This is another wonderful mystery from John Banville. His take on a classic British whodunnit is splendid. Cue a house full of suspects, an untiring priest, a snow storm and hidden undercurrents and it's the perfect murder mystery. This book wonderfully incorporates the history of Irish Catholicism will see the cooperation and mentality between Church and State which existed during this time. This is an exceptionally well written story, as most would expect from the author. Mr. Banville's use of language is sparse and yet extensive. I highly recommend this mystery. I could not put it down and finished it over night. Excellent read.

I would like to thank John Banville, Faber and Faber Ltd. and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for this ARC!

This was quite a book!
I loved the writing the story around this book!

But it didn't quite hold my attention like I was hoping it would!
To me this wasn't really a mystery novel.
I'm hoping to find more from John that can really hold my attention!

Thank you to NetGalley for the eArc.
Set in a snow covered Wexford, Ireland in the 1950s when Ireland was ruled in all aspects of life by the Catholic Church under the iron fist of the now notorious Archbishop John Charles McQuaid, Detectective Inspector St John Strafford is sent to Ballyglass House in Scarawalsh, owned where a priest has been murdered. Strafford, who we met in "The Secret Guests" written under Banville's pseudonym B W Black is one of the few protestants on the force and is determined find the murderer, despite the snow, the every changing villagers and the silence as was typical of the time
It is a deeply atmospheric book with beautiful descriptive writing. The dark gloomy depressing every life is well painted. Would Recommend

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Snow begins like a straightforward murder mystery (“The body is in the library,” Colonel Osborne said. “Come this way.”), and if one were to read it as a straightforward murder mystery, one might be disappointed; the whodunnit and whydunnits are rather easily solved, and as social commentary, this doesn't really break new ground. So I was forced to ruminate on why a Booker-winning novelist like John Banville put this together (and I especially wondered why he wrote it under his own name instead of the pen name, Benjamin Black, he uses for his Quirke series of mysteries), and I came to a satisfying conclusion: This is a very self-aware and ironic piece of post-modernist writing, and while it may not serve to expose something new about the social constructs of 1950s Ireland (even if this storyline would have been absolutely explosive had it been written in the day), Banville creatively employs the tropes of mystery fiction to provide the ultimate overview of those times. Line-by-line, the writing is just exquisite, and in the large picture, something important is achieved; just don't expect a satisfying murder mystery because I honestly don't believe that was Banville's intent.

Another exceptional novel from Banville. Anyone who knows the terrible hidden history of Irish Catholicism will recognise the mentality and collaboration between Church and State which existed during this period. This is a well written story as one would expect, his use of language at once spare and expansive. Highly recommend