Dear Great Book Guru, With our Thanksgiving weekend plans pretty much limited to long walks and time at home, there is lots of time for a good book.  I would love a mystery – one with an interesting locale and characters - always a number one choice of mine.  Any recommendations? Holiday Weekender

 Dear Holiday Weekender, One of my favorite mystery writers, Tana French, just came out with a new book: THE SEARCHER. As usual, French sets the story in present-day Ireland.  Cal Hooper has moved into a farmhouse that has been abandoned for over twenty years. Cal is a retired Chicago police detective who is trying to build a new life far from the tensions of his job and ex-wife Donna.  His daughter Alyssa is his only connection to his former life and theirs is a troubled relationship.  Shortly after moving in, Cal finds the quiet serenity of his rural homestead disrupted by a young child. Trey is in desperate search of a missing brother Brendan - a charismatic nineteen-year-old who left home a few weeks before.  Everyone assures Cal there is nothing mysterious about this disappearance. As so many before Brendan, he has left home  to escape the boredom of small village life. Cal soon finds there is much more about life in this village than he thought, and his detective skills prove very, very useful.  A captivating look into life in the Irish countryside replete with colorful characters - sinister and otherwise…. Recommended!