The Silver Swan Benjamin Black Henry Holt March 2008 $25.00

Those wondering what John Banville has been up to of late should look to Benjamin Black as they are one in the same. Christine Falls, his first novel featuring Dublin pathologist, Quirke is up for an Edgar award along with Bruen's Priest, Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union, Coleman's Soul Patch, and Hart's Down River. The Silver Swan, stylistically similar, gives proof to the committee's reasoning.

Set again in 1950's Ireland, in the Silver Swan two years have passed.and the 'dust' raised from the Christine Falls episode is slowly settling. Quirke is at work, still inquisitive, when an old schoolmate, Billy Hunt, approaches Quirke asking a favor, for the sake of a Catholic burial, that Quirke forgo a full autopsy and suggest to the coroner's inquest that the death of Hunt's wife, Deirdre, was accidental rather than a suicide.

Quirke makes a vague promise but even in a perfunctory exam he discovers an injection mark suggesting Deirdre, aka Laura Swan, might have been murdered. Quirke goes to Detc. Inspector Hackett broadly hinting at the possibility of murder. Between Hackett, Quirke and Quirke's estranged daughter an investigation takes place. A part of The Silver Swan is also told by Deirdre/Laura. Between these points of view the novel unfolds slowly. The tension built is sublime rather than of the cliffhanger style. Fans of a low keyed "literary" mystery will thoroughly enjoy The Silver Swan.

Dave Biemann