Plot summary, “The Witch Elm” by Tana French in 6 Minutes - Book Review
0"The Witch Elm" by Tana French is a mystery novel that follows the life of Toby Hennessey, a confident and successful man living in Dublin, Ireland. Toby's life takes a dark turn when he becomes the victim of a brutal home invasion, leaving him with severe brain damage. As Toby tries to recover from the attack, he grapples with fear and paranoia.
In the midst of his struggles, Toby's Uncle Hugo, a genealogist, is diagnosed with brain cancer. Toby and his girlfriend Melissa move in with Hugo to take care of him at Ivy House, their family's vacation home. While staying there, Toby finds solace and a sense of peace. He assists Hugo in researching the genealogy of a woman named Amelia Wozniak.
However, their tranquility is shattered when Toby's cousin's son discovers a skull hidden within a wych elm tree on the property. The investigation uncovers the remains of Dominic Ganly, one of Toby's former classmates. Detective Rafferty informs Toby that the murder weapon, a hooded sweatshirt tie, belonged to him. Suspicion begins to fall on Toby, and he starts questioning his own sanity.
Toby decides to investigate the murder, despite Melissa's pleas for him to leave it to the authorities. During a tense dinner with his cousin and her brother, Toby accuses Leon, his cousin's brother, of hiring the burglars to kill him. The evening takes a disturbing turn when an owl attacks them, and Toby finds out that Melissa has left him.
Overwhelmed with guilt, Toby confesses to Hugo that he believes he murdered Dominic. In a selfless act, Hugo takes the blame for the murder to protect Toby. Hugo's health deteriorates, and he eventually passes away. Leon and Susanna, Toby's cousin, reveal to him that they were the ones who killed Dominic, driven by Dominic's harassment and assault of Susanna. Toby promises to keep their secret.
However, Toby's life continues to unravel when he discovers that anonymous emails posing as Susanna led Dominic to harass her. He questions whether he might have sent those emails himself. Frustrated with Detective Rafferty's persistence, Toby gets into a fight with him, resulting in Rafferty's death. Toby tries to commit suicide but is stopped by Leon and Susanna. He is arrested and found guilty of Rafferty's murder. Due to his brain damage, Toby receives a relatively lenient sentence of two years in a psychiatric facility followed by ten years in prison.
During his stay at the facility, Martin, one of the detectives from Toby's burglary case, reveals that a former coworker named Tiernan likely orchestrated the home invasion out of revenge. Toby eventually receives conditional release from the psychiatric facility, and his life returns to some semblance of normalcy. His luck seems to have returned, and he finds a new job in PR. However, the lingering effects of the events continue to haunt him.