I’ve really enjoyed this literary mystery series set in Ireland in the 1950s featuring Gardai Detective St John Stratford and Pathologist Quirk. “The Drowned” follows on from “The Lock Up” which I loved. Strafford is still dating Phoebe, Quirke’s daughter and Quirke himself is still mourning the death of his wife which occurred in an earlier book. Both men are “quirky” and introverted. Strafford is a good investigator but hopeless with women, particularly when a difficulty occurs as in this book. He doesn’t know how to react.
This is more of a study of the male characters although there is a mystery involved when a professor’s wife disappears from a car she is travelling in with him and he says she has drowned in the sea. Armitage, the husband, was also in the previous novel so readers will be familiar with him.
All this being said the book did not hold my attention as much as Stafford’s earlier outings, there was something missing. There was a lot of character description and scene setting which tended to slow down the narrative. There wasn’t much of a mystery, it was obvious from the outset what had happened although there was a slight twist. There was a lot of sadness for all the characters including Strafford’s boss Hackett, and another family caught up in the mystery. I would call the novel bleak and it definitely wasn’t my favourite in the series although it has not put me off reading the next book should the author decide to write one.
However if you like an extremely literary thriller this will appeal.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.

This is Quirke and Strafford’s fourth investigation in 1950s Ireland. A man out for an evening stroll by the sea sees an abandoned car in a field with its door open. When he goes for a closer look he is met by another man begging him to help him look for his wife who he believes has thrown herself into the sea. Thus begins a missing person’s investigation for DI Strafford. However, the plot of the novel is concerned just as much with Stafford’s ongoing relationship with his pathologist colleague Quirke who disapproves of him seeing his daughter who is much younger than Strafford.
Banville delves into the mind of Strafford and shows his two sides of being a man and a detective. This is not a page turner but a calm narrative which washes over the reader at a gentle pace and as such it stands out from the usual crime thriller.
Thank you to the publishers for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgallery and the publisher for this ARC. The publication date is the 10th Oct. This book was a definition of a page- turner and a remarkable book!

It allows the reader to dig deeper and real more revelations about its many plot twists and many nuanced characters! A great read! 😊

John Banville is a fine writer who elevates the crime thriller to an art form. There are so many things that took my breath away in this latest Strafford and Quirke novel I don’t know where to start.
Firstly there’s the authenticity of the 1950s setting in rural Ireland. Banville is a master of taking us back in time. The strained smiles and awkwardness; the behaviours, the words unsaid. Even the sound of dust motes hissing on the gas fire.
There’s his understanding of the perennial pursuit of women by men, and the sometimes jaded attitude of women, at that time, in accepting unwanted advances or even marriage proposals, because they had to.
Three of the men in this story would be described in the 50s as “Lotharios” – brooding detective Strafford, who has an uneasy relationship with dour pathologist Quirke, whose daughter he is seeing. Widower Quirke was briefly seeing a woman connected to the crime of the last book. And then there’s the protagonist of The Drowned, a man who claims his wife has gone missing.
The most amazing sleight of hand though is how Banville makes us pity the paedophile, hiding from society and constantly in fear of being falsely accused of a new crime.
A truly remarkable book.

A shopping list written by John Banville would still be well worth reading. He is such a wonderful mellifluous writer with a gift for story telling and characterisation. This is a return of the ill-suited double act of Strafford and Quirke and the book rejoices in their idiosyncrasies which are a total delight to read.

There is naturally a murder to solve too and it would certainly help if you have read his previous book "The Lock-Up" but I just immersed myself in the richness of his language and was exhilarated by the experience.

Stafford and Quirke return for a fourth outing in The Drowned, which continues on from the previous novel The Lock-up.. Strafford finds himself investigating the case of a missing woman who could have drowned, he finds himself coming into contact again with Professor Armitage, a strange man whose research assistant was murdered in The Lock-up. Nothing seems right to Strafford and so he decides to speak with Quirke to get his take on the strange situation he finds himself in.

This outstanding series isn't just a crime series, it is a multi layered novel dealing with characters who are multifaceted in their natures. John Banville is a masterful novelist who luckily turned his eye to crime writing and has created a quite exceptional series.