A Death in Summer: A Novel (Quirke Book 4)

Benjamin Black begins A DEATH IN SUMMER with a terrific first sentence. “When word got about that Richard Jewell had been found with the greater part of his head blown off and clutching a shotgun in his bloodless hands, few outside the family circle and few inside it, either, considered his demise a cause for sorrow.”So, why is this so terrific? Well, for starters, this establishes that Richard Jewell was a widely despised man. Furthermore, the sentence shows that Jewell was murdered, since a suicide, blowing his brains out with a shotgun, would not, after pulling the trigger, be holding his gun in bloodless hands. Finally, the sentence enables Black to reunite his well-matched tandem of crime-solvers. These are Dr. Quirke, who is a haunted and gloomy pathologist; and Inspector Hackett, who wheels-and deals in a sordid 1950’s Dublin.This is the fourth mystery in Black’s—that is, John Banville’s—eight-book Quirke series that I have read. In SUMMER, Quirke and Hackett are, as always, entertaining as they develop or withhold information—Quirke is often reticent—and explore motives. But SUMMER, in addition, has some truly outstanding characters. These include Francoise d’Aubigny, who is both Jewell’s wife and a steeled participant in the French underground during World War II; Dannie Jewell, a bipolar young woman who was damaged psychologically by her predatory half-brother Richard; the cruel and resentful Teddy Sumner, who has a wealthy father that shields him from the consequences of his wanton actions; and David Sinclair, a benevolent but hapless doctor who works with Quirke. Finally, there is the ruthless Costigan, who is the bland face of Dublin’s dark side, where dreadful activities occur within elements of the Catholic Church.Black is a fine writer. But in SUMMER, he really lets loose and does his word painting in Chapter 13, when Quirke visits Francoise at her estate in the Riviera. For example:“The heat outside made everything shimmer in the windows, as if a fine sheet of oil were running down over the Perspex. Far off to the right the sea was a thin strip of amethyst against an azure horizon. There were far hills, too, with a myriad tiny glitterings of glass and metal, and villas nestling among rock, and wheeling gulls, and even, beyond the roof of the terminal building, a glimpse of dazzling white seafront with turreted hotels, their bright pennants whipping in the breeze, and the neon signs of casinos working overtime in the glare of midday.”SUMMER ends with a… the trope is a Summation, and in it Black shows that Quirke and Hackett will tolerate crime if it serves justice. There, he also shows that, but for the exception of Richard Jewell, the bad guys never get their comeuppance.This is the best of the Quirke novels that I have read and it is highly recommended.

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So I started with the most recent. Great read, evocative, clever. Research (not difficult) on the author revealed him to be John Banville, Booker prize winner, so an acknowledged writer of novels acknowledged to be 'good' (and I use quote marks since many of these books do not achieve mainstream acceptance, and might not be considered 'good reads' by most of the population who still read).The Quirke novels are great, but having read all to date, out of order, there does seem to be an overarching theme, and one which despite when the novels are set, is contemporary. So I would suggest starting at the beginning, which isn't this one, but Christine Falls.His prose is described in Wiki as dense. Which I like. Quirke is not a light read but not the consistency of say, Gibbons, but more like Waugh when not being frothy. The novels are utterly compelling.So two questions need to be asked.Firstly, is Benjamin Black a gateway to John Banville? In my case that will be a yes.Secondly, given that the author has very good form as a screenwriter, could Quirke transfer to TV, and I think yes. So, Mr Banville, start the screenplay (not that you seem to have time on your hands from what your Wiki entry suggests, but we do need another long series of relatively clever TV detective fiction).

This being the fourth novel in a series, one wonders how this dour Dublin pathologist has attracted, in his small world, successive psycho-killers, all outside his job title? That conceit is reminescient of the spate of Scandanavian crime novels; but the Millenium Trilogy these are not.Though Banville/Black writes beautifully, and these books might be almost throwaways (beach books in this season) to the great man himself, diversions in his down time between works of literature, the characters, both male and female, are, as some reviewers have noted, undeveloped and unpersuasive, starting with the central character who somehow manages to bed the most beautiful and interesting women for miles around for no apparent reason, yet remains bereft, permanently damaged from an orphan childhood. Been there; done that.Some abstemious American reviewers have been annoyed by the seemingly gratuitious obsession with cigarettes and related paraphernalia, which does make the books read like a noir film script, no doubt what Banville's going for. This story is set in 1956 and the others a little earlier, times when smoking was de rigueur. Fortunately, however, Banville didn't forget gorse (hardcover 115), which is charming because American readers have no idea of gorse. And, of course, every cloud and sea is mauve, and much more, at some point or other.

In this latest installment, Quirke trades his obsession with the bottle for an obsession with the widow of a big shot newspaper publisher who caught a shotgun blast in the face. It was supposed to look like a suicide but neither Quirke nor Chief Detective Hackett are buying it.As with all the books in the series, the writing is gorgeous. DEATH IN SUMMER is an easy read. I mowed through it during a long airline flight.The plot revelations would shock a fifties audience (the decade in which these novels are set), but the jaded modern reader will likely leap ahead to figure out what's happening in DEATH IN SUMMER before the hero does.Still, Quirke with all his moral ambiguity appeals to modern sensibilities. The subsidiary characters shine throughout. This book and series come highly recommended.

**Should Read as 4.5 STARS!**This wonderful literary Irish crime mystery is the 4th volume of the amazing "Quirke" series, from the author John Banville, but using his pen name Benjamin Black.Storytelling is again superb, all figures featuring in this crime mystery are very believable and lifelike, and human emotions as well as the powerful political and social institutions in Dublin, and Ireland as a whole, in the 1950s are amazingly described by the author.The tale is set in Dublin, Ireland, in the 1950s, and it starts off with the death of Richard Jewell, nicknamed Diamond Dick, who's a newspaper magnate and a man with a devilish mind and a with gruesome tastes towards a certain kind of people, that will certainly come to the fore in the end.It up to Inspector Hackett and Dr Quirke when they are called in on a Sunday to inspect Mr Jewell's body, and from that moment on their investigations will begin in earnest.Important members of the family that will play a significant part in this crime mystery are Mr Jewell's wife, Francoise d'Aubigny, his fragile sister Denise Jewell but usually called, Dannie, as well as the Summers, father and son, and last but not least his nine-year old daughter, Giselle.After having a persuasive chat with a certain Mr Costigan, quickly followed by the mutilation of his finger on Quirke's assistant, David Sinclair, Dr Quirke will enter the once again the murky world of power politics from a certain group, where gangster methods of torture and killing are the norm and carried out without a flinch.What is to follow is an intriguing and masterly told Irish crime mystery, with a great build-up and ending with a superbly crafted plot, making this book an immense emotional and captivating read.Very much recommended, for this is a magnificent addition to this excellent series, and what this episode is concerned I like to call it: "A Fascinating Summer's Death"!

Banville is superb at creating a sense of place. You can almost smell and taste Dublin and its environs, especially in winter months but even in the heat of summer which is when this story is set. Perhaps because I’ve read Quirke 1-4 straight off, I’m finding the dramatic core of his books rely on the same dark theme and are populated by the same damaged and improbable assortment of characters (Quirke included). Banville creates tension and vivid detail in his wonderful use of language but the plots are repetitive. You crave a sudden twist in the denouement but are usually disappointed. Would he have been a better poet than novelist I wonder?

The fourth Quirke mystery, A Death In Summer, continues the excellence of this series from John Banville writing as Benjamin Black. The strength of the books lie in the subtle storytelling, the use of language and the restrained elegance of Black's prose. The atmosphere and period of 1950's Ireland is beautifully and vividly drawn. With a few well-chosen words, Black can sketch his characters in memorable detail: the description of Inspector Hackett's braces, the ears of the hapless sidekick Jenkins - all done with a throwaway grace and wry humour that other writers would either ignore or lay on with a trowel. The plot in this book is nothing too deep and complex - the death of a local business magnate and would-be philanthropist reveals darker secrets that permeate society. And at the centre of it all, the enigmatic, troubled Quirke, who knows he is going to make a mess of things and hurt people along the way, but carries right on anyway, because that's all he can do. Banville, an enthusiast of writers such as Simenon, James M Cain and Richard Stark, matches those writers of pared back, understated prose with this superior series. Simply a joy to read.

What is it about the Quirke books that I like so much? They are not really murder mysteries, though there is murder in them. The crimes are rarely resolved in the traditional sense, and more often than not, the 'bad' guys get away. And the crimes themselves are not the murders which kick off events, but the underlying physical and mental abuse of secondary victims.This was another such example, and I enjoyed it every bit as much as the others. Quirke is alike a bi hulking angel of doom, or avenging angel maybe, or simply a general all-purpose conscience. Which doesn't make him simply a metaphor, far from it. He's tortured and he's twisted and he might very well have a strong sense of what is 'right' but he very often doesn't act on it - quite the contrary. There are layers and layers to him that fascinate and repel, and it is this dichotomy of good and evil, of sheer contrariness, that I love.The subject matter of this book was very similar, in the background, to the subject matter of at least two others in this series - institutionalised child abuse. The details (actually, lack of, it is told very subtly) are horrific, but we know now, thanks to the current enquiries, are a mere shadow of reality. These stories are very close to the bone, and I can understand that some might find them too close. But I don't think so. To me, they feel like a form of fictional retribution - and I've no idea whether I'm right about this.This is not a series for people who like classic detective fiction, but it is a series for people who love a twisted psychological study, and a modern take on the classic noir detectives of the Fifties. My only problem is stopping myself diving straight into the next one.

A decent tale, but lacking compared to the best (earlier) Quirke mysteries. The series by this stage is becoming bogged down with many clunky references and updates about what happened in the previous books (so that first-time readers aren't confused, presumably: but why anyone would start a series in the middle is beyond me). Similarly, Black feels the need to repeat bits of backstory (for the same reason). You can almost feel Black's own impatience with having to do this: these sections are artless and rushed, as painful to read as they probably were to write. Black would be better off just assuming he has readers who are keen on the series and read them in order (as most doubtless do).The story itself is okay and nothing more. Perhaps more than anything else the book suffers a lack of atmosphere: it may sound silly but part of the charm of most of the other books is their dreary, wet, cold, windy weather. There's something comforting about picturing Quirke gambolling around Dublin with his shoulders hunched, or sitting by his gasfire at night, brooding while the rain clatters the glass. Sunshine and sweat and country houses doesn't suit him.