Banville’s latest mystery has a dark undercurrent, something that both the reader and the detective can feel but can’t quite pin down. The title reverberates throughout the novel with a definite chill placed upon all of the characters. A priest is killed and mutilated and Strafford, our detective, is tasked with solving the mystery. He has to penetrate a veil of silence laid down by the Catholic Church and exaggerated by his status as a Protestant man in a mostly Catholic town. A quiet and foreboding mystery.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book. Of course Banville writes beautifully and really knows his Irish home and its history.

Detective Strafford is an interesting and sympathetic main character and we are plunged straight into the action with the rather nasty murder of a Catholic priest, found in the library of an historic mansion. Things become a little bizarre as all of the family members in the house seem slightly mad in one way or another.

So the build up was good but about half way through it seemed Strafford began to go around in circles, especially regarding the female characters involved. What was he thinking? The murderer was pretty obvious although Banville introduces an interesting possibility in the epilogue which leaves the reader with more to think about.

A good read but not an outstanding one.

A brilliant country house mystery complete with a body in the library, that of a highly respected parish priest. Snow is falling and the more Detective Inspector St. John Strafford tries to solve the case, the more those involved attempt to keep their secrets. John Banville has written a true classic detective story set in Ireland. I loved every minute of this novel, highly recommended.

This is an extremely engrossing murder mystery, set in 1950s Ireland.  The story has a very Agatha Christie-esque  feeling, beginning with a body in the library of a country house.  Wonderful old fashioned storytelling with an very atmospheric wintry setting and some fantastic characters.  Recommended reading.

A murder takes place in a country house with the parish priest as the victim is the stuff of classic detective fiction. Everyone is a suspect and the victim had many enemies. The Book excels with the period detail, and the main protagonists St John Strafford as he is a mass of contradictions. The supporting cast are all fleshed out perfectly and the ending is very satisfying.

Snow is an intelligent literary murder mystery. It confounds expectations: it’s not a modern thriller with lots of plot twists, but although set in a similar 1940s period with a body in a library, it is not a cosy crime novel (Agatha Christie is referenced on more than one occasion). 
As soon as the priest body is revealed without its genitals, we know we are in a territory that Dame Agatha would have fainted at. 
Whereas Christie’s characters are simply one dimensional and often stereotypical, Banville bases his novel all around character.
He uses the story to explore the self-perpetuating prevalence of child abuse and paedophilia in the catholic priesthood in Ireland. It’s a wonder that more priests weren’t murdered as it was the only way of stopping them - the church denying any liability and simply moving the priest elsewhere. Banville plays an even hand with all the characters and despite the fact Father Tom is dead and doesn’t require any exploration, the author still explores his point of view and motivations. 
By the time we drift to the answers at the end, it is satisfying and logical as nothing feels out of character.

John Banville is much more famous for literary fiction than mysteries. It shows in Snow. 

The plot reads like a too-easy-to-solve Agatha Christie. A priest is murdered in a down-at-its-heels country manor house during a snowstorm with no signs of forced entry.

However, the setting in 1950s Ireland with the sharp divisions between its Catholic and Protestant inhabitants is extremely effective. You feel like you are really living there. The snowy atmosphere and the oppression of the time almost feel like characters within the novel. And the writing style itself is lush.

Unfortunately, the mystery is much too easy to solve. Here, you try it with just a few clues from the beginning of the book: 1957, Ireland, Catholic priest murdered with his “tackle” (genitals) removed, and daughter of the house calling said priest “like a Peeping Tom”.

Overall, literary fiction fans will enjoy this well-written peep into the past. But for mystery fans like me, Snow only receives 3 stars.

Thanks to Faber & Faber Ltd and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

The incomparable Booker Prize winner’s next great crime novel—the story of a family whose secrets resurface when a parish priest is found murdered in their ancestral home. Detective Inspector St. John Strafford has been summoned to County Wexford to investigate a murder. A parish priest has been found dead in Ballyglass House, the family seat of the aristocratic, secretive Osborne family. The year is 1957 and the Catholic Church rules Ireland with an iron fist. Strafford—flinty, visibly Protestant and determined to identify the murderer—faces obstruction at every turn, from the heavily accumulating snow to the culture of silence in the tight-knit community he begins to investigate. As he delves further, he learns the Osbornes are not at all what they seem. And when his own deputy goes missing, Strafford must work to unravel the ever-expanding mystery before the community’s secrets, like the snowfall itself, threaten to obliterate everything.

This is a compulsive and riveting story from the get-go and I found it even more enthralling when Banville began to address issues of religion, child abuse and the lengths gone to in order to cover up their misdeeds; these are heavy topics but they mirror the abuse children in homes in Ireland experienced at the hands of the people who were supposed to be caring for them. Needless to say, I was gripped pretty quickly, but it is quite harrowing. I love books that get under your skin and into your psyche and tear up your preconceptions and this fits the bill perfectly. The mystery and intrigue, which fill these pages, are handled expertly, just as you'd expect from a master plotter like Banville. There are some surprising twists and turns, the writing is superb and the characters are engagingly drawn.

The potent mix of razor-sharp observations, social commentary, enough tension and suspense to have your nerves jittering and characters you really begin to care about make this a riveting read. A real intelligent page-turner and a must-read for all crime connoisseurs. Many thanks to Faber for an ARC.

“Snow” by John Banville is a fascinating, multi-layered thriller set in a small rural town in County Wexford, Ireland some years after the war of Independence has ended although certain attitudes persist.  The gruesome death and mutilation of the slightly unorthodox local priest Father Tom, in the Protestant Major Osborne’s stately family home is truly shocking though Detective Inspector Strafford sent from Dublin to investigate is more than a little confused by the attitudes and behaviour of the residents of the house following the morbid death. Strafford is assisted in the investigation by detective Sergeant Jenkins also sent from Dublin but is simultaneously hindered by other key figures in this treacherously cold, unwelcoming, snow-covered landscape.

I particularly enjoyed the many descriptions of the sky and the diverse characters that Detective Strafford came across and how he tried to figure them out whilst getting as much information from them as he could.

Snow is falling steadily in rural Ireland at Christmastime in 1957. DI St. John Strafford is sent from Dublin to investigate a murder at the country estate of Lord Osborne. He finds the body of  Father Tom, the village priest, stabbed and mutilated, in the library. The housekeeper has, of course, rearranged the body and washed up any blood stains. But solving the crime should be simple. After all, aside from the dead priest who spent the night because of the raging storm, there were only five people in the house: Lord Osborne, the preening Lord of the Manor; his second wife Sylvia, whose drug problem is quickly apparent to Strafford; the housekeeper Mrs Drury; and Dominic and Lettie, the young adult Osborne children. Surely, one of them must be the murderer?

Although John Banville has presented the reader what seems to be a neatly wrapped closed room mystery, things are definitely not what they seem. No one in the house has an obvious motive for the killing. As Strafford starts to dig into Father Tom’s background, he finds long buried secrets, secrets that have led to suicide and death.

The troubled religious and political background of Ireland is almost a character in this mystery. Strafford, from a wealthy Protestant family like the Osbornes, is an unlikely Irish policeman, as he is told early in the story. While the Protestant leaning Dublin police want the case solved, the Catholic Archbishop would like it classified as a simple fall. Strafford walks a tightrope between the two factions. He also has to fight his own impulses as he is attracted to several women who are involved in the case.

Although this mystery takes place over only a few days, it is slow-paced and deliberately plotted. The constant snow and the dark winter days add to the tension which builds gradually and settles over SNOW like a blanket. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Faber and Faber Ltd. and John Banville for this ARC.

Lots of comparisons to Agatha Christie by other reviewers. And they would be right. I think it's the slow pace elegant prose. I enjoyed this very much.

Snow by John Banville 
This book starts with a brutal murder of a priest in 1957 in wexford,  the town I live in. 
What follows is a mystery,  that takes a lot of twists and turns until it is finally solved, I didn't work it out until the killer was revealed.  
I loved the Wexford scenery and locations in the book, It was the thing I enjoyed the most 3/5

We have a colonel with a priests body in the library which all seems to be very Agatha Christie, except being 2020, we have gore, mutilation and sexual abuse.

Following the discovery of the priests body of a highly at Ballyglass House - Detective Inspector St John Strafford is called in from Dublin to investigate.
Strafford faces witnesses that appear to be withholding information and pressure from the church to hush the whole thing up. Many of the scenes seem almost TV ready with the colonel and his family of strange characters and the constant snow which gives a rural claustrophobic feel to proceedings.

The crime was relatively easy to solve although there are some twists at the end; however the writing is superb and the novel raises the subject of religion, child abuse and the subsequent cover ups which makes the novel interesting and engrossing.

What an apt title. Snow features in this novel like a true master of suspense. It weaves the story together like a pro. Ireland's landscape is atmospheric in any season, but snow makes the rural town in Ireland feel even more remote. 

This remoteness is the perfect setting of John Banville's latest novel. The story takes place in 1957. It starts with the body of a priest in a library and a detective unwilling to return to small town Ireland to solve the murder. The cast of characters are like actors in a play. It feels like an overdone Agatha Christie novel, but the plot never falters and I found the novel impossible to put down because I couldn't wait to find out whodunnit. 

What I liked most about the novel is that Banville doesn't shy away from heavy subjects such as the divide between Catholics and Protestants and the struggle with the IRA. The historical setting fits this novel perfectly, as does the small town environment and its people. You have to be ready to face the hard-hitting subjects head-on if you'd like to enjoy this novel. 

It met my expectations of murder mystery perfectly. It had the perfect cast of characters and a fantastic historical setting.

This book is set in 1957 in Ireland. Detective Inspector St John Strafford is called in to investigate the death of a highly respected parish priest at Ballyglass House who has been found dead at Colonel Osborne house in County Wexford.  The Obsorne family are aristocratics. As Stafford investigates he faces obstruction from all angles and the town full of secrets. 

This book is set in the past in Ireland. The title describes the setting in the book as Stafford investigates in the snow and the cold and the town full of secrets. 

This isn’t a fast place mystery story, it definitely more slow paced as you read Stafford try to put the pieces together to solve the crime. It isn’t a easy read either with certain topics in that come up in the book. 

I kinda guessed what had happened and why as well. 

Overall a book set in the past in Ireland witha  slow paced mystery and a detective who prepares to work on his own. 

I received a review from Netgalley and Faber and Faber Ltd for an objection review.

I have been a fan of John Banville since I read The Sea on its original publication. This book is an excellent addition to his catalogue, although I am slightly surprised that it's published under the John Banville name rather than his nom-de-plume Benjamin Black.

Set in 1950s Ireland, the story follows Inspector Strafford, a Protestant detective from Dublin, investigating the murder of a Catholic priest at a country house. However, the book is more character led than plot driven - the "snow" of the title being an extra character. Despite a second murder taking place, there is no real sense of urgency or jeopardy to the investigation, which takes place over two days at Christmas. But that is Banville's style, and this is a wonderful book.

Thoroughly enjoyable, although there is a difficult section (hard to stomach, not hard to read) towards the end.

Detective Inspector Strafford (with an 'r') is called out on a snowy, bleak day to investigate a murder at Ballyglass house. However, no one really seems to want the murder solved and in this weather, clues can be hard to come by. So how will Strafford solve the case when no one wants to talk? Funny how secrets come out even in silence.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review. It is a solid mystery story, but it is very different from the mysteries I usually read. If you are expecting an action-packed thriller, this is not the book for you. I found the book very slow, but then at the end all of the pieces fell right together. The writing is well done and I appreciated the descriptive style Banville uses with regard to both his characters and his scenery. This book reminds me of more old school style mysteries (think Agatha Christie) that are somewhat intellectual in nature. For me, the reason this did not get more stars (don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad) is that the characters were not particularly rounded out. I could tell you relatively easily what they physically looked like, but that is about all. I barely remember the main character's name, much less the rest of them, which, to me, indicates they as characters are a bit flat.

As always, Banville writes an enjoyable mystery. Set in 1950’s Ireland, Detective Inspector Strafford is sent to Ballyglass House to investigate the grisly murder of a Catholic priest. There’s a lot at play here. There is always the tension of Catholics and Protestants. There’s the small town of Ballyglass where everyone want to know what is going on and there seems the be the ever-present aspect of Catholic priests abusing young boys. When the murder is solved, the reader won’t be surprised. The strength of the mystery lies in the characters.

Well, at least you're a Wexford man.

So said Colonel Osborne when he welcomed DI St John (pronounced 'Sinjun') Strafford to Ballyglass House just before Christmas 1957. Osborne was master of the Keelmore Hounds and had done something memorable with the Inniskilling Dragoons at Dunkirk. The niceties had to be established even when there was a Catholic priest dead on the library floor with some precious bits of his anatomy missing. Strafford was from Roslea at Bunclody and this, along with his good-but-shabby suit, marked him out as of Osborne's class and obviously Protestant. The dead priest was Father Tom Lawless from Scallanstown, who - despite the different religions - was in the habit of spending time at Ballyglass House. His horse was stabled there.

It's practically a closed-room mystery. Strafford was in charge of the case because he was visiting his father at Roslea and could get to the murder scene, which was no easy matter because of the deep snow, which continued to fall. DS Ambrose Jenkins was on his way from Dublin. There are no signs of forced entry, so it's difficult to think that the murderer is other than someone who was in Ballyglass House the night before, although Colonel Osborne is insistent that a group of tinkers should be rounded up. He's also somewhat surprised that Ambie Jenkins is allowed to speak without getting permission from his senior officer - and that Strafford should expect that the sergeant will eat with them.

The niceties have extended to the clearing up of the crime scene. Copious amounts of blook have been removed and the stair carpet has been cleaned. Mrs Osborne discovered the body but the colonel then adjusted the priest's clothing so that the mutilation was not immediately visible. There was remarkably little for the forensic team to go on but what had happened before Strafford arrived was down to ignorance. He would soon encounter deliberate obstruction. The head of the Catholic Church, Dr John Charles McQuaid, called Strafford in to see him: what had happened would be put down to a tragic accident when the priest fell down the stairs. Investigation was unnecessary. The press release had already been issued.

Strafford's thirty-five but there's an emotional immaturity about him. He occasionally moons over the women he encounters, from the almost-transparent Sylvia Osborne to her step-daughter Lettie and finally the maid at the pub where he's staying. He broke up with his girlfriend some time ago - or rather, she broke it off when she threw a glass of wine at him. But, there's a determination, a stubbornness about him and the more Dr Quaid says to try to persuade him from investigating, the more determined he is to find out what happened.

It's John Banville, so the writing is exquisite. Sometimes I found myself rereading a phrase or a sentence just for the pleasure which the words gave. I'm used to crime novels coming from Banville's alter ego, Benjamin Black, and there is a nod to the Quirke series. Quirke is - apparently - now the State Pathologist and on his honeymoon. The plot of Snow is deceptively simple whilst you're reading but complex and carefully-constructed in retrospect. It's a book to read for the pleasure of reading and then to re-read, just to see how it was done.

I'd like to thank the publishers for making a copy available to the Bookbag.

DI St John Stafford is not only surprised by how carefully a murdered priest is laid out. he's also curious why no one seems that upset.  It's a snowy day in Ireland in 1957 and Father Lawless was a guest at the home of Colonel Jeffrey Osborne and his wife Sylvia.  Someone not only killed Lawless, they castrated him and, despite this. powerful Church forces demand that the case be closed and called an accident.  That doesn't sit well with Stafford.  This has some twists and Stafford is a good character but this was most interesting to me for the atmospherics.  Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.  A good read.