I’m a fan of Tana French and think she’s an excellent writer. The Keeper is the latest addition to her series about Cal Hooper, the retired Chicago detective who now lives in a remote Irish village. I’ve really enjoyed all these novels and although in our book group I’m known as a notoriously tough marker, this is definitely worth 4+ Stars.
(Make a note, too, that Tana French’s six Dublin Murder Squad novels are also well worth reading!)
The Keeper is the third book that Tana French has written about the retired Chicago detective, Cal Hooper, who has bought a ‘fixer-upper’ in Ardnakelty, a remote Irish village. He has settled well, doing up his house and getting on with his furniture making business, helped by the waif, Trey, who came to him in the first book in the series wanting him to help find a missing brother. Now he is finding happiness with his girlfriend, Lena, and is gradually being accepted by the locals.
This peaceful existence is brutally interrupted when a local young woman goes missing and is later found floating in the river face down. Immediately the rumours start to fly. Did she kill herself because her boyfriend, aspiring politician and only son of the local bigwig, was cheating on her, or because she was cheating in him? But when she’s found to have ingested anti-freeze, the rumours immediately change to something darker. Maybe she was murdered? Maybe the boyfriend did it?
The local bigwig doesn’t like this. First, he tries to hire Cal to investigate the death and determine that his son is innocent, never mind that he might not be. But when that doesn’t work a rumour starts that Lena killed the girl in a fit of jealousy.
And that is, to some extent, what this rather dark story is about – the power of rumours, corruption, police in the pocket of a powerful man, and politicians who line their pockets rather than doing the best for a community. Add to this mix that old grudges and power struggles within the village suddenly resurface, and we have a vicious feud that ends in another shocking murder.
In the end the culprit is found and brought to justice. The big man has his plans to rob local farmers of their land scuppered and his wings are clipped.
My verdict
As I mentioned, I think Tana French is an excellent writer. In all these novels, Cal comes over as a sensible and thorough man; Trey is vivid as an impulsive young person who is maturing; and the local farmers are a delight to read about. They seem bucolic, and some are, but others, among them Cal’s friend, Mart, are shrewd, highly intelligent and in some cases quite unscrupulous.
The plot of The Keeper is complicated, as life often is, but it all comes clear in the end. And yes, this is a dark read, but very well written. The village, the mountain and all the characters come to vivid life. It deserves nothing less than 4+ Stars.
Review by: Freyja
What’s in a Star?
At Oundle Crime our reviews work on the basis that 5 Stars is “Outstanding and unforgettable. A book you can’t wait to tell others about.” And 4 Stars is “A good book with an interesting, layered story that you will still remember after a month.”
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