2024 #19 The Witch Elm (French)

 

The Witch Elm by Tana French
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I think I came to this with unfair bias. My only previous experience with French's work was The Searcher, which I read in 2022, and I enjoyed. That is more of a traditional mystery, whereas this is more of a character study/novel (it does in fact say "a novel" on the front cover)? I also think I might have been better served by the print version as I found Paul Nugent's performance in the audiobook rather overwrought.

All that said, it doesn't help that the protagonist (and the vast majority of the characters) is just not that likeable. Toby is "always lucky" we are told, and he and his buddies, Sean and Declan, are hyper-masculine clichés, steeped in bro culture that is magnified in a seemingly endless scene at a pub between the three of them. Likewise, Toby's two closest cousins, Leon and Susannah, also don't have much going for them as characters. As read by Nugent, Leon is a whiny prat with a huge chip on his shoulder. In the case of this character, there is much in his backstory that makes him more sympathetic, but we don't get to any of that until much later in the book. The only two characters who seem to have any redeeming qualities are Uncle Hugo and Melissa (although I found Nugent's voicing of her to be absolutely cloying in places--California valley girl meets Irish damsel in distress).

As far as pacing goes, I feel that I must take responsibility for the fact that I was hoping for a more traditional mystery, and I was distracted in the first hour or so of listening because I kept trying to figure out a) why no one had died yet and b) who it was going to be. Well, someone does die, but it is actually a minor plot point by the time we start to understand that this book is an attempt to investigate the darkness of the human soul. There are a LOT of very lengthy trips down memory lane -- between the guys, between the cousins--not all of them necessary, lingering on boyish pranks and other foolish behavior. And LOTS of time sitting around getting drunk and wasted. I did end up appreciating what first seems to be Toby's luck coming to an end, as it was a well-crafted diversion (but not quite a diversion).

If you are looking for a more traditional whodunnit, this is not that. French's writing is descriptive and charged, enough for me to stick with it when I started to tire of everyone whining. Uncle Hugo's freelance work is interesting, and occasionally French peppers in some interesting historical tidbits and the like. A small point, but I was a bit surprised to hear Uncle Hugo quote Virgil as an example of the ancient *Greeks* believing that the witch elm stood at the gates of Hell. Splitting hairs, perhaps, but it was implied that Virgil was Greek.

I tried to evaluate it on its own merits rather than expectations I should not have had of the book. If you are a fan of French's mysteries, just understand that this is a very different creature. If you enjoy slow plots, psychological study, and an occasional plot twist, this might very well be a great book for you!

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