The Keeper

 

There's a particular kind of sad that comes with finishing the last book in a series you love.

That's exactly where I landed with Tana French's The Keeper, the third and final Cal Hooper book from Tana French. Three books in Ardnakelty, this tiny farming village in rural Ireland, and now we're saying goodbye to Cal, Trey, Lena, and the whole gossipy lot of them.

Life has been quiet for Cal and his fiancée Lena. Trey, the wild mountain girl he took under his wing back in The Searcher, has grown up and started making real plans for her future. Then the village gets rocked when Rachel Holohan, a young woman about to be engaged to the son of the local big shot, turns up dead. The official story is one thing, but anyone paying attention knows there's more to it. Cal gets pulled back in, the gossip starts flying, and what he uncovers could change Ardnakelty for good.

French is a master of setting. Her descriptions are so vivid you feel like you're standing right there in the village watching it all unfold. She balances the slow character work with a genuinely good mystery and never lets the pace sag.

One heads up: do not start with this book if you haven’t read the first two in the series. There's way too much history with these characters to skip ahead. Read The Searcher and The Hunter first and this one will hit so much harder.

On audio it's a marathon at just under 20 hours, but Roger Clark makes it fly. His narration paired with French's writing is a perfect match. I got pulled right in and I'm sad to leave this place behind. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you liked this review, you might be interested in my review of Tana French's Faithful Place.

About the Author

Tana French is the New York Times–bestselling author of nine books, including In the Woods, The Likeness, and The Searcher. Her novels have sold over eight million copies worldwide and won numerous awards, including the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Barry Awards, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Best Mystery/Thriller, and the Irish Book Award for Crime Fiction. She lives in Dublin with her family.

Visit Tana's website for more news and information about her book.