Additional Review C - Our Greatest Living Mystery Writer?
The Searcher by Tana French
The book jacket does indeed call Tana French our greatest living mystery writer. It seems a bold claim to make. The book is good, but not that good and not actually that much of a straight forward mystery. I would probably pick someone like Lisa Jewel or Liane Moriarty. How about the girl on the train by Paula Hawkins, or the up and coming Benjamin Stevenson. Those are just the first few to pop into my brain, there are a lot of great mystery writers around currently. Maybe it would be more accurate to declare Tana French as one of a fairly large group of good living mystery writers. Doesn't quite have the same ring to it though.
Oh what about Sophie Hannah? She should probably get a badge too.
Although this book is a mystery, it's much more than that. It's slow and atmospheric, the prose is at times beautiful and at others rough and evocative. There is a fairly small cast of characters, who are all well realized and fully formed. The relationship between Cal and Trey is unusual in fiction and in some ways more interesting that the mystery.
So there are plenty of great mystery writers and this isn't exactly a mystery. What it is is a beautifully written book by a great author. It drags you into its time and place in the world (rural Ireland, present day) and when you surface you are surprised to find yourself in your own life, reminding yourself that those characters aren't actually real.
I think I shall elect to call this book literary fiction with a story line - that does happen occasionally! Thanks for the gift Mum.