Booker Prize winner and “Irish master” ( The New Yorker) John Banville ’s most ambitious crime novel yet brings two detectives together to solve a globe-spanning mystery Rather than focus primarily on the plot, Banville is more interested in fleshing out his characters, exploring the complexities of their lives and highlighting how the often unseen forces of religion and politics shape decisions and outcomes. One of Rosa’s friends, it turns out, is from a powerful German family that arrived in Ireland under mysterious circumstances shortly after World War II. But as Quirke and Strafford close in, their personal lives may put the case—and everyone involved—in peril, including Quirke’s own daughter.

The opening of the book describes a German man escaping from Germany at the close of the Second World War and this becomes an integral part of the story.

Need Help?

So, what was I missing? Here I was, longing for some magic – through elegant prose or exceptional character development -- that would lift a mystery into a great work. But I wasn’t finding that holy grail. It didn’t have the incredibly humanistic reach of Smiley’s People, where the suspense was flawless and the characters’ imperfections only increased the intensity of the plot, or Phillip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther, whose mistakes, terrors and everyman cynicism only added to the exciting trajectory of each book. Quirke tends to see things others miss and looks at a crime scene and its victims through the eyes of a pathologist rather than a detective. Their collaboration is a challenging one – Quirke despises Strafford, even more so after what happened in Spain, and Strafford can’t bear to be in the same room as the abrasive doctor. Despite the apparent similarities, they are hardly Holmes and Watson.

However, there are some lulls in the pace where Stratford and Quirke are reflecting and also where their love lives intervene. Overall, though, I enjoy this latest outing of this an easy duo and look forward to reading what happens next. It can easily be read as a standalone but the series is good and well worth reading. I found this book to be quite slow-paced and more character-driven than I had expected, focusing more on the drama surrounding the characters than the actual plot. While I enjoyed getting to know the characters, which were well developed from previous books in the series, I felt like their drama took away from what should have been an exciting murder mystery plot line. Additionally, I noticed that the two main characters (Quirke and Strafford) rarely talked to each other which made me feel disconnected from them both emotionally and intellectually. They have a strange dynamic, not often seen. You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here. I began with the prototype novel that first created the character, Detective St. John Strafford. Although it was a very unique WWII story, a sort of quasi-thriller, it was not an actual police procedural, or a true mystery, but drew an amusing and bumbling portrait of top secret wartime efforts at V.I.P. protection, while cleverly illuminating the centuries-long resentment and mistrust of the Irish for the British contrasted against the British conqueror’s withering distain and a sclerotic aristocracy. All while they attempted to cooperate -- uncomfortably -- against the common Nazi threat. It was an out-of-left-field espionage romp. The death of the woman, Rosa, is ultimately tied to that Catholic-German (Nazi)-Israeli axis I mentioned above. That's enough on that.

I was disappointed. I love Banville’s work, but this was the first of his crime fiction that I’ve read. The premise is great - Anglo-Irish detective in the Garda Siochana, working with a spike pathologist - but for me it did not deliver and that feels like a really badly missed opportunity. Despite their mutual animosity, Strafford and Quirke attempt to connect the dots that could lead to Rosa’s murderer. There are several theories, including her ties to an old, wealthy German family, Phoebe’s ex-boyfriend, Quirke’s ex-colleague and a woman who researched an Israeli nuclear weapons plan. Rosa’s reputation is tainted posthumously by people implying that her loose morals, rebellious nature and always getting herself into trouble led to her death. Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland. His father worked in a garage and died when Banville was in his early thirties; his mother was a housewife. He is the youngest of three siblings; his older brother Vincent is also a novelist and has written under the name Vincent Lawrence as well as his own. His sister Vonnie Banville-Evans has written both a children's novel and a reminiscence of growing up in Wexford. This is the third one in his Pathologist, Quirke and Detective Stratford series, following on directly from “April in Spain” when Quirke’s wife was shot and Stratford failed to save her. This is a major theme of the book as Quirke grieves and harbours resentment for this failure and Strafford feels guilt although he knows there was nothing he could have done. If you do nothing, you will be auto-enrolled in our premium digital monthly subscription plan and retain complete access for 65 € per month.

This is a slow paced, character driven read, full of simmering resentments and unusual liaisons between characters. John Banville provides a well written literary slow-burn mystery. As red herrings and clues mount up, intrigue and suspense slowly ratchet up to a satisfying denouement. This is not a barn burner, but an enjoyable and intriguing mystery, set in an interesting time in history, with exploration of political and religious differences of this time period.

Complete this captcha to connect to Foyles

The Kesslers, father and son businessmen, who live in a huge house in the area, become suspects- Quirke and Strafford have a feeling that they are not who they seem and have hidden secrets driving them.