Sharon M. (sgmensing) reviewed on 12/27/2011 + 24 more book reviews

This is the first in a series of four at this point. I can't wait to read the next, "The Silver Swan," based on how much I loved this. The main character is a pathologist, Quirke, in Ireland. In this story, he is confronted with a dead young woman who had just given birth, and with what appears to be dishonesty in his own family. Quirke is a depressed sort of character who has taken some lumps in his life, and as the story progresses we find out what some of those lumps have been. The story moves between Ireland and the Irish side of Boston, and the locales are always beautifully described. Black, who is really John Banville, a Booker prize winner, is a fantastic writer and his descriptions of the scenes are amazing. In fact, this is the only thing that would draw me away from the story -- occasionally I had I go back to reread a passage because it was just so beautifully written. And, in a mystery, this would jar me out of the story a bit. It was easy to jump back in, however. This was a great book, and I look forward to reading the next three in the series.

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