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Selected Crime Fiction Reviews
Selected Crime Fiction Reviews
John Banville is a critically acclaimed author who has published more than a dozen searching, complex and metaphysical novels over the years and won the Booker prize in 2005 for his novel The Sea. Like many writers who have proven themselves in another genre he has turned to crime fiction or, as it turns out, crime fiction where the crime is sometimes peripheral to the story.
Writing as Benjamin Black he has brought to life a version of Dublin in the 1950s where it rains constantly during a seemingly perpetual winter where the nights are long, misty and gloomy. Jameson's Irish Whiskey and Guiness provides the balm that soothes the principal characters and many of the people we meet. Quirke's life is overshadowed by a grim childhood spent mostly in Catholic orphanages in the care of The Brothers who are pictured as largely corrupt, sadistic or worse.
Although each novel in the series features a crime and a resolution of sorts, the pleasure for the reader lies in the exploration of Quirke's character and daily life in a Dublin that feels only a short step away from its rural beginnings.
Over the span of several books there is a gradual revealing of his complicated personal life, not least the strained relationship with his daughter Phoebe.
Quirke has an addiction to alcohol that he seems to accept as just parts of life , the other constants being a deep melancholy that is sporadically leavened by black humour and, at intervals, an unsuitable girlfriend.
He is the senior pathologist at a major hospital in Dublin and once in a while discovers that a death is not all as it appears. This is when he will consult his one friend, Detective Inspector Hackett. He is a shrewd man of conservative outlook with a rubicund face and old fashioned manners who, when ill at ease, adopts the persona of a stage Irishman. This usually happens when he has to deal with the gentry and he relies on Quirke's social skills to smooth his path.
I seldom read a whole series featuring the same character but this is an exception. I have read all of them with great enjoyment and, in every book, the writing is elegant, the prose almost perfect. If you are in the mood to immerse yourself in another time and place with intriguing stories as a companion then this is for you. Amazon kindle editions are usually around £3.99 each.