Christine Falls

Talk about Noir! This book played out like an old black and white movie in my mind while reading it. This book does in fact takes place 1950s Dublin. Dr. Garret Quirke is a pathologist who observes his brother-in-law tampering with medical records of a young woman’s corpse. Intrigued he begins looking into what happened to the Christine Falls, the dead young woman.

This book is dark, and Quirke is consumed with finding out what happened to the dead woman. He is not willing to let it go and won’t let anyone get in his way of learning the truth. He will face several deterrents, but he is stubborn as a mule and like a dog with a bone. He is unwilling to let go of his quest for the truth.

I’ll say it again – Noir, noir, noir! The mystery in this book is intriguing, and I enjoyed the ‘detective’ work that Quirke did. My biggest issue with this book is that it’s a slow burn and I struggle with slow burns. Having said that, I can also say that John Banville created a unique set of characters and an intriguing main character. I can fault his writing or his well thought out plot, I just grew impatient and wanted things to move along faster. This is the case of it’s me and not the book.

Those who enjoy slow burn mysteries will most likely enjoy this book.

Thank you to Henry Holt and Co. who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.