Snow - (Strafford and Quirke) by John Banville (Paperback)

About the Book

"Detective Inspector St. John Strafford has been summoned to County Wexford to investigate a murder. A parish priest has been found dead in Ballyglass House, the family seat of the aristocratic, secretive Osborne family. The year is 1957 and the Catholic Church rules Ireland with an iron fist. Strafford--flinty, visibly Protestant and determined to identify the murderer--faces obstruction at every turn, from the heavily accumulating snow to the culture of silence in the tight-knit community he begins to investigate. As he delves further, he learns the Osbornes are not at all what they seem. And when his own deputy goes missing, Strafford must work to unravel the ever-expanding mystery before the community's secrets, like the snowfall itself, threaten to obliterate everything."--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

*NATIONAL BESTSELLER*

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA HISTORICAL DAGGER AWARD*

A Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year

A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick

"Banville sets up and then deftly demolishes the Agatha Christie format...superbly rich and sophisticated."--New York Times Book Review

The incomparable Booker Prize winner's next great crime novel--the story of a family whose secrets resurface when a parish priest is found murdered in their ancestral home

Detective Inspector St. John Strafford has been summoned to County Wexford to investigate a murder. A parish priest has been found dead in Ballyglass House, the family seat of the aristocratic, secretive Osborne family.

The year is 1957 and the Catholic Church rules Ireland with an iron fist. Strafford--flinty, visibly Protestant and determined to identify the murderer--faces obstruction at every turn, from the heavily accumulating snow to the culture of silence in the tight-knit community he begins to investigate.

As he delves further, he learns the Osbornes are not at all what they seem. And when his own deputy goes missing, Strafford must work to unravel the ever-expanding mystery before the community's secrets, like the snowfall itself, threaten to obliterate everything.

Beautifully crafted, darkly evocative and pulsing with suspense, Snow is "the Irish master" (New Yorker) John Banville at his page-turning best.

Don't miss John Banville's next novel, The Lock-up!

Other riveting mysteries from John Banville:

• April in Spain

Review Quotes

"Banville sets up and then deftly demolishes the Agatha Christie format...superbly rich and sophisticated."--New York Times Book Review

"[A] deceptively complex mystery with literary flourishes...[A] brilliant mix of old tropes and sadly modern evil."--Booklist, STARRED review

"The sinister and unnerving Snow has all the trimmings of a classic country house mystery - body in the library, closed circle of suspects, foul weather - all elevated by Banville's immaculate, penetrating prose."--Peter Swanson

"A beautifully executed, nostalgia-churning throwback that directs the occasional wink at the reader."--Shelf Awareness

"Snow is easily one of his best - and one of the very best mysteries of this or any other year."--Globe and Mail

"Thoughtful and nuanced." --Seattle Times

"Snow continues to cement the legacy of one of our greatest living writers."--CrimeReads

"Perfect for the time of year when shadows grow longer and darker by the day."--BookPage

"Snow offers many reminders of Banville's mastery."--The Atlantic

Praise for John Banville

"John Banville is one of my favorite writers alive, and I pick up his books whenever I need a reminder how to write a good sentence." --R.F. Kuang

"The Irish master." --New Yorker

"One of the best novelists in English." --The Guardian

"John Banville deserves his Booker Prize." --Los Angeles Times Book Review

"A grand writer with a seductive style." --New York Times Book Review

"Banville is a master at capturing the most fleeting memory or excruciating twinge of self-awareness with riveting accuracy." --People

"Prodigiously gifted. He cannot write an unpolished phrase." --The Independent

"[Banville's] books are like baroque cathedrals." --Paris Review

"One periodically rereads a [Banville] sentence just to marvel at its beauty." --USA TODAY