Death in Dublin

In John Banville's latest Quirke novel, The Lock-Up (2023), the Dublin pathologist has returned to his hard-drinking, melancholy ways. His beloved wife, Evelyn, died at the end of the previous novel, April in Spain, and Dr. Quirke is lost without her.

Yet he is not lost enough not see something suspicious about the apparent suicide of a young Jewish woman, Rosa Jacobs, in a rented garage, or lock-up. John Strafford, the police detective who killed the man who killed Evelyn in Spain, becomes involved in the case. Quirke doesn't like Strafford, feeling he should have shot the killer before Evelyn was killed, not afterward, and he dislikes Stafford even more after he becomes involved with his daughter, Phoebe, with whom Quirke now lives.

The story takes place in the 1950s, not long after the close of World War II. A German man with a connection to Rosa, has become prominent in Ireland because of his wealth. Now he becomes a suspect in her murder, especially after his son happens to be in Israel at the same time as another Jewish woman, also with a connection to Rosa, is killed under mysterious circumstances.

In between bouts of Quirke's drunkenness and their disagreements with each other, he and Strafford find resolution to the case. Or do they? The surprising final chapter suggests they aren't even close.

Banville's mysteries, many of them written under the name of Benjamin Black, tend to be atmospheric and character-driven. The ending of this one may be disappointing — we like our heroes to actually outsmart the bad guys, even when they drink too much — but otherwise this entry ranks high in the series. And the unsolved mystery may give Banville a starting point for his next book.