Banville may have been respected for his many literary novels, but he wasn't making much money. Thus he turned to writing mysteries, which he may have thought beneath him, under the name of Benjamin Black. The mysteries, also beautifully written, feature Quirke, a troubled pathologist who manages to uncover mysteries when he isn't drunk. Now Banville, apparently realizing that his mystery novels aren't really as bad as he thought they were, is putting his own name on them. Good.
April in Spain opens with Quirke vacationing in northern Spain with Evelyn, the wise and patient woman he has married since the earlier novel. He still drinks, but not nearly as much as he once did. But is he drunk when sees a doctor named Angela Lawless when he goes to a hospital after an injury and the doctor reminds him of his daughter Phoebe's friend, April Latimer? Isn't she supposed to be dead? He calls Phoebe and asks her to join them in Spain.
Unfortunately Phoebe first speaks with Bill Latimer, April's uncle and a powerful government official with a sinister reputation. This triggers a series of events that lead to the novel's exciting conclusion.
Quirke, once he telephones Phoebe, fades into the background. The spotlight falls mostly on Phoebe, who was an adult before she learned that Quirke is her real father, and on Terry Tice, a killer for hire. The novel is actually more a thriller than a mystery.
Banville leaves so much hanging at the end that readers will feel compelled to grab up the next book in the series. That's something that probably never happens with his literary novels.
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