Theory of Remainders is a phenomenal tale about the consuming nature of loss. It explores the tried and true story of a child being murdered and the parent or emotionally invested detective uncovering the truth in a new way, by setting the actual crime fourteen years in the past and examining the effects place and time have on the protagonist, Phillip Adler. The novel does a great job using subtle cues to show how inescapable something as traumatic as losing a child is. At one point, Adler attempts to leave the Normandy region multiple times, each time being drawn back inexplicably because he’s daughter’s body has yet to be found. In fact, the entire trip to France is prompted by an inability to resolve the past, and the desire to have everything in its right place.

It’s a very human story, in that Adler’s relationships with his ex-wife, her husband, their daughter who bears a heartbreaking resemblence to his own daughter, their extended family and the inhabitants of the town he used to live in. But the story of discovering his daughter’s body, even though the killer has been found and committed in a mental institution is executed well and provides plenty of twists and turns without feeling contrived.

Carpenter’s use of language and knowledge of the tension between American and French culture is also a strength of the book, truly transporting you to a region infamous for it’s involvement with World War II. It’s easy to forget that a people and their communities inhabit this place.