Tana French_42

I expected to enjoy 'The Wych Elm' because I'd loved 'The Searcher', but no. Entitled man-child Toby, antihero of 'Wych', was loathsome company compared to thoughtful retired detective Cal Hooper from 'Searcher'. Bloody Toby all but ruined 'Wych' for me, despite French's ferocious talent for characterisation and cracking Irish dialogue. Handsome, educated, charming, charmed—Toby is oblivious to most everything until he's the victim of a violent robbery and retreats, brain-addled and humiliated, to the summer house of his childhood. When a human skull is found in the wych elm, Toby's fractured memories smash against a new, darker reality.