June 2026 Book Pick
I almost didn’t pick this book, because I am not a huge fan of series. However, Tana French is – in my opinion—one of the modern voices of the Millenium. This is her third, and final novel in the Cal Hooper series. Her previous books, The Doublin Murder Squad books were all tales of different cases out of The Doublin Murder Squad; an Irish “Law and Order” in a sense. However, the Cal Hooper series is impressive in its own right for two particular reasons. The first reason is that French is able, as a woman, to nail the inner workings of her character. I am not a male, but Cal reads as so believable it isn’t hard to love him.
Cal Hooper was introduced in French’s The Seeker. He is a retired Chicago cop who has escaped to the Irish countryside in the hamlet of Ardnakelty. His plan is to fix up an Irish home and take on wood working projects when a brusque teenager, Trey, makes his way into his home and heart. Along with the pseudo daughter, Hooper develops a relationship with the hometown woman who has turned her back on the traditions of Ardnakelty. The Keeper delves deep into the inner social machinations of Ardnakelty society. From the town king pin who is threatening Lena and Trey and Cal after his son’s girlfriend is found dead after having approached Lena the night before. The gossip of the town throws shade on Cal and Lena’s attempt to find out more backfire significantly. Her strangest interaction is with her sister’s mother-in-law. A woman who seems to watch and know all the workings in Ardnakelty.
As Cal struggles to hang onto the life he has built amid the murky workings of years of Irish social relations play out, he realizes the truth about the girl’s death…and his true place in his new home.