While I enjoyed the story and the characters, I felt it could have been developed and covered in at least a hundred pages less. I would highly recommend it to those who love well-developed mysteries and police procedurals.

Reviews of Tana French books rarely rate them with fewer than four stars, and I’m usually inclined to give them five. In this case I’ll stick with four, though.

THE SEARCHER is a bit of a departure for French. That is, the main character of this book isn’t Irish. Cal is American, a retired cop who has come to live in a small town in Ireland. He thought it would be a quiet place to live.

A 13-year-old, who Cal mistakes for a boy, has asked, practically demanded, that he look into the disappearance of her brother. This is what Cal thought he was leaving behind when he moved to Ireland. Even so, he does get involved in this case, just like old times.

Cal learns that small towns in Ireland can have the same trouble as big cities in the United States. There is no escaping it.

I don’t give this book five stars because I didn’t like the way Cal talked. Although French writes wonderful dialogue between Irish people, she doesn’t quite get it right with Cal. I understand that she wanted to make clear that he isn’t a big-city guy. But sometimes he talks stupid. There is a difference between sounding country and sounding stupid. He clearly is not stupid. So he does not sound authentic as the Irish people do.

I also was unhappy with the end. How could he stay? Although Cal does consider moving back to the United States, he also decides to get a new puppy. Wouldn’t it be cruel to make a dog fly all the way to the United States?