What a brilliant book. John Banville is somehow able to create a completely gripping and fascinating tale, even in the parts where nothing much actually seems to be happening.

April in Spain is based on the fantastic pathologist Quirke, an apparently functioning alcoholic who is now married to Evelyn. While away in Spain, Quirke becomes convinced that he has met a woman who he thought had died some time previously, a friend of his daughter Phoebe.

The attempts to discover the truth about this woman bring Quirke, Evelyn and Phoebe into danger, and stir up trouble in high up places back in Ireland.

The great thing, but not the only great thing, about this novel is Quirke. He is fantastically readable. There are passages where he is simply strolling along with his wife, eating dinner, taking naps, and all of it is interesting. Quirke is still figuring out Evelyn, who herself has many secrets, and the dynamic of their relationship makes fascinating reading.

His relationship with Phoebe, who didn't always know he was her father, is another complicated matter that adds to the story.

The plot is good in itself, but I think what really makes this are the characters, the quality of the writing and description of settings and emotions. It was a book that you feel you would have been quite happy with going on forever, and I found myself a little sad at later reading that Banville typically takes four years to write a novel.

This is a complex, slow burning, enthralling and entertaining story that kept me turning pages as fast as I could.
It wasn't love at first page but after a few pages I was hooked.
The plot is complex, it kept me guessing and I was surprised by the ending. Sometimes there's a bit too much coincidence but it didn't stop me from loving it.
Great character development, vivid historical background and some lovely descriptions of San Sebastian.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I read Snow, the author’s previous offering, and the jury was out. I hadn’t ready him before and I wasn’t sure it was my type of book so I thought I’d give him another go before I write him off. Although involving crossover characters and backstories, from the off I preferred the main protagonist in April in Spain. Grumpy, depressive, alcoholic, Dublin pathologist Quirke is holidaying with his incredible wife in the resort of San Sebastian when he thinks he spies someone from his past who was believed to be dead so becomes intent on solving the puzzle regardless of consequences. An incredulous tale with just too many coincidences and unpleasantries for me I’m afraid. Don’t just take my word for it though, as he is highly acclaimed and I’m probably missing something…

A Dublin pathologist Quirke is taken on holiday to the Spanish coast by his wife . He finds it difficult to settle down until after an injury he has to visit the hospital and thinks he recognises a lady doctor who is called to treat him and then is replaced by a different doctor . He later remembers who the girl is , a friend of his daughter . She has supposedly been dead for many years . He brings his daughter over to confirm his suspicion and he is correct . This also brings in the story of a hired killer brought in to get rid of loose ends . Many twists along the way .

Lovely descriptive book that sets the scene well although rather a slow burner.
I believe this is part of a series and I have not read any of the previous books. This does not hinder the enjoyment of this book as any relevant history is included so it can easily be read as a standalone.
It took some time to get into the main story but the book is wonderfully atmospheric so makes up for the slow start. Once read however I can appreciate the detail at the beginning, making the ending all the more dramatic.
I agree with other reviews that the ending does seems a little rushed, especially given the slow start but leaving things to the readers imagination is not necessarily a bad move and I'm not sure that I wanted to read about the aftermath anyway.

I was a bit confused by this book at the start but soon grew to love it. San Sebastian was very well described and a lovely picture painted. Dr Quirke and his wife Evelyn are holidaying there when he sees what he believes is a face from the past. Can that be as this person is supposed to be dead.

I enjoyed the story but found the ending a bit rushed. I felt it could have been drawn out a bit more. I understand this is a series but I didn't know that when I read it so it doesn't matter.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

April in Spain is billed as Quirke 8 and St John Strafford 2.
Quirke, after a bit of an absence, is holidaying (a strange and difficult experience for him) in San Sebastian with Evelyn, his newish wife. An unfortunate incident with nail scissors and an oyster hinge result in a trip to the local hospital, but just as Quirke registers recognition of the attending doctor, she has disappeared, leaving him to be treated by someone else.
Not content to leave it there, Quirke phones home to Phoebe, hoping that she will come out to Spain and verify his sighting of a woman involved in one of his previously cases.
As usual in the Quirke and Strafford reads, the plot is fairly forgettable, but the writing and characterisation is certainly not. Again, as in Stafford 1, April in Spain is brilliantly and beautifully more Banville than Black, and the atmospheric narrative and the detail presented by the writer to establish every cast member is unrivalled.
Tice, in particular, with his misguided parallels between himself and Pinkie in Brighton Rock and the disparity between how he thinks he looks and how he is actually perceived, is ridiculous and dangerous, a cold casual killer.
Strafford makes a late entrance and is much better understood with the background information provided in Snow.
The end was sudden, I even wondered if there was a bit missing. The main players are left standing around in Spain pondering on what has just transpired, leaving a telegram from Strafford back to Dublin to sort out the detail.
Reading April in Spain is a complete pleasure. Plenty of scope here for more.

Book was a bit slow I felt, only got interesting for the last quarter. It was easy to read and I got through it fairly quickly but it didn’t really hold my interest.
#AprilinSpain #NetGalley.

Although this story begins with background information about the assassin, the second story, with the Irish pathologist Quirke on holiday with his wife in northern Spain, is thoroughly interesting and rewarding as a reader. Without the introduction of meeting the Irish doctor in the Spanish hospital, the story could have continued as a fun read because the two main characters are so well described.
Nevertheless, the assassin must have been introduced for a reason and when we find the Irish doctor, possibly a young lady who disappeared, presumed dead, several years earlier, this novel begins to move in another direction. Quirke tells his daughter who tells too many people that it quickly becomes clear how the assassin will be linked at a later stage, but in the first few chapters there is no why or reason to the twin running stories.
With so many individuals knowing that the Irish doctor may be the missing girl, it appears that half of Ireland is heading towards northern Spain and with the assassin described in clear detail, this is going to get messy.
Everyone involved is a rounded character, complete with a variety of flaws which ensures that the conflict will come to a head, even if nothing happens.
Without giving away where this story goes, I look forward to reading more from John Banville because I enjoy his writing style and his ability to get inside characters to make them as well known as your neighbours. The writer helps you care about each character, including what makes the assassin tick. Be aware, you have to keep turning the pages.

April in Spain is the eighth instalment in this elegant and compelling historical crime series to feature inimitable Irish pathologist and heavy drinker Dr Quirke who is this time joined in his sleuthing by newcomer from Snow, DI St. John Strafford. On the idyllic coast of the Spanish city of San Sebastian, pathologist Quirke finds it difficult to find peace, despite the beaches, the cafes and the company of his disarmingly loving wife. Quirke and his Austrian psychiatrist wife, Evelyn, are holidaying together in Donostia in the Basque region of Spain, but Quirke soon gets himself into a little trouble when he tries to open a can of oysters with nail scissors after forgetting to purchase a suitable tool. Unfortunately, the injury is quite nasty, and Evelyn insists that he attends the local hospital due to the severity of the wound. But when he arrives there a sense of deja vu overcomes him and he realises that the Irish doctor about to examine then tend to his silly gash is the same woman he noticed recently while in a local bar one evening. Still trying to ascertain exactly where he recognises the doctor calling herself Angela Lawless from, Quirke thinks his imagination has run wild on him.

This young woman cannot be April Latimer, a friend of Quirke’s own daughter, Phoebe. After all, she was murdered by her brother years ago right before he confessed and apparently took his own life – that was the conclusion of a controversial case that shook Irish political relations to their foundations, anyway. Unable to put the matter out of his mind and prompted further by the woman’s appearance and matching initials, Quirke calls Ireland, and soon Detective St. John Strafford is dispatched to Spain. But Strafford is not alone in hitting the road. A ruthless and psychotic assassin, Terry Tice, hunts for his latest prey, and his victim may well be Quirke himself. This is an enthralling and exceptionally woven literary thriller that moves at a slow-burning pace and is laden with an intriguing mystery, dark secrets, betrayal, toxicity, deception and some deeply dangerous people and incidents that take place throughout. I was absorbed from the outset and the setting of the laid back Basque region where Quirke and Evelyn sample many of the cultural delicacies beneath the glowing rays and the central thread unfolds among the visceral descriptions of Basque cuisine, language, weather and architecture.

Banville’s prose puts many writers to shame as it is masterfully crafted, and within the richly detailed plot there is not a single element left to chance. This is a crime novel that you enjoy savouring, and you do so with every last word as you truly appreciate the layered and perceptive descriptions of both people and place. As ever, Quirke and his wife share their unique bond together; they are both idiosyncratic and frequently eccentric characters who just happen to share a long-term, contented love story and lifelong companionship. It's lovely to actually observe a solid couple such as this as many romantic relationships taking place in fiction are often fly by night. It's an engrossing and entertaining read from beginning to denouement complete with deft plotting before arriving at a palpably tense climax. It also wouldn't be Banville without a detailed examination of relationships – personal, social and political. A spellbinding mystery swaddled in the rich atmosphere of Spain in springtime. Highly recommended.

Having read “ Snow” last year and seen the author talk at a literary festival, I was excited to receive a review copy of “April in Spain”.
This is a literary mystery which is much more of a slow burner than Snow. Although Stratford, the detective from the earlier book, appears in this one, he does not have a lead role. The main character is Quirke, à Dublin coroner who is on holiday in Northern Spain in the late 1950s with his psychiatrist wife Evelyn. When he injures himself and attends the local hospital he catches sight of a young female doctor whom he recognises from home and whom he believed dead. He immediately calls his daughter as she was a friend of the woman and urges her to come out and help him identify her.
Meanwhile a young Irish hitman is hired to deal with the situation and flies out to Spain.
The style is very literary and the fact that Terry Tice, the killer is reading Brighton Rock throughout the novel lends weight to the Graham Green atmosphere of the book.He is a young gangster like Pinkie and seems to revel in the similarities between his lifestyle and Pinkie’s.
I liked the characterisations, particularly Quirke and his wife- their relationship was interesting as Evelyn comes from a tragic Holocaust background and Quirke also has a dark history. Evelyn seems very positive and cheerful which is the complete opposite to Quirke’s darkness and his tendency to drink.
I realised after a while that they had both appeared in earlier books but I had not read them. This one could easily be read as a standalone.
There are some difficult themes in “April in Spain”including incest, government corruption and the atrocities perpetrated by Catholic priests who worked in Irish orphanages.
My only quibble with the book would be that the ending seemed very abrupt although I thought that the title itself was very clever. I was really hoping that there would be more after the last page but was sadly disappointed. Maybe another book is in the pipeline.
Thanks to NetGalley for my review copy. Recommended.

John Banville's latest instalment in his Quirke series (previous books have been published under his pen name Benjamin Black), draws in a new recurring character, D.I. St. John Strafford, with whom readers will be familiar from Banville's 2020 release Snow.
The book is set in the late 1950s - early 1960s. After an opening chapter told from the perspective of an Irish hitman living in England, the tone turns rather languid and reflective with State Pathologist Quirke (also Irish) and his wife, Austrian-born psychiatrist Evelyn, on holiday at the northern Spanish beach resort of Donostia-San Sebastián.
"There was a café on a square in the Old Town that became their favourite haunt of an evening. They took to sitting outside there, under an old stone arcade, as the nights grew increasingly warm." (loc. 219, Banville's description fits Constitución Plaza)
Quirke is jolted from his preoccupations and ruminations when, after an accident involving an oyster and nail scissors, he meets a young Irish doctor, Angela Lawless, at the local hospital. Although his recollection is based on a single passing introduction several years ago, when he was characteristically drunk, he becomes convinced that Dr. Lawless is, in fact, April Latimer, a friend of his daughter Phoebe's, who went missing, believed murdered, four years earlier.
Following an excruciatingly awkward dinner during which Quirke tries to draw Angela-April out, the action moves to Dublin, where Quirke's daughter Phoebe is reeling from the news her father has just relayed via telephone. By contacting April's uncle, Irish Defence Minister William Latimer, she unwittingly sets off a series of events which will put April's - and her own - life in danger.
Using alternating perspectives, Banville creates a palpable sense of tension and foreshadowing as Phoebe sets off, accompanied by D.I. Strafford representing the Garda Siochána, to join her father and step-mother in Spain.
The cleverly-titled April in Spain is high quality literary mystery-suspense, featuring Banville's characteristically elegant prose, simple but exquisite use of descriptive language to evoke setting and deep character exploration. Despite not having yet read the earlier Quirke books - I now intend to - I found myself quickly immersed in his mid-20th-century world. His relationship with Evelyn is portrayed with sensitivity and a lightness of touch, and the picturesque setting is rendered lifelike through his lens. While Strafford plays only a supporting role in this book, his character taciturn but highly-perceptive as in Snow, his involvement is pivotal as the story unfolds towards its shocking conclusion. The ground is set for him to remain a recurring character in future Quirke outings.
I'd highly recommend April in Spain to readers who appreciate a literary style of mystery, with evocative prose and well-developed characters. While the plot is a slow-build, committed readers will be well rewarded.
My thanks to the author, John Banville (aka Benjamin Black), publisher Faber and Faber Ltd. and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this stimulating title.

If I had to choose one word to describe John Banville‘s latest crime novel it would be this: fun.

April in Spain is historical crime at its best, the kind of story you can get lost in and enjoy to the full even if the crime itself is a bit of a let down.

This evocative postwar tale stars Dublin pathologist Quirke, whom we have met in earlier novels published under Banville’s pseudonym, Benjamin Black, and Detective John Strafford who made his first appearance in last year’s Snow. (Note, you don’t need to be familiar with those novels, but it’s great fun for readers who are.)

It’s set in San Sebastián, on the northern coast of Spain’s mountainous Basque Country, and is famous for its forests, beaches, sparkling wine and seafood. Quirke is holidaying here somewhat reluctantly (he finds it difficult to relax) thanks to his wife, Evelyn, a straight-talking Austrian psychotherapist who survived the Holocaust, having arranged it all.

‘𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝,’ 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝. ‘𝐈𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭.’

One evening, enjoying a quiet drink in a bar in the Old Town, Quirke hears an Irish accent and wonders if he might know the woman to whom it belongs, but she’s sitting behind him and he can’t see her properly. When he does finally run into her under different circumstances a few days later he realises he does know her — or at least he thinks he does. The problem is she’s supposed to be dead, having been murdered by her brother following a sex scandal involving one of Ireland’s most distinguished political families many years earlier.

Quirke being Quirke can’t ignore the possibility that April Latimer, now going by the name Angela Lawless (note the same initials), is still alive, but how to prove it? That’s where Detective Strafford comes into the picture. He arrives in Spain, accompanied by Quirke’s adult daughter who was friends with April and will be able to help identify her.

But lurking in the shadows is another visitor to San Sebastián with a keen interest in April Latimer. His name is Terry Tice and he’s an Irish-born East End gangster cut from a similar cloth to Reggie Kray.

𝐓𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭. 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝. 𝐍𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝.

The narrative eventually brings all these characters together in a surprising end, although it’s a slim premise for a crime novel. The strength of April in Spain is really the way in which Banville tells his story and builds suspense via his beautifully crafted prose. I love how he comes at everything with a completely original eye, inventing his own metaphors and creating unique similies. It’s the kind of writing that dazzles without showing off and is utterly enjoyable to read.

A flustered woman, for instance, is described as being akin to a “bird floundering in a net as colourless as air”. An old guy behind the desk in a pub has “the look of a walrus, with fat shoulders and a sloped back and a tired moustache drooping at the tips”. A man becomes anxious so that the “collar of his shirt seems all of a sudden two or three sizes too small for him”, while a worried woman feels “like a swimmer on a high diving board whose nerve had failed”.

I particularly liked this description of something as simple as dust:

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐝 — 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐮𝐫, 𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐥-𝐦𝐚𝐮𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡.

He paints such delicious pictures with words that the story really comes alive in your mind.

The first part of the book, as Quirke settles into holiday mode, is a delight. I went to San Sebastián in 2018 and it remains one of the most memorable (and beautiful) European destinations I’ve ever visited. I recognised so much of Banville’s descriptions, including his references to the local fizzy white wine known as txakoli — “That was one word Quirke was quick to learn how to pronounce: tchacholy” — and the delicious skewered snacks known as pintxos, which Quirke describes as (rather unkindly) “a slightly fancier version of the dull old sandwich. He was against the idea of local specialities, which in his experience were all too local, and rarely special”.

In move to protect his “big Irish head”, Quirke is even dragged to the very same hat shop I bought a Panama hat in:

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐚 𝐏𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐥. 𝐀 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝟏𝟖𝟑𝟖. 𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬 [𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐥]. 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.

The mood of the story isn’t as dark as you might expect. The banter between Quirke and his wife is particularly funny (the push and pull of their relationship is brilliantly evoked). And there’s a vein of gentle humour, often mocking, running throughout. Here’s an example. Quirke and Evelyn buy oysters in the local fish market but when they get back to their hotel room they realise they have nothing to open them with.

𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. ‘𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐬,’ 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝. ‘𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡.’ 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥.

And here’s how Terry Tice describes his impression of the tourists he sees on the beach:

𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞-𝐦𝐞𝐧, 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐖𝐞𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫. 𝐀𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐬. 𝐈𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐬.

I suspect diehard readers of the crime genre might find this novel a little disappointing. But what it lacks in plot, it more than makes up for in terrific characters — the people in this book are brilliant creations, each one distinct and well rounded, and Terry Tice is dastardly enough to become one of those strange evil villains you love to hate.

Yes, April in Spain is great fun. More, please.

Thoroughly enjoyed this Quirke tale. Bannville neatly captures Ireland of the 50s, and there are plenty of plot twists in this novel, which moves from London, to Dublin, to San Sebastian. Would recommend.

Quirke the Dublin based Pathologist has been persuaded by his wife Evelyn to holiday in northern Spain. In the San Sebastian area in the Basque region. In the Basque language it is known as Donastia. Quirke has a history of alcohol problems. His Austrian wife was a Psychiatrist practising as Dr. Blake. She is good for Quirke and tries to get him to not take himself too seriously.
It is an accident trying to open oyster shells which results in Quirke visiting the local hospital. There he encounters a young female doctor who he thinks he recognises. Eventually he thinks it is a friend of his daughter Phoebe. But the girl in question is dead!
When she is contacted Phoebe believes it is Quirke drinking again and seeing things. However she approaches her dead friend April's uncle Bill Latimer, who is a Minister in the Irish parliament. Her reception however makes her uneasy, so she approaches Detective Superintendent Hackett who authorises a Detective Inspector to accompany Phoebe to Spain.
Terry Tice an orphan boy is back in Ireland having murdered his friend and benefactor whilst in London. Terry is a gun for hire and he is soon approached with orders in return for a great deal of money, to travel to Spain and kill the girl suspected to be April.
A well wriiten good read from the author who also writes as Benjamin Black. A nice touch is to have Terry reading Greene's "Brighton Rock" with Pinkie as the anti hero. In the book very few people seem to like the Quirke character! He is oftern the worse for drink. His wife seems the main person to find the best in him. His daughter has long term issues with him.
Recommended and worth reading previous books in the series. The author won the Booker prize for the novel "the Sea".

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, not least, due to it's being set in the beautiful city of San Sebastian. It's so well written and I was soon pulled into the character of Dr Quirke; an Irish pathologist, on holiday with his long suffering wife, Evelyn. Whilst trying really hard to relax, Quirke spots someone he thinks he recognises, but, that's surely impossible as this young woman is dead!

What follows is an atmospheric read that delves into both Irish and Spanish history and has a cracking ending. The title is also very clever.

This is the first of this author's books that I have read and although this is one in a series, it reads well as a stand alone.

I loved it and am grateful to NetGalley and Faber and Faber for the opportunity to preview in exchange for this honest review.

A disappointing book. The thin plot was secondary to prolonged passages about the characters pasts. Apart from Evelyn, the characters weren't even likeable. I hadn't realised it was part of a series, but it wouldn't have made any difference to a poor plot. This is just my opinion as I have a newspaper review praising this book. Definitely not for me.

Sorry, I have ploughed halfway through this book and I still have no idea what it is about and so I have moved on to something more interesting.

April in Spain is a well-written mystery novel featuring curmudgeonly Dublin pathologist Quirke on holiday in San Sebastián with his wife Evelyn. A chance encounter with a young Irishwoman causes him to pause - is she his daughter’s old friend? If so, how can that be, given that the friend was thought to have been murdered by her brother some years before? Has Quirke opened a can of worms and put the young woman in danger of being murdered all over again?

Having read “Snow”, it was good to catch up with St John Strafford in a warmer environment too. A recommended read.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.

A relaxed holiday in a luxurious seafront hotel in San Sebastian, a woman with a striking resemblance to a girl declared dead long ago and a hitman on the loose are the ingredients in the eighth instalment of Irish pathologist (and notorious alcoholic) Quirke’s series, which now brings Strafford, the detective in Banville’s latest novel Snow, onboard.

Set in the Fifties, this is a noir novel that unfolds slowly like one of those lazy April days in the sunshine, when nothing remarkable seems to happen as you spend your days while idly conversing, having great food and lounging around sipping cocktails. It starts as a cozy family drama and soon you see how neatly events are laid out for you and think you know what is coming, yet you relish the sense of premonition and the tension of events unfolding. But just when you believe that you have known everything all along, Banville delivers a masterful blow and manages to baffle and surprise you at the end.

As always, Banville’s writing is elegant, acutely observed and assured. Many of his characters are privileged and deeply flawed, Quirke in the first place (what kind of man would pretend his daughter is not his?). Although I found a few minor characters not so convincing ( Phoebe’s fiancé, or Doctor Cruz), characterisation and the ability to recreate a character’s psychology, explore relationships and evoke an entire world are excellent: in this case we are talking about the morally bankrupt entourage of the Irish establishment intersecting with the seedy underbelly of the country.

The crimes at the heart of these novels often have sexual abuse and unspeakable crimes at the core: setting the novels in the Fifties allows Banville to comment and on the climate of arbitrariness, connivance, and impunity that characterises some dark pages of Irish history (In Snow, for example, it was the role of the Church). Not a high adrenaline page turner but a pleasant read. 3.5

My thanks to Faber and Netgalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.