We're in 1950s Dublin, some six months after Banville's April in Spain too place. A young women has apparently asphyxiated herself in her car a lock-up garage. It becomes apparent it's a murder. As ever, though the whole of the book is on the surface an account of the efforts to solve the crime and find the perpetrator, actually, that's not the reason to read it. Instead, it's about the more-than-prickly relationship between DI Strafford and police pathologist Dr. Quirke, about the complicated love affairs both men have in 1950s Dublin, still under the somewhat puritanical stranglehold of the Catholic church. And this extends to its influence over police investigations as well as moral arbitration. It's about the weather, the greyness of Dublin. And it's about simply enjoying Banville's luscious writing. So many reasons to read and appreciate this book! ( )

Kim at Reading Matters is co-hosting 'A Year with John Banville' with Cathy from 746 Books, and although I already have some titles waiting patiently on the TBR, I decided to try one of Banville's crime novels when I saw it at the library.

The Lock Up is listed among Banville's Pseudonymous works at Wikipedia where it is No 9 of his Quirke series published as Benjamin Black, but actually it's No 3 of a series featuring this Quirke detective which are published as John Banville. Whether this is because it is more 'literary' than the Benjamin Black titles, I can't say. It didn't seem much like a detective novel to me, nor much like his other literary novels either. In fact, I probably wouldn't have persisted with it except that I had taken it down to Dunkeld with me...

So, in the interest of keeping things brief because I have other reviews to catch up on, let's just say that you should read Kim's very fine review of The Lock Up, and I will tackle some of the titles that I have on the TBR during 'A Year with John Banville'. ( )

In John Banville's latest Quirke novel, “The Lock-Up” (2023), the Dublin pathologist has returned to his hard-drinking, melancholy ways. His beloved wife, Evelyn, died at the end of the previous novel, “April in Spain,” and Dr. Quirke is lost without her.

Yet he is not lost enough not see something suspicious about the apparent suicide of a young Jewish woman, Rosa Jacobs, in a rented garage, or lock-up. John Strafford, the police detective who killed the man who killed Evelyn in Spain, becomes involved in the case. Quirke doesn't like Strafford, feeling he should have shot the killer before Evelyn was killed, not afterward, and he dislikes Stafford even more after he becomes involved with his daughter, Phoebe, with whom Quirke now lives.

The story takes place in the 1950s, not long after the close of World War II. A German man with a connection to Rosa, has become prominent in Ireland because of his wealth. Now he becomes a suspect in her murder, especially after his son happens to be in Israel at the same time as another Jewish woman, also with a connection to Rosa, is killed under mysterious circumstances.

In between bouts of Quirke's drunkenness and their disagreements with each other, he and Strafford find resolution to the case. Or do they? The surprising final chapter suggests they aren't even close.

Banville's mysteries, many of them written under the name of Benjamin Black, tend to be atmospheric and character-driven. The ending of this one may be disappointing — we like our heroes to actually outsmart the bad guys, even when they drink too much — but otherwise this entry ranks high in the series. And the unsolved mystery may give Banville a starting point for his next book. ( )

Banville shows his talents in writing beautiful passages, with the prose so very atmospheric. Descriptions of the Irish countryside and towns, the people, and the social difficulties were evocative of Ireland of the 1950's.

This novel was supposedly a mystery story about the unexpected death of a young woman and how her passing came to be. For my tastes, the prose and the detailed character development got in the way of the narrative. Just as the story started to flow, my reading was derailed by descriptive passages that were more about the characters of Stafford (police detective) and Quirke (the retired Dublin pathologist). The novel is sporadically engaging and readable but I lost the thread of the story several times so ultimately, found the Epilogue unexpected. I consider the plotting drowned in description, which for me counts as flawed workmanship. ( )

A little better than the earlier Quirke books. I think the character development over the series is contributing to my enjoyment. Not surprisingly, Banville is more about the characters than the mystery. ( )