Despite Melissa's insistence that he not investigate the matter further, Toby invites Susanna and Leon over for dinner to pump them for details about Dominic and the murder. After Rafferty insinuates that Toby is their top suspect, Toby begins to question his sanity. Later, Detective Rafferty arrives at Ivy House to inform Toby that the tie from a hooded sweatshirt belonging to Toby was the murder weapon used to strangle Dominic to death. When investigators enter the backyard, razing the entire garden, they discover the full skeletal remains of one of Toby's former classmates, Dominic Ganly. Toby's peace is shattered when Susanna's son Zach removes a human skull from inside the wych elm tree behind the house. He aids Hugo in his genealogical effort to research the ancestral roots of a mysterious woman named Amelia Wozniak.

At first, Toby enjoys Ivy House, achieving a sense of inner peace and well-being he has not felt since the attack. During his youth, Toby, Susanna, and Susanna's brother, Leon, had been given free rein over Ivy House in the summers. To care for Hugo, Toby and Melissa move in with Hugo into his vacation home, known as Ivy House. Later, he learns from his cousin Susanna that his Uncle Hugo, a lifelong bachelor and a genealogist by trade, has been diagnosed with brain cancer. For months after his release from the hospital, Toby lives in fear of a repeat assault. Detectives Martin and Bannon of the Dublin police office visit him in the hospital but prove to be of little help in catching the assailants. The burglars viciously beat Toby nearly to death, and he suffers brain damage as a result of the attack. Toby's luck runs out later that night when he returns home to find burglars in his apartment. At a bar one night, his working-class friend corrects him, arguing that Toby is simply lucky. He believes this is because of the endemic qualities he possesses such as charm. Having been one of the most popular kids in high school, Toby has rarely dealt with serious trauma or suffering. Good-looking and financially stable, Toby has a beautiful, sweet girlfriend named Melissa and a successful career as a PR agent for an art gallery in Dublin, Ireland where he lives. Slate calls The Witch Elm, 'swooningly evocative.' The book's narrator and protagonist is Toby Hennessey. A New York Times Notable Book of 2018, The Witch Elm also appeared on at least 10 Best Book of the Year lists, including those published by NPR, The Boston Globe, and Slate. The Witch Elm (2018), a mystery novel by American Irish author Tana French, narratives the travails of a confident and successful man whose life is shattered when he suffers a brutal beating during a home invasion incident.

The witch elm review new york times