The Searcher by Tana French

You might remember Tana French as the author of the Dublin Murder Squad series. I first came across French with her dark and twisty psychological thriller, The Wych Elm, which I loved, so was pleased to get my hands on her new book, The Searcher. But this novel has quite a different feel, with its setting in the hinterlands of Ireland, in a tiny hamlet miles from anywhere.

Former Chicago cop, Cal Hooper, has taken early retirement, his divorce still raw, when he buys a run-down house on a small holding in rural Ireland. He wants to spend his time fishing and hunting, living the quiet life. But when he befriends a teenager from a troubled  home, he soon finds himself involved against his better judgement in a missing person's case.

Young Trey tells Cal his older brother Brendan has been missing for several months, and thinks he wouldn't run away without telling anyone. Cal reluctantly begins to interview Brendan's friends and his troubled mother, but soon comes up against a wall of secrecy and well, not lies exactly, but a lot of blarney. Cal doesn't want to be the one who has to give Trey the bad news, but his cop's instincts suggest that things don't look good.

The story moves at a gentle pace that suits the quiet, rural setting, gathering steam as Cal discovers more than is wise. In the background, Cal's chatty neighbour, Mart, invites him to the pub where stories about sheep being attacked by wild cats or UFOs are the order of the day. Mart and the town gossip, Noreen, conspire to set Cal up with Lena, who is only really interested in persuading Cal to take a puppy from her dog's new litter.

There's plenty of Irish banter and Cal takes a lot of ribbing, but French also reminds you that there isn't a lot for young people in places like this - they either leave for the city or get into trouble of one kind or another. Secrecy and threats of violence add a layer of menace which cranks up the tension as the story develops.  You really feel for Trey and his family, who are struggling, but no one lends a helping hand. Cal himself is an interesting and likable character, often a fish out of water, the outsider who has a lot to learn about how things are done.

I found The Searcher a little slow to begin with, but I am glad I stuck with it as the story pulls you in and builds to a satisfying ending. But it is as a character-driven mystery that this novel really shines, with plenty of empathy and insight. Tana French is definitely an author who consistently delivers a terrific read and I shall be looking forward to see what she comes up with next.

Posted by JAM

Catalogue link: The Searcher

Normal People by Sally Rooney

‘It’s different for men, she says.
Yeah, I’m starting to get that.’

Normal People is an insightful and fresh novel about a poignant relationship set over a period of four years; featuring a young couple who seemingly can't live with or without each other.

As teenagers Marianne and Connell meet because Connell's mother cleans Marianne's family's large house in Western Ireland. Marianne is an intelligent loner, while Connell is bright and popular, but from a 'bad' family.  They keep their relationship a secret at Connell's request, before it all goes horribly wrong.

The couple keep meeting over the years, firstly at University where their roles are reversed; as Connell struggles to fit in and make friends due to his impoverished background, while Marianne emerges swan-like as an attractive and popular scholar. They have relationships with a series of ‘normal people’, a group neither Marianne nor Connell feels they belong to.

Normal People is easy-to-read and yet the two main characters are complex and I cared about what happened to them. This novel could easily have become a cutesy boy meets girl/loses girl/wins girl back story; but Sally Rooney is much too clever for that. Mariane has to overcome the darkness of her brother’s violent bullying, exploitation on the internet, and her own masochistic tendencies; whilst Connell has struggles with depression.

Normal People was longlisted for the Man Booker prize and at 28 years old Sally Rooney is the youngest ever winner of the Costa award Book of the Year. The Costa award honours English language books of writers based in Britain and Ireland. The Costa Award Judges said: “A trailblazing novel about modern life and love that will electrify any reader.”

Normal People is a sharp social commentary of contemporary times and Sally Rooney is currently writing the screenplay for the BBC television adaptation.

Reviewed by Katrina 

Catalogue link:  Normal People

A Shameful Murder by Cora Harrison

There is nothing more satisfying than discovering a new detective series. There is the delight of meeting new characters that you know are going to become part of your fictional family plus the satisfaction of knowing you have guaranteed good reads for the next little while.

In this the first of the Reverend Mother Mysteries, we are introduced to the unlikely sleuth solving trio of Reverend Mother Aquinas, her friend and physician Dr Scher and her former pupil and member of the newly formed civic guard, Sergeant Cashman.

Set in 1920s during the Irish Civil War, the novel starts with flood waters sweeping down the streets of County Cork, leaving behind sewage and dead bodies. It is on one of these wet and rainy mornings that the Reverend Mother discovers the body of a young woman dressed in an evening gown with her purse containing a dance programme, a large sum of money and a ticket to the midnight ferry to Liverpool. The body is soon identified as that of Angelina Fitzsimon, a respected tea merchant’s daughter, who was about to turn 21 and in a few months was set to inherit a fortune. Although her death is ruled as suicide neither the Reverend Mother nor Sergeant Cashman are convinced of this and so begins the both public and behind the scenes investigations.

The everyday life of the Reverend Mother’s teaching nuns is woven tightly into this historical mystery. With her own privileged background plus fifty years of working amongst Cork’s poorest, the Reverend Mother is in a unique position to move across these social divides. Gleaning access to the content of the police interviews via Sergeant Cashman, combined with the medical knowledge of the somewhat unwilling Doctor, gives the Reverend Mother the ability to solve this complex mystery.

Cora Harrison has crafted a dark and atmospheric Cork with the wealthy living high on the hills looking down on the poorest of Irish citizens in their crowded, damp tenements. However this is not a gloomy, depressing mystery. With a quick witted protagonist in the Reverend Mother, well-crafted supporting characters, a most satisfying plot, this a great read. And with five more mysteries already written in the series there is much to look forward to.


Reviewed by Miss Moneypenny

Catalogue Link: A Shameful Murder

The Year that Changed Everything by Cathy Kelly

Sometimes you just need some light and fluffy comfort reading to get you through the winter; a story where nothing bad happens and you can be assured of a happy ending. You can just tell from the beautiful floral cover of The Year That Changed Everything that nothing here will give you nightmares. If this sounds like you then I recommend a spot of Cathy Kelly. This is the first time I have read any of her work but this is book number 19 for Kelly; she is a former journalist who has been a writer of internationally best-selling women’s fiction since 1997.

The Year that Changed Everything features three very different Irish women who share a birthday but have never met. Callie is turning 50 with a big party, unaware that her privileged life is about to shatter; Sam is about to have her first longed-for baby at the age of 40 and worries if she will be a good mother, and Ginger is being a bridesmaid for her (not so) best friend on the day of her 30th birthday.

The three main characters are likeable and different enough that it’s easy to keep track of who’s who through the alternating chapters (rest assured the three women eventually connect). Kelly cleverly appeals to different age groups and the issues that apply to certain times of life, with wisdom and a light touch. To be fair it’s not all rainbows and unicorns: post-natal depression, addiction, and body image issues feature, and are sensitively dealt with.

The ending may be a little too rose-tinged and trite for some – if so go and find yourself some dark and depressing Nordic Noir with violence and gore all over the place; while I remain in my little bubble of warm Irish domestic fiction.

Reviewed by Katrina

Catalogue link:  The Year that Changed Everything

The Gathering by Anne Enright

There is always a drunk. There is always someone who has been interfered with, as a child. There is always a colossal success, with several houses in various countries to which no one is ever invited. There is a mysterious sister. These are just trends, of course, and, like trends, they shift.

The Gathering is the story of a family brought together by a crisis. Brothers and sisters come from near and far for the wake of Liam Hegarty, who has drowned himself at the age of forty. Told from the point of view of his sister Veronica, the novel slowly pieces together their childhood as well as the mystery of grandmother Ada. Was she a prostitute, wonders Veronica, and what was her relationship with the ever present and slightly creepy Lamb Nugent really all about?

Veronica is a sharp and brittle narrator. Close in age, she and Liam are like twins, so his death is particularly shocking at a time when her marriage is floundering. But alcohol is her friend, and so is driving off into the night to think. All this thinking is a boon to the story as she teases out threads of memory and puts two and two together.

The Gathering is a fairly intense read with jumps in setting and time-frame, so you need to concentrate. The payoff for the reader is the wonderful writing. Veronica is worldly and waspish and her thoughts are peppered with a bitter humour. She’s not an easy person, but she’s definitely good company. The story takes you to some dark places as you are reminded that the tragedy of the present is seeded in events of the past.

The Gathering won the Man Booker Prize in 2007 - I have been meaning to read it for some time – but it was definitely worth the wait. Read it, and also read The Green Road, and really anything else by this author if you like vivid writing and stories that probe the complicated behaviour of families.

Reviewed by JAM

Catalogue link:  The Gathering