The French connection

“Cal gets the first whiff of trouble when he’s in Noreen’s shop on a Saturday afternoon, buying eggs.”

So begins The Keeper, the third and final instalment of Irish-American writer Tana French’s acclaimed Cal Hooper trilogy, following The Searcher (2020) and The Hunter (2024). Cal Hooper, a retired cop from Chicago, moved to West Ireland for a quieter life — which, in a shocking turn of events, is not in the cards, as readers of French’s previous two novels will be well aware.

The relative peace in the village of Ardnakelty is shattered when a young woman, Rachel, goes missing, then is subsequently found drowned in the river. Was it an accident, suicide, or something more sinister?

Fingers are pointed at her fiancé, Eugene Moynihan, son of Tommy Moynihan, the big man about town. But there’s other talk as well, some of which centres on Cal’s partner, Lena Dunne.

French is in fine form again, contrasting the story’s darkness and danger with colourful, humorous characters who routinely throw words like “shitehawk” and “shitebaggery” into the conversation. Sure, the folks in Ardnakelty love a good blather, and there’s plenty of it in The Keeper. French fans will be well acquainted with her slow-boiling plots, but some readers may find the rehashing of rumours and speculation between the characters repetitive. Still, entertaining it is. When the plot finally gets going, there are twists and turns aplenty before a surprise ending.

Cal has been living in Ardnakelty for three years, and though he finds himself increasingly accepted by the locals, it’s complicated. With acceptance and familiarity come loyalties and responsibilities, and Cal feels the pressure mounting to do something.

It doesn’t take long before Cal is roped into the increasing drama and the quest to find out the truth, teaming up with a ragtag band of neighbours who are convinced there’s more to the story.

It turns out they’re right. Rachel’s death may have been murder, and she may have been killed for what she knew — a plan that would change village life forever and a threat to many of the families there, including his own.

Cal is also worried about his young charge, Trey, whose own involvement in the mystery is getting a little too close for Cal’s comfort. Adding to Cal’s troubles, his comfortable relationship with Lena seems to be on the rocks; he questions why she’s pulling away, and fears there may be no going back.

As always, French’s evocative writing is beyond compare; her descriptions of Ardnakelty and its moods are both beautiful and atmospheric, and her characters and settings so vivid that readers will feel as though they’re in Ardnakelty themselves.

“The side table… is cluttered with small things, pear drops and dominoes and earrings, all of them wearing the furtively sinister air of amulets that could jinx your week if they found their way into your pocket,” French writes. “Even the air, hot and dry, seethes with the traces of cigarette ash and the faint, high whistling of the gas fire. At the heart of it all is Mrs. Duggan, vast and formless in a magenta dress coated with swirls of tiny magenta beads, like one of those underwater creatures that lie wide-mouthed on the seabed waiting to receive anyone and anything that comes their way.”

The Keeper is a fitting and satisfying end to the Cal Hooper trilogy, but can also be thoroughly enjoyed as a standalone novel.

Lindsay McKnight works in the arts in Winnipeg.