Showing results by author "John Banville" in All Categories

In 1950s Dublin, world-weary pathologist Quirke is reckoning with grief. A woman he loved has died, a man he once admired is dying, and his daughter is still finding it hard to accept him as her father. When an old acquaintance approaches him about his wife's apparent suicide, Quirke recognizes trouble. But, as always, trouble is something he cannot resist.

Newspaper magnate Richard Jewell is found dead at his country estate, a shotgun still in his hands. Quirke realizes that, rather than the suspected suicide, 'Diamond Dick' has been murdered. Suspicion soon falls on one of Jewell's biggest rivals, but as Quirke gets to know Jewell's beautiful, enigmatic wife, his fragile sister and those who work for the family, it becomes clear that not everything in this household is as it seems.

1950s Dublin, in a lock-up garage in the city, the body of a young woman is discovered, an apparent suicide. But pathologist Dr Quirke and Detective Inspector Strafford soon suspect foul play. The victim's sister, a newspaper reporter from London, returns to Dublin to join the two men in their quest to uncover the truth. But, as they explore her links to a wealthy German family in County Wicklow, and to investigative work she may have been doing in Israel, they are confronted with an ever-deepening mystery.

When Dublin pathologist Quirke glimpses a familiar face while on holiday with his wife, it's hard, at first, to tell whether his imagination is just running away with him. Could she really be who he thinks she is, and have a connection with a crime that nearly brought ruin to an Irish political dynasty? Unable to ignore his instincts, Quirke makes a call back home, and Detective St John Strafford is soon dispatched to Spain. But he's not the only one on route: as a terrifying hitman hunts down his prey, they are all set for a brutal showdown.

As a deep, bewildering fog cloaks Dublin, a young woman named April is found to have vanished. Flawed pathologist Quirke responds to a request to help find her. Speaking with those who knew her, he begins to realize that there may have been more behind the young woman's secrecy than he could have imagined. When a disturbing discovery is made, the complex web of love, lies, jealousy and dark secrets that April spun her life from finally begins to unravel.

1950s, rural Ireland. A loner comes across a mysteriously empty car in a field. Knowing he shouldn't approach, but unable to hold back, he soon finds himself embroiled in a troubling missing person's case, as a husband claims his wife may have thrown herself into the sea. Called in from Dublin to investigate is Detective Inspector Strafford, who soon turns to his old ally - the flawed but brilliant pathologist Quirke - a man he is linked to in increasingly complicated ways.

Victor Maskell has been betrayed. After the announcement in the Commons, the hasty revelation of his double life of wartime espionage, his photograph is all over the papers. His disgrace is public, his position as curator of the Queen’s pictures terminated… Maskell writes his own testament, in an act not unlike the restoration of one of his beloved pictures, in order for the process of verification and attribution to begin.

1899. As the new century approaches, English hack-writer Evelyn Dolman marries Laura Rensselaer, the daughter of a wealthy American plutocrat. But in the midst of a mysterious rift between Laura and her father, Evelyn's plans of a substantial inheritance are thrown into doubt. As the unhappy newlyweds travel to Venice at Palazzo Dioscuri - the ancestral home of the charming but treacherous Count Barbarigo - a series of seemingly otherworldly occurrences exacerbate Evelyn's already frayed nerves: is it just the sea mist blanketing the floating city or is he losing his mind?

Quirke's pathology department, set deep beneath 1950s Dublin, is his own gloomy realm: always quiet, always night, and always under his control. Until, late one evening, he stumbles across a body that should not be there. The investigation he opens uncovers a dark secret at the heart of the city's high Catholic network - a secret with the power to shake his own family and everything he holds dear.

Felix Mordaunt, recently released from prison, steps from a flashy red sports car onto the estate of his youth. But there is a new family living in the drafty old house: descendants of the late world-famous scientist Adam Godley. Felix must now vie with the idiosyncratic Godley family, with their harried housekeeper who becomes his landlady, with the recently commissioned biographer of Godley Sr, and with a wealthy and beautiful woman from his past who comes bearing an unusual request.

‘A masterly study of grief, memory and love recollected’ Professor John Sutherland, Chair of Judges, Man Booker Prize 2005 The Sea is John Banville's Man Booker prize-winning exploration of memory, childhood and loss. When art historian Max Morden returns to the seaside village where he once...

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Mrs Osmond by John Banville, read by Amy Finegan. 'What was freedom, she thought, other than the right to exercise one's choices?' Isabel Osmond, a spirited, intelligent young heiress, flees to London after being betrayed by her husband, to be with her...

Following the discovery of the body of a well-loved parish priest at Ballyglass House - the Co Wexford family seat of the aristocratic, secretive Osborne family - Detective Inspector St John Strafford is called in from Dublin to investigate. Facing obstruction from all angles, Strafford is determined to identify the murderer. But, as the snow continues to fall over this ever expanding mystery, the people of Ballyglass are equally determined to keep their secrets.

Alexander Cleave, actor, has left his career and his family behind and banished himself to his childhood home. He wants to retire from life, but finds this impossible in a house brimming with presences, some ghostly, some undeniably human. Memories, anxiety for the future, and more particularly, for his beloved but troubled daughter, conspire to distract him from his dreaming retirement.

On the east coast of Ireland, one of the country's most prominent citizens takes his business partner's son out sailing and, while out at sea, shoots himself dead. This strange, enigmatic event captures the attention of pathologist Quirke who begins to investigate. When a second death occurs, one even more shocking than the first, Quirke uncovers dark secrets buried in a rivalry between two entangled families.

Old Adam Godley’s time on earth is drawing to an end, and as his wife and children gather at the family home, little do they realize that they are not the only ones who have come to observe the spectacle. The mischievous Greek gods, too, have come; as tensions fray and desire bubbles over...

When spring storms descend on 1950s Dublin, a body is found in a canal, and pathologist Quirke must find the truth behind this brutal murder. The investigation leads him into the dark heart of the organisation that really runs this troubled city: the church. As Quirke's traumatic childhood in a priest-run orphanage returns to haunt him, he must face his greatest trial yet.

The streets of Bay City, California, in the early 1950s are as mean as they get. Marlowe is as restless and lonely as ever, and the private eye business is a little slow. Then a new client is shown in: blond, beautiful, and expensively dressed, she wants Marlowe to find her former lover. Almost immediately, Marlowe discovers that the man's disappearance is merely the first in a series of bewildering events. Soon he is tangling with one of Bay City's richest and most ruthless families—and developing a singular appreciation for how far they will go to protect their fortune.

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of The Blue Guitar by John Banville, read by Gerry O'Brien. Adultery is always put in terms of thieving. But we were happy together, simply happy. Oliver Orme is a painter who has abandoned his art. His days are now haunted by loss...

Caroline Blackwood's masterpiece, shortlisted for the 1977 Booker Prize - a gothic family drama in miniature In her gloomy mausoleum of a home, the terrifying matriarch Great Granny Webster spends her days sitting bolt upright in a Victorian chair, entirely alone except for her one-eyed maid -...