Trey and her dog, Banjo, spend a lot of time at Cal’s place. There is an old desk at which she does schoolwork. Mainly, Cal and Trey work on carpentry projects. They built a shelving unit and put up peg boards for all their tools. They are starting work on the restoration of a chair.
Trey is upset with her father, Johnny, casually returning home after 4 years. She asks Cal if she can stay the night. Uneasy about her father’s reaction, he arranges for her to stay with Miss Lena Dunne.
Miss Lena has no time for the easy talking Johnny wanting to charm her. She knows there is no substance, only a facade to Johnny.
Trey is glad Miss Lena and Cal share nights together but keep their own residences. Trey says she is “never gonna get married”.
Johnny calls her Theresa.
Within a few pages I was caught up in the book
French continues to capture the lyrical expressiveness of the Irish and their blunt descriptiveness. Mart Lavin greets Johnny - “Look what the fairies left on the doorstep” after Johnny had been “over the water” in London. Mart asks - “Then what brought a cosmopolitan fella like yourself back from the finest city in the world to the arse end of nowhere?” Johnny replies - “Doesn’t matter how great the big city is; in the end, a man gets a fierce longing on him for home”.
Cal has embraced the boring life of Ardnakelty. He is restless as he feels Johnny will upset the “boringness”. Equally he is uneasy for Trey who has become special to him. To calm his soul he takes a night time walk with Lena:
…. They head for the road that twists away between the fields, faint and pale in the starlight. The night flowers have the rich, honeyed scent of some old cordial.
Trey refuses to let Johnny into her life despite his earnest contrition over leaving them and his promises of a grand life when the idea he has brought back with him is a great success. A well dressed and mannered Englishman, Cillian Rushborough, is with him.
There is a wariness about involving Cal in this idea. As inevitable with a character such as Johnny there are aspects of the idea that would not go well if there were police scrutiny.
Cal is working on letting things be in his life. He is concentrating on fixing furniture rather than problems in Ardnakelty after the painful lesson he endured in The Searcher.
Though carefully warned, Cal cannot let Johnny’s idea be absent from his participation.
There is powerful self-deception over the idea. Those participating, even Mart and Cal, want it to be true. Most are convinced it is true because of that want.
The summer is in an unseasonable heat wave. Farmers are concerned about drought. Everyone is edgy.
Trey is not always honest but she has a fierce integrity. Still at 15 she lacks the life experiences to fully deal with complex situations. Her involvement with her father and Rushborough sent a tingle through me.
She remains bitter about the disappearance of her brother Brendan. She realizes knowing who was involved would not make her hate the non-involved less but:
“I’d know what ones to hate more”.
There is vast history in Ardnakelty. You cannot displace it. Their allegiances are to each other.
In The Searcher Cal learned the genial farmers of Ardnakelty are hard men who will tolerate no interference with their business. Cal has been there but two years. He is still a blow-in. The residents of the townland can be ruthless and they settle issues on their own.
How can Cal follow his fixing desires in dealing with the idea when the complexities of neighbours and friends involved in the idea also involve Trey? Problems are bound to arise when a fixer intervenes where he was not invited to fix.
Greed and deceit and revenge are a potent combination. The Irish are grand at all three and strong on a grudge.
And then there is murder and Trey finds the body. Cal doubts she understands how much events change when the Guards are investigating murder.
Trey surprises Cal with her mastery at 15 of the Irish talent for telling detailed stories which require close attention. He had not realized how carefully she had analyzed events in her hatred.
Guard detective Nealon is a good investigator and an observant man. He knows information will be sparingly supplied to the Guards.
It is the wily Mart who speaks for the townland. Little he says is direct but the questions and the suggestions and the possibilities and the discursions are clear on where the investigation will be led.
It was amazing how French created a credible 15 year old girl thinking well ahead of the adults around her as she works to her goal. But the locals can catch up once they realize her plan. They have decades of experience in dealing with troublesome situations.
I raced through the last 100 pages. The subtlety of the plotting of the parties is breathtaking. All the information is there but I did not reason my way through to the actual resolution. The ending was spectacular.
French shows how the complications of life and a murder do not need the powerful and wealthy to be fascinating. The Hunter is better than The Searcher as Trey has come of age. The best book I will read in 2025 is likely to be the first book of the year.
****
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