THE KEEPER by Tana French

4* Slow, slow, slow, and not quite what the blurb leads you to believe, nor as it turned out, my cup of tea...But I kept coming back to it time and time again. There was something indefinable that drew me in...

I expected a murder-mystery with the lead being a retired Chicago cop. Instead, I got Ireland's version of small town Anywhere, USA, where politicians are bought; justice is done local style; the local bigwig rules with smiles, jobs, favours, seeming benevolence, or veiled and not-so-veiled threats...until things change. And people rise up...

This was slow to the point that I wondered why I was still going with it, as it was more saga and very much not cop procedural. Characters were many, and there wasn't really enough of an intro to most. I got the impression that mental health was an issue for more than a few, but not admitted, and that people in Ardnakilty had their own way of dealing with things.

The ending was a surprise. In my book, pun not intended, justice didn't get done. In the eyes of the locals, the fall from grace of a certain family was justice. The leverage the locals held, I think, would mean lives changed for the better, and Rachel's death not being in vain. BUT, omg did I have an issue with a certain character who I felt poured the wrong words into a vulnerable person's ear, resulting in a tragedy. That said person had their own hold over locals didn't wash with me and that justice didn't come for them, either, was a disappointment. They're not likely to be ostracised due to their age and reputation, but perhaps the local grapevine might result in some form of downfall? Please. 

This was a compelling read but a long, slow, deary one, as dreary as the Ardnakilty weather that featured so much. It's the longest I've ever spent on a book, at about 6 hours and just over a week of stop-starting.

ARC courtesy of Penguin General UK - Fiq Tree. Hamish Hamilton, Viking Penquin Life, Penquin Business and NetGalley for my reading pleasure.