character, lonesome and resistant to curing his solitude, and he carries the book in a way that, as he frequently notes, would be quite different if he were still a practising officer of the law. By cutting out the Police and Garda elements almost completely, French introduces a new brand of justice to her mix that is too old to be considered frontier. 

 

This is a book almost completely devoid of set pieces, as it's more about people running into each other (sometimes more literally than others). It's about vibes, and while Cal does vibe with the townland, there's always the barest hint that at least some of those vibes are rancid. It's a distinct feel of unease that's not quite unique to books set in small Irish townships, but if there's one thing French knows, it's how to discomfort a reader. There's a cumulative effect to The Searcher that makes the piece feel smaller and more claustrophobic rather than of a kind with the expansive nature of the scenery. 

 

Arknakeldy is a townland populated by the sort of people who hide poison behind their smiles, insular while ostensibly welcoming, and tightlipped to the point that no policeman really stands a chance amongst their number. Trey is Cal’s excellent foil, although a mid-book twist is one that can only ever really work on the page; Cal’s love interest is altogether less interesting but it is important that he has at least one person on his side. Of course, he also has his slightly dodgy next door neighbour, Mart, but the man is more barometer than comrade. French puts everyone into a pot that steadfastly refuses to melt and waits for the pressure to burst out of the reader’s ears. It works, but it hurts. 

 

The Searcher is a meditative novel that's keen to provide answers while hesitant to offer solutions. It has a classic surrogate father and daughter set up and an ultimately uneasy sense of belonging. The reason The Searcher was returned to, apart from the passage of time healing all wounds, is that Cal Hooper will be back in March 2024 for The Hunter. It may well be worth spending some more time in his company.