Cal Hooper is a retired Chicago PD detective, and has taken up residence in a small village in rural Ireland, an isolated place with farms and local folk who’ve seen each other’s dirty linen for generations. He spends his time refurbishing the rundown house that he bought for a song. But something in his interactions with the local populace doesn’t sit right. All his detective instincts are triggered and there is a sense of unease.
One day, a kid named Trey strikes a rapport with Cal, and asks for his help to locate a missing older brother. Cal grudgingly takes on the assignment, but finds that the idyllic rural setting is not much safer than the ghetto streets he left behind. The camaraderie between the locals is entirely more sinister and malevolent when he tries to pry open their secrets.
This is a grimy noir story from the old school, Raymond Chandler-Dashiell Hammett style. Cal is the hardened, grizzled detective who has seen too much of the ugly side of the world, and really wants to leave it all behind, start with a clean slate. But the ugly side is always there, just with a different coat of paint.
I love the way he chooses to resolve the issue by leaving all concerned parties without their feathers ruffled, or upsetting the apple-cart too much. There is a distinct sense of inevitability which ring through Cal’s thoughts throughout the book, as though he is fated to encounter the seedy underbelly wherever he goes, because he carries that with him.
Fast paced, moving and with well crafted dialogues, this is a likeable book. Tana French typically writes police procedurals set in Ireland, notably the “Dublin Murder Squad” series of books. This is a standalone break from that series, and a great one.