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Quirke #5
Vengeance
A bizarre suicide leads to a scandal and then still more blood, as one of our most brilliant crime novelists reveals a world where money and sex trump everything
It's a fine day for a sail, and Victor Delahaye, one of Ireland's most successful businessmen, takes his boat far out to sea. With him is his partner's son—who becomes the sole witness when Delahaye produces a pistol, points it at his own chest, and fires.
This mysterious death immediately engages the attention of Detective Inspector Hackett, who in turn calls upon the services of his sometime partner Quirke, consultant pathologist at the Hospital of the Holy Family. The stakes are high: Delahaye's prominence in business circles means that Hackett and Quirke must proceed very carefully. Among others, they interview Mona Delahaye, the dead man's young and very beautiful wife; James and Jonas Delahaye, his identical twin sons; and Jack Clancy, his ambitious, womanizing partner. But then a second death occurs, this one even more shocking than the first, and quickly it becomes apparent that a terrible secret threatens to destroy the lives and reputations of several members of Dublin's elite.
Why did Victor Delahaye kill himself, and who is intent upon wreaking vengeance on so many of those who knew him?
It's a fine day for a sail, and Victor Delahaye, one of Ireland's most successful businessmen, takes his boat far out to sea. With him is his partner's son—who becomes the sole witness when Delahaye produces a pistol, points it at his own chest, and fires.
This mysterious death immediately engages the attention of Detective Inspector Hackett, who in turn calls upon the services of his sometime partner Quirke, consultant pathologist at the Hospital of the Holy Family. The stakes are high: Delahaye's prominence in business circles means that Hackett and Quirke must proceed very carefully. Among others, they interview Mona Delahaye, the dead man's young and very beautiful wife; James and Jonas Delahaye, his identical twin sons; and Jack Clancy, his ambitious, womanizing partner. But then a second death occurs, this one even more shocking than the first, and quickly it becomes apparent that a terrible secret threatens to destroy the lives and reputations of several members of Dublin's elite.
Why did Victor Delahaye kill himself, and who is intent upon wreaking vengeance on so many of those who knew him?
304 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
164 people are currently reading
4433 people want to read
About the author
Benjamin Black
33 books674 followersPen name for John Banville
Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland. His father worked in a garage and died when Banville was in his early thirties; his mother was a housewife. He is the youngest of three siblings; his older brother Vincent is also a novelist and has written under the name Vincent Lawrence as well as his own. His sister Vonnie Banville-Evans has written both a children's novel and a reminiscence of growing up in Wexford.
Educated at a Christian Brothers' school and at St Peter's College in Wexford. Despite having intended to be a painter and an architect he did not attend university. Banville has described this as "A great mistake. I should have gone. I regret not taking that four years of getting drunk and falling in love. But I wanted to get away from my family. I wanted to be free." After school he worked as a clerk at Aer Lingus which allowed him to travel at deeply-discounted rates. He took advantage of this to travel in Greece and Italy. He lived in the United States during 1968 and 1969. On his return to Ireland he became a sub-editor at the Irish Press, rising eventually to the position of chief sub-editor. His first book, Long Lankin, was published in 1970.
After the Irish Press collapsed in 1995, he became a sub-editor at the Irish Times. He was appointed literary editor in 1998. The Irish Times, too, suffered severe financial problems, and Banville was offered the choice of taking a redundancy package or working as a features department sub-editor. He left. Banville has been a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books since 1990. In 1984, he was elected to Aosdána, but resigned in 2001, so that some other artist might be allowed to receive the cnuas.
Banville also writes under the pen name Benjamin Black. His first novel under this pen name was Christine Falls, which was followed by The Silver Swan in 2007. Banville has two adult sons with his wife, the American textile artist Janet Dunham. They met during his visit to San Francisco in 1968 where she was a student at the University of California, Berkeley. Dunham described him during the writing process as being like "a murderer who's just come back from a particularly bloody killing". Banville has two daughters from his relationship with Patricia Quinn, former head of the Arts Council of Ireland.
Banville has a strong interest in vivisection and animal rights, and is often featured in Irish media speaking out against vivisection in Irish university research.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/benjam...
Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland. His father worked in a garage and died when Banville was in his early thirties; his mother was a housewife. He is the youngest of three siblings; his older brother Vincent is also a novelist and has written under the name Vincent Lawrence as well as his own. His sister Vonnie Banville-Evans has written both a children's novel and a reminiscence of growing up in Wexford.
Educated at a Christian Brothers' school and at St Peter's College in Wexford. Despite having intended to be a painter and an architect he did not attend university. Banville has described this as "A great mistake. I should have gone. I regret not taking that four years of getting drunk and falling in love. But I wanted to get away from my family. I wanted to be free." After school he worked as a clerk at Aer Lingus which allowed him to travel at deeply-discounted rates. He took advantage of this to travel in Greece and Italy. He lived in the United States during 1968 and 1969. On his return to Ireland he became a sub-editor at the Irish Press, rising eventually to the position of chief sub-editor. His first book, Long Lankin, was published in 1970.
After the Irish Press collapsed in 1995, he became a sub-editor at the Irish Times. He was appointed literary editor in 1998. The Irish Times, too, suffered severe financial problems, and Banville was offered the choice of taking a redundancy package or working as a features department sub-editor. He left. Banville has been a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books since 1990. In 1984, he was elected to Aosdána, but resigned in 2001, so that some other artist might be allowed to receive the cnuas.
Banville also writes under the pen name Benjamin Black. His first novel under this pen name was Christine Falls, which was followed by The Silver Swan in 2007. Banville has two adult sons with his wife, the American textile artist Janet Dunham. They met during his visit to San Francisco in 1968 where she was a student at the University of California, Berkeley. Dunham described him during the writing process as being like "a murderer who's just come back from a particularly bloody killing". Banville has two daughters from his relationship with Patricia Quinn, former head of the Arts Council of Ireland.
Banville has a strong interest in vivisection and animal rights, and is often featured in Irish media speaking out against vivisection in Irish university research.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/benjam...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 297 reviews
August 7, 2021
In this fifth book in the 'Dr. Quirke' series, the pathologist helps investigate the deaths of two businessmen. The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
Wealthy Dublin businessman Victor Delahaye invites Davey Clancy, the 25-year-old son of his business partner, out on his sailboat.
Victor then proceeds to shoot himself in the chest. Soon afterward Delahaye's business partner Jack Clancy, who was secretly manueuvering to take over the company, is found dead in suspicious circumstances.
Pathologist Dr. Quirke helps his friend, Detective Inspector Hackett, look into both cases.
Plenty of persons of interest turn up: Victor's beautiful, flirtatious, manipulative wife Mona;
His handsome, hard-partying, adult twin sons Jonas and James;
His quiet, self-effacing sister Maggie;
And Jack Clancy's wife Sylvia who has had to put up with her husband's constant womanizing.
The book is as much a character study as a mystery and at times I wanted the interactions among the characters to move along faster. The resolution of the mystery probably won't come as a total surprise but it's an entertaining book.
A shout-out to the evocative book cover also.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....
August 28, 2013
This is the fifth of Benjamin Black's novels set in the Ireland of the 1950s, and featuring Quirke, a consulting pathologist who often works on homicide cases with Detective Inspector Hackett. Like the other entries in the series, it's very literary in tone and moves at a slow and steady pace. That is certainly not a criticism. Black, who is actually the Man Booker Prize winner John Banville, writes beautifully and creates characters with great depth; it's a real pleasure to simply lose yourself in the book and drift along with the flow.
As the book opens, a rich businessman named Victor Delahaye takes his sailboat out into the sea. He insists that his partner's son, Davy Clancy, crew for him, even though Davy doesn't like the sea and knows nothing about sailing. Once well out to sea, Delahaye pulls out a gun and shoots himself in front of the horrified young man.
Hackett and Quirke are soon trying to discover why Delahaye might have committed suicide and why he was so insistent that young Clancy witness the act. But an answer proves very elusive.
The dead man leaves behind a much younger and very sexy wife as well as identical twin sons who behave more than a bit oddly. He is also survived by his partner, Jack Clancy, the father of the young man who witnessed Delahaye's death. Quirke is a keen observer of these and other characters as he attempt to puzzle out the reason for Delahaye's bizarre action. Then another person dies under mysterious circumstances and things become even more complicated. But Quirke will persevere, determined to make sense out of seemingly incomprehensible developments.
Along the way, he will savor the opportunities that life sometimes presents: "Quirke was aware of a faint but burgeoning inner warmth, as if a pilot light in his breast had flickered into life. He recognized the sensation. He savored slightly illicit occasions such as this, a rainy lunchtime in a shabby hotel bar, with the fumes of strong drink in his nostrils and sitting opposite him a blonde of a certain age, circumspect and feisty, whose game eye seemed to offer possibilities that, if followed up in the right way, might lend a larger glow to the afternoon stretching before them."
This is a very good read; Quirke is a very interesting protagonist, and fans of the series will certainly enjoy this book. Those who haven't yet made Quirke's acquaintance might want to start with the first in the series, Christine Falls.
As the book opens, a rich businessman named Victor Delahaye takes his sailboat out into the sea. He insists that his partner's son, Davy Clancy, crew for him, even though Davy doesn't like the sea and knows nothing about sailing. Once well out to sea, Delahaye pulls out a gun and shoots himself in front of the horrified young man.
Hackett and Quirke are soon trying to discover why Delahaye might have committed suicide and why he was so insistent that young Clancy witness the act. But an answer proves very elusive.
The dead man leaves behind a much younger and very sexy wife as well as identical twin sons who behave more than a bit oddly. He is also survived by his partner, Jack Clancy, the father of the young man who witnessed Delahaye's death. Quirke is a keen observer of these and other characters as he attempt to puzzle out the reason for Delahaye's bizarre action. Then another person dies under mysterious circumstances and things become even more complicated. But Quirke will persevere, determined to make sense out of seemingly incomprehensible developments.
Along the way, he will savor the opportunities that life sometimes presents: "Quirke was aware of a faint but burgeoning inner warmth, as if a pilot light in his breast had flickered into life. He recognized the sensation. He savored slightly illicit occasions such as this, a rainy lunchtime in a shabby hotel bar, with the fumes of strong drink in his nostrils and sitting opposite him a blonde of a certain age, circumspect and feisty, whose game eye seemed to offer possibilities that, if followed up in the right way, might lend a larger glow to the afternoon stretching before them."
This is a very good read; Quirke is a very interesting protagonist, and fans of the series will certainly enjoy this book. Those who haven't yet made Quirke's acquaintance might want to start with the first in the series, Christine Falls.
July 27, 2022
The fifth in Benjamin Black's Dr. Quirke series is a bit of a departure from the previous books. Well, most of the books function as homages to noir he admires. Ultimately, Quirke and the series are inspired by Georges Simenon’s Inspector Maigret, but in this book he has in mind mystery and horror writer Edgar Allan Poe, referencing “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Black sets aside, for one book, at least, his attack on the fifties Irish Catholic Church, and he sets aside, too, his close attention to his character analysis of the morose Quirke.
The story involves corporate intrigue (eh, a murderous power struggle who cares?) between co-owners of a business, the Delahayes and the Clancys, and three separate drownings of relevant members over the course of the book. Co-owner Victor’s trip in a boat to commit suicide, with his partner’s son David Clancy, opens the book in dramatic fashion, and doesn’t get explained until the end. Later, partner Jack Clancy also drowns; wait! Could these two deaths be related? (How could they not?) Better get fan favorite Inspector Plodder, I mean Hackett, to investigate, who then gets Quirke to help, though the pathologist, newly committed to actress Isabella, inexplicably sleeps with widow Mona on the very day of her husband’s death! Ugh, Quirke, who is drinking again, but in relative control of that part of his life, at least.
But Quirke is relegated to a background character for much of this book, as things get increasingly gothic. Mona emerges as a madwoman, as do her two twin and outrageously privileged sons, who at one point drop drugs into Phoebe’s drink. Why would she even go to the house? Well, gothic is the explanation, and she seems bewitched in a way. There’s a lot of mad improbably sex going on; why? Gothic madness, obviously! And mad vengeful murdering, too, about lust and greed. Twice the twins remind us that their house is--maybe both the Delahaye and Clancy houses, actually--Poe’s House of Usher, falling down in darkness and evil madness.
I like the refs to Poe, though it’s all a bit silly, ultimately. I guess for Banville/Black, that’s really the point. Silly fun. Engineered by a Booker-Award wining talent (Black is the pseudonym for John Banville).
The story involves corporate intrigue (eh, a murderous power struggle who cares?) between co-owners of a business, the Delahayes and the Clancys, and three separate drownings of relevant members over the course of the book. Co-owner Victor’s trip in a boat to commit suicide, with his partner’s son David Clancy, opens the book in dramatic fashion, and doesn’t get explained until the end. Later, partner Jack Clancy also drowns; wait! Could these two deaths be related? (How could they not?) Better get fan favorite Inspector Plodder, I mean Hackett, to investigate, who then gets Quirke to help, though the pathologist, newly committed to actress Isabella, inexplicably sleeps with widow Mona on the very day of her husband’s death! Ugh, Quirke, who is drinking again, but in relative control of that part of his life, at least.
But Quirke is relegated to a background character for much of this book, as things get increasingly gothic. Mona emerges as a madwoman, as do her two twin and outrageously privileged sons, who at one point drop drugs into Phoebe’s drink. Why would she even go to the house? Well, gothic is the explanation, and she seems bewitched in a way. There’s a lot of mad improbably sex going on; why? Gothic madness, obviously! And mad vengeful murdering, too, about lust and greed. Twice the twins remind us that their house is--maybe both the Delahaye and Clancy houses, actually--Poe’s House of Usher, falling down in darkness and evil madness.
I like the refs to Poe, though it’s all a bit silly, ultimately. I guess for Banville/Black, that’s really the point. Silly fun. Engineered by a Booker-Award wining talent (Black is the pseudonym for John Banville).
December 13, 2024
For the last few years I've been making my way though Benjamin Black's Quirke novels. I love John Banville's side project. I think he did this to write lowbrow crime novels, but you can't take the artist out of the man. I'm a fan of genre novels, and Banville can keep up with the best Noir/Crime novelists. His books are psychological and character driven, like a playful Patricia Highsmith.
December 26, 2018
Arranqué la serie de Quirke por este tomo, el quinto.
Un par de consideraciones. Capaz que hice mal y tenía que haber arrancado por el #1. Me encontré con un par de personajes principales ya moldeados con una relación dada y no entendí el juego entre ellos. Se me complicó la lectura.
Y lo otro, lo usual, la traducción de Alfaguara que no ayuda.
En suma, no me gustó, no me da para leer más de esta historia.
Un par de consideraciones. Capaz que hice mal y tenía que haber arrancado por el #1. Me encontré con un par de personajes principales ya moldeados con una relación dada y no entendí el juego entre ellos. Se me complicó la lectura.
Y lo otro, lo usual, la traducción de Alfaguara que no ayuda.
En suma, no me gustó, no me da para leer más de esta historia.
April 6, 2017
Vengeance is the fifth of the six novels featuring the Dublin pathologist Quirke (no first name) from the pen of Benjamin Black, aka Man Booker Prize-winner John Banville. Banville reportedly writes the series for money, seeing them as of a lower order than the dozens of “serious” novels and plays he has created. Clearly, the critics agree with him, having awarded Banville a mind-bogglingly long series of awards and prizes. However, this quick and dirty distinction between genre fiction and the more “serious” stuff has me wondering how many people have actually read all those award-winning books, and whether the half-dozen novels in the Quirke series have attracted a wider audience than all the rest of Banville’s work combined. I, for one, wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.
Truth to tell, I’ve never been able to read all the way through a single Booker Prize-winning novel. I’m convinced that the judges deliberately seek out work that’s designed to be read by critics, academic deconstructionists, and nobody else. But I digress.
In the Quirke novels, set in 1950s Dublin, Banville comes to grip with the Irish elite, the underlying tension between Catholic and Protestant, the dead weight of the Church, and the veil of history. Quirke and his collaborator, Inspector Hackett of the Garda (the Irish police), invariably find themselves caught up in the often violent conflicts roiling Dublin’s elite society. In Vengeance, two families are locked in combat for three generations, one Protestant, one Catholic, as partners in one of the country’s biggest businesses. The mysterious death at sea of one of the partners triggers an investigation by Quirke and Hackett that leads them to uncover long-hidden family secrets.
The Quirke series is successful, I believe, precisely because it lacks the conceits and conventions of so much detective fiction: the cliff-hanging ends of chapters, the unlikely coincidences, the rosters of likely suspects, the red herrings. Each novel tells a unique story, and each is firmly grounded in its characters and in the history of a particular time and place. If, like me, you enjoy detective fiction but are uncomfortable feeling manipulated, you’ll enjoy Vengeance and the other five novels (so far) in the series.
Truth to tell, I’ve never been able to read all the way through a single Booker Prize-winning novel. I’m convinced that the judges deliberately seek out work that’s designed to be read by critics, academic deconstructionists, and nobody else. But I digress.
In the Quirke novels, set in 1950s Dublin, Banville comes to grip with the Irish elite, the underlying tension between Catholic and Protestant, the dead weight of the Church, and the veil of history. Quirke and his collaborator, Inspector Hackett of the Garda (the Irish police), invariably find themselves caught up in the often violent conflicts roiling Dublin’s elite society. In Vengeance, two families are locked in combat for three generations, one Protestant, one Catholic, as partners in one of the country’s biggest businesses. The mysterious death at sea of one of the partners triggers an investigation by Quirke and Hackett that leads them to uncover long-hidden family secrets.
The Quirke series is successful, I believe, precisely because it lacks the conceits and conventions of so much detective fiction: the cliff-hanging ends of chapters, the unlikely coincidences, the rosters of likely suspects, the red herrings. Each novel tells a unique story, and each is firmly grounded in its characters and in the history of a particular time and place. If, like me, you enjoy detective fiction but are uncomfortable feeling manipulated, you’ll enjoy Vengeance and the other five novels (so far) in the series.
September 3, 2016
This is #5 in the Quirke series by Benjamin Black aka John Banville but it can be read as a standalone.
Quirke is a pathologist in 1950s Dublin when nice middle-class women didn't work and almost everybody smoked. The book opens with a carefully staged suicide by a businessman in front of his partners son and Quirke soon starts trying to unravel the dynamics of the family and colleagues of the deceased. Alongside his professional work we have the sorry tale of his own family dynamics, which are no more straightforward than the one under investigation. There are themes of trust and deceit, absent parents, and families that are either blended or fractured depending which way you look at it.
It is a grim read as you would expect from an author not known for a sense of humour. The audiobook was capably narrated by Sean Barrett who is responsible for me nudging this from 3.5* to 4*.
Quirke is a pathologist in 1950s Dublin when nice middle-class women didn't work and almost everybody smoked. The book opens with a carefully staged suicide by a businessman in front of his partners son and Quirke soon starts trying to unravel the dynamics of the family and colleagues of the deceased. Alongside his professional work we have the sorry tale of his own family dynamics, which are no more straightforward than the one under investigation. There are themes of trust and deceit, absent parents, and families that are either blended or fractured depending which way you look at it.
It is a grim read as you would expect from an author not known for a sense of humour. The audiobook was capably narrated by Sean Barrett who is responsible for me nudging this from 3.5* to 4*.
July 5, 2018
Things are not always what they seem. This is so true for the Delahey & Clancy families. These families built a company together. Even though they shared the same amount of investment, the Clancy's were seen as the subservient party. This isn't the story. The current Delaney, Victor, took Jack Clancy's son, Davey, with him sailing. Not a bad idea except only one of them returned to shore alive.
This story is complicated yet mystifying. There is an underlying dislike amongst the characters. Some of them are manipulative and very cunning. The plot is complex and every character is guilty for something. The detective, Inspector Hackett, and his friend, Mr. Quirke, seem incapable of resolving the issues of two deaths but determined to get the answers.
A book to slowly read and enjoy because if you speed through, you'll miss certain aspects of the story.
This story is complicated yet mystifying. There is an underlying dislike amongst the characters. Some of them are manipulative and very cunning. The plot is complex and every character is guilty for something. The detective, Inspector Hackett, and his friend, Mr. Quirke, seem incapable of resolving the issues of two deaths but determined to get the answers.
A book to slowly read and enjoy because if you speed through, you'll miss certain aspects of the story.
July 26, 2012
first: I received this book as an ARC; I loved it so much I bought a regular copy. So my ARC is available and needs a good home. If you live in the US and you want it, just be the first to leave a comment saying you'd like it and I'll send it to you. The postage is on me.
My thanks to Librarything's early reviewers program and to Henry Holt for sending this copy. Book number five in Black's excellent Quirke novels, Vengeance continues the winning streak of beautiful writing and excellent characterizations found throughout the rest of the series. Black gets more playful with his language and literary references, the characters continue to deepen in scope, and the mystery is a definite conundrum that will keep you guessing up until the very end. After I was finished with this one, I put the book down and said out loud to no one in particular, "damn! Now that was one ****ing good book!" I shouldn't have been so surprised at how very good it is, since it's another one of Black's very intensely satisfying novels. Feel free to disagree all you want, but after reading all five novels in one fell swoop over the course of a week and a half, my conclusion is that the Quirke series is definitely one of the best and most intelligently-written out there.
As the novel opens, Davy Clancy is on Victor Delahaye's sailboat, Quicksilver, after being invited to accompany Delahaye for the day. Invite isn't the right word, actually, since Delahaye is the big boss of the firm owned jointly by both families, and Davy can't really refuse. Davy "was not a good sailor, in fact he was secretly afraid of the sea." Out of nowhere, Delahaye takes out a pistol wrapped in an oily rag and shoots himself. Frightened out of his wits, Davy takes the gun and tosses it overboard. He has no idea how to sail the Quicksilver, and he drifts along, waiting for rescue. The death is confirmed as a suicide, leading to one question, so beautifully voiced some time later in the thoughts of Victor's sister Maggie:
"...why had Victor taken him out in the boat -- why him? It had been Victor's way of sending a message, of leaving a signal as to why he had done what he had done. But what message was it, and to whom did he think he was directing it?"
The answer, as Quirke is about to discover, is not one to be revealed quickly or easily. The Delahayes are a formidable clan -- rich and powerful, but as with most families in Black's novels, filled with secrets. The wealthy Clancys have their secrets as well, but the Clancy side of the business is viewed with disdain by the Delahayes, who consider the Clancys their inferiors. When a second death occurs, the mystery only deepens.
Vengeance is the most current installment of the Quirke series as well as the newest chapter in Black's ongoing dark story about Dublin in the 1950s. Throughout all of the novels, Quirke is the main vehicle Black uses to explore this city where life was pretty much dictated by the bonds tying together the church, big money, and politics; it's also a place of many secrets and a lot of guilt. Quirke's job as a pathologist working in a hospital morgue brings with it a certain amount of curiosity; as he says in the first novel Christine Falls, "Dealing with the dead, you sometimes find yourself wondering about the lives they led."
I absolutely love this series -- Black's forte is in his creation of a particular place in a particular time as well as characterization. In Vengeance, he has crafted a nearly perfect mystery but also leaves the question of justice for readers to ponder, as well as the relationships of parents and their children and the legacy each generation leaves for the next. It's one of the most chilling reads he's produced yet.
This one is my favorite of the five with Elegy for April a very close second. I would highly recommend beginning with Christine Falls before picking up the rest of the Quirke novels, because it lays the foundation for all that's going to come next. Seriously, considering this is a series novel, it just doesn't get better than this. Not at all.
My thanks to Librarything's early reviewers program and to Henry Holt for sending this copy. Book number five in Black's excellent Quirke novels, Vengeance continues the winning streak of beautiful writing and excellent characterizations found throughout the rest of the series. Black gets more playful with his language and literary references, the characters continue to deepen in scope, and the mystery is a definite conundrum that will keep you guessing up until the very end. After I was finished with this one, I put the book down and said out loud to no one in particular, "damn! Now that was one ****ing good book!" I shouldn't have been so surprised at how very good it is, since it's another one of Black's very intensely satisfying novels. Feel free to disagree all you want, but after reading all five novels in one fell swoop over the course of a week and a half, my conclusion is that the Quirke series is definitely one of the best and most intelligently-written out there.
As the novel opens, Davy Clancy is on Victor Delahaye's sailboat, Quicksilver, after being invited to accompany Delahaye for the day. Invite isn't the right word, actually, since Delahaye is the big boss of the firm owned jointly by both families, and Davy can't really refuse. Davy "was not a good sailor, in fact he was secretly afraid of the sea." Out of nowhere, Delahaye takes out a pistol wrapped in an oily rag and shoots himself. Frightened out of his wits, Davy takes the gun and tosses it overboard. He has no idea how to sail the Quicksilver, and he drifts along, waiting for rescue. The death is confirmed as a suicide, leading to one question, so beautifully voiced some time later in the thoughts of Victor's sister Maggie:
"...why had Victor taken him out in the boat -- why him? It had been Victor's way of sending a message, of leaving a signal as to why he had done what he had done. But what message was it, and to whom did he think he was directing it?"
The answer, as Quirke is about to discover, is not one to be revealed quickly or easily. The Delahayes are a formidable clan -- rich and powerful, but as with most families in Black's novels, filled with secrets. The wealthy Clancys have their secrets as well, but the Clancy side of the business is viewed with disdain by the Delahayes, who consider the Clancys their inferiors. When a second death occurs, the mystery only deepens.
Vengeance is the most current installment of the Quirke series as well as the newest chapter in Black's ongoing dark story about Dublin in the 1950s. Throughout all of the novels, Quirke is the main vehicle Black uses to explore this city where life was pretty much dictated by the bonds tying together the church, big money, and politics; it's also a place of many secrets and a lot of guilt. Quirke's job as a pathologist working in a hospital morgue brings with it a certain amount of curiosity; as he says in the first novel Christine Falls, "Dealing with the dead, you sometimes find yourself wondering about the lives they led."
I absolutely love this series -- Black's forte is in his creation of a particular place in a particular time as well as characterization. In Vengeance, he has crafted a nearly perfect mystery but also leaves the question of justice for readers to ponder, as well as the relationships of parents and their children and the legacy each generation leaves for the next. It's one of the most chilling reads he's produced yet.
This one is my favorite of the five with Elegy for April a very close second. I would highly recommend beginning with Christine Falls before picking up the rest of the Quirke novels, because it lays the foundation for all that's going to come next. Seriously, considering this is a series novel, it just doesn't get better than this. Not at all.
September 12, 2016
Most of this Quirke tale is a character study of the families involved in this hapless suicide case, however there are a few well placed humorous passages that are real gems.
Whilst on the way through the cemetery to attend the funeral of said supposed suicide, Inspector. Hackett lowers his voice and says to Quirke, " Grand day for a planting." Quirke does his crooked smile, and as they drift towards the gravesite, Quirke retorts with, " there's a sign somewhere in Glasnevin Cemetery " he says quietly, " Planting in this area is restricted to dwarves, it says" the Inspectors shoulders shook. Quirke did not look at him.
I had to stop reading at that point and use my asthma inhaler, I laughed so hard.
That being said this is on page 120. It takes a good 100 more pages before this really get going, another suspicious death, and more bizarre goings on, have faith dear readers,have faith.
Whilst on the way through the cemetery to attend the funeral of said supposed suicide, Inspector. Hackett lowers his voice and says to Quirke, " Grand day for a planting." Quirke does his crooked smile, and as they drift towards the gravesite, Quirke retorts with, " there's a sign somewhere in Glasnevin Cemetery " he says quietly, " Planting in this area is restricted to dwarves, it says" the Inspectors shoulders shook. Quirke did not look at him.
I had to stop reading at that point and use my asthma inhaler, I laughed so hard.
That being said this is on page 120. It takes a good 100 more pages before this really get going, another suspicious death, and more bizarre goings on, have faith dear readers,have faith.
December 17, 2017
The author is acclaimed, it would seem. I have no idea why. I found this book dull, dreary, and long-winded. Almost nothing happens, and when it does happen it happens very, very slowly. It is a short work of 200 or so pages in my edition. At least 150 pages of those are somnolent and tiresome.
No doubt greater minds than mine would acclaim those pages as masterful character development. Sod that for a joke. If I never read one of this author's laborously tedious books again, it will be too soon.
No doubt greater minds than mine would acclaim those pages as masterful character development. Sod that for a joke. If I never read one of this author's laborously tedious books again, it will be too soon.
October 22, 2012
Just couldn't seem to really get into this. Not bad, Not good. Just o. k. Probably one of those I shouldn't have finished. OH WELL. On to something else. Just downloaded Jo Nesbo's Phantom That's more like it.
January 1, 2023
An intriguing premise. Already in the first 15 pages it happens: a suicide of a wealthy businessmen, in front of his partner’s son; the sole witness, as “a lesson in self-reliance.” A mysterious last message.
What does that mean?
Book 5 in the Quirke series.
The partnership of Quirke and Hackett to try to solve this mystery keeps being entertaining.
Several characters from previous books come along again too. By now I got sort of invested in them.
A slow boil. It’s about the characters.
The family of the deceased and his partner’s family are the prime persons of interest. An entitled bunch. With sordid secrets. We get their point of view, with all their doubts and emotions. That’s really all that this book is about. A circling of the wagons, with Quirke and Hackett trying to get inside.
What does that mean?
Book 5 in the Quirke series.
The partnership of Quirke and Hackett to try to solve this mystery keeps being entertaining.
Several characters from previous books come along again too. By now I got sort of invested in them.
A slow boil. It’s about the characters.
The family of the deceased and his partner’s family are the prime persons of interest. An entitled bunch. With sordid secrets. We get their point of view, with all their doubts and emotions. That’s really all that this book is about. A circling of the wagons, with Quirke and Hackett trying to get inside.
August 15, 2012
I got a review copy of this Sunday week for half-price a day before the official publication date. I was well chuffed indeed.
And of course, it was pretty good, Banville at his Black-est. Plenty of fun with somewhat stock characters: Dublin toffs (of both RC and Prod varieties), Trinty boys (this being the '50s, of course they're boys), and the lovable, taciturn, Midlands-bred Inspector Hackett, as well as the enigmatic pathologist Quirke. Add in the now-familiar extended family of Quirke—his daughter Phoebe, his adopted brother Malachy among others, and we're ready for a rollicking ride through the even-numbers postal disctricts of 1950s Dublin. (It does seem odd that the action never seems to cross the Liffey in this particular book.)
I won't dwell on the plot, it's unimportant: two men die, other people cause it, still others (our nominal "heros") figure out who they are and why they did it. Along the way there's enough love, loathing and lust to keep things fun.
And of course, it was pretty good, Banville at his Black-est. Plenty of fun with somewhat stock characters: Dublin toffs (of both RC and Prod varieties), Trinty boys (this being the '50s, of course they're boys), and the lovable, taciturn, Midlands-bred Inspector Hackett, as well as the enigmatic pathologist Quirke. Add in the now-familiar extended family of Quirke—his daughter Phoebe, his adopted brother Malachy among others, and we're ready for a rollicking ride through the even-numbers postal disctricts of 1950s Dublin. (It does seem odd that the action never seems to cross the Liffey in this particular book.)
I won't dwell on the plot, it's unimportant: two men die, other people cause it, still others (our nominal "heros") figure out who they are and why they did it. Along the way there's enough love, loathing and lust to keep things fun.
August 17, 2012
Benjamin Black, aka John Banville, gets back to 5-stars from me in this 5th Quirke novel. He's drinking too much, and he has his familiar weaknesses with women, but he's spot-on in his powers of ratiocination. The narrative is excellent here - intriguing deaths to be investigated and an array of interesting characters. We get to know Quirke's daughter Phoebe a bit more, and I really feel for her. Period atmosphere and details are fantastic. Distinctions between Dublin and Dun Laoghaire, between the city and rural Cork, between land and sea are subtly and beautifully presented. Absolutely brilliant: all mentionings of other mystery fiction and mystery writers, sly send-up of the usual mystery and detection formula. And guess who does NOT write a usual mystery and detection formula? I can't wait to see what "Benjamin Black" does with the Raymond Chandler Philip Marlowe character! LA, here comes Benjamin Black.
September 4, 2013
Entertaining but slight entry in the Quirke series. The writing is fluent as always from Black (or Banville, to be more accurate) and the characters are fun to witness but the mystery isn't that substantive this time around with not much in the way of surprise. More like 3.5 stars but the fine writing pushes it up a notch. If you like the series you should like this one, just not the best entry in terms of weightiness of plot. Recommended.
February 11, 2016
Like pieces of scrimshaw on black velvet, this author gives us even in the most stark scenes, bits of incredible beauty in his elegant and sensitive prose. The images are unforgettable. Add to this a cast of colorful characters and a mystery to be solved--and there you have it, the latest of the Quirke series novels. Top drawer.
July 26, 2017
A chore to get through
January 6, 2018
3 stelle scarse e perché mi sento di manica larga...
Ho comprato questo libro perché è stato riedito in una collana di gialli proposta da un noto giornale italiano, attirata dall'ambientazione in Irlanda. E l'ambientazione è l'unica cosa positiva...
Ho trovato il libro lentissimo, soprattutto tenendo conto che si tratta di un giallo tradizionale, o così dovrebbe essere. Per 3/4 del volume in pratica non succede nulla... Vengono seguiti vari personaggi, tanto che mi riesce quasi difficile credere che si sia un protagonista vero e proprio, nonostante la serie prenda il nome da uno dei due "investigatori". E questi personaggi non fanno che tracannare superalcolici e fumare come ciminiere! Ho capito che il libro è ambientato negli anni Cinquanta e queste cose erano allora la norma, ma il pseudo-protagonista, tanto per fare un esempio, riesce a fumare tre sigarette di fila!
No, decisamente questa serie non fa per me.
Ho comprato questo libro perché è stato riedito in una collana di gialli proposta da un noto giornale italiano, attirata dall'ambientazione in Irlanda. E l'ambientazione è l'unica cosa positiva...
Ho trovato il libro lentissimo, soprattutto tenendo conto che si tratta di un giallo tradizionale, o così dovrebbe essere. Per 3/4 del volume in pratica non succede nulla... Vengono seguiti vari personaggi, tanto che mi riesce quasi difficile credere che si sia un protagonista vero e proprio, nonostante la serie prenda il nome da uno dei due "investigatori". E questi personaggi non fanno che tracannare superalcolici e fumare come ciminiere! Ho capito che il libro è ambientato negli anni Cinquanta e queste cose erano allora la norma, ma il pseudo-protagonista, tanto per fare un esempio, riesce a fumare tre sigarette di fila!
No, decisamente questa serie non fa per me.
February 5, 2017
If you’ve made it this far into the Quirke series then you know what you’re getting and presumably like this kind of thing. The mood is as sombre as ever and the alcoholic, hirsute, emotionally constipated Quirke remains irresistible both to the opposite sex and, it is continually hinted, his wisecracking old mate Inspector Hackett. Some reviewers have described this as one of the weaker novels in the series; I felt it was one of the stronger ones, but probably for the same reasons. Vengeance never quite descends into the slightly ridiculous melodramatics of some of the earlier instalments - charismatic baddies being chucked out of windows and impaled on spiked railings, for example - and for my money is all the better for it. The body count is still pretty high though, and fans of sexually charged chain smoking will not be disappointed.
October 16, 2022
A fun (if gloomy, murderous Ireland is your idea of a good time) story that did not deeply affect me but was a pleasure nonetheless. Good to get the gang back together (), a satisfaction only those who have read the previous four books will understand. Longtime Banville fans will also sympathize with the criticism of Quirke's magnetic crotch having gotten absolutely out of hand in this one. What could possibly be so enticing about a brooding, perma-tipsy pathologist?
This is not to say that the beauty of language suffered at all. Here's a line that stuck out to me: "Her pain was like a child she was carrying inside her, she had to nurse it, to lull it, so that it would not wake fully and set to clawing at her with its tiny sharp nails."
This is not to say that the beauty of language suffered at all. Here's a line that stuck out to me: "Her pain was like a child she was carrying inside her, she had to nurse it, to lull it, so that it would not wake fully and set to clawing at her with its tiny sharp nails."
September 24, 2023
These Quirke books are really character studies with murder involved. There is the ongoing study of Quirke and Phoebe and the "regulars" but also the studies of the people involved in the murder or with the family of the victims. These are not happy books. But they're rather addictive.
August 17, 2024
El libro va sobre dos familias que tienen una empresa y en un periodo muy corto de tiempo uno de ellos se suicida y a otro lo asesinan.
Es verdad que la trama no es muy compleja, pero si que es inesperada.
El libro es muy fácil de leer, tanto la trama como la forma en la que está escrito hace que sea imposible no terminárselo.
Es verdad que la trama no es muy compleja, pero si que es inesperada.
El libro es muy fácil de leer, tanto la trama como la forma en la que está escrito hace que sea imposible no terminárselo.
October 21, 2012
Set in the mid-1950s in Dublin, Ireland, Benjamin Black's mystery series featuring pathologist Quirke (honestly, I think I knew his first name once but can't find it anywhere now) is magical and perfect. Taken as a five-part series, it's flawless, and the latest installment, Vengeance is the best in the series since the first book Christine Falls. Black (actually John Banville) is the Raymond Chandler of Dublin. It hit me when I reached the end of Vengeance that Quirke reminds me a lot of Philip Marlowe. Quirke is a pathologist and not a detective, but their personalities and style are similar. They are both cool customers, somewhat lacking in emotion and yet not cold.
The time period is left unstated in Vengeance, but the astute reader might be able to figure it out based upon descriptions of women's clothes and references to the recent war. I'm sure that people who live in Dublin and Cork, where some of the action took place, would be able to place the novel in time based upon the names of restarurants and other landmarks. I have the feeling that these details are meticulously correct.
Black's descriptive writing is beautifully evocative, never over the top or sentimental. The overall effect for me, who has never visited Dublin or anywhere else in Ireland, is enchantment. On a drive from Dublin to Cork, Black writes about the landscape: "They crossed a bridge over a river, a broad slow stretch of stippled silver, with bulrushes at both sides and a single swan afloat in the shallows. The huge sky over the Midlands was piled high with luminous wreckage"(p. 281). As someone who lives in "the land of little rain," I'm a sucker for descriptions of dripping summer landscapes after a rainfall: "In the street the rain had stopped, and suddenly the sun came out, as if a curtain had been drawn swiftly aside, and the tarmac shone and car roofs threw off big floppy flashes of light, like huge bubbles forming and bursting" (p. 242).
Vengeance does indeed include a murder and a cast of mysterious and callous characters. Once again, Black has given us a glimpse into the lives of Dublin's upper-crust at the middle of the last century, complete with suicide, murder, and a leisurely unfolding of the investigation.
The time period is left unstated in Vengeance, but the astute reader might be able to figure it out based upon descriptions of women's clothes and references to the recent war. I'm sure that people who live in Dublin and Cork, where some of the action took place, would be able to place the novel in time based upon the names of restarurants and other landmarks. I have the feeling that these details are meticulously correct.
Black's descriptive writing is beautifully evocative, never over the top or sentimental. The overall effect for me, who has never visited Dublin or anywhere else in Ireland, is enchantment. On a drive from Dublin to Cork, Black writes about the landscape: "They crossed a bridge over a river, a broad slow stretch of stippled silver, with bulrushes at both sides and a single swan afloat in the shallows. The huge sky over the Midlands was piled high with luminous wreckage"(p. 281). As someone who lives in "the land of little rain," I'm a sucker for descriptions of dripping summer landscapes after a rainfall: "In the street the rain had stopped, and suddenly the sun came out, as if a curtain had been drawn swiftly aside, and the tarmac shone and car roofs threw off big floppy flashes of light, like huge bubbles forming and bursting" (p. 242).
Vengeance does indeed include a murder and a cast of mysterious and callous characters. Once again, Black has given us a glimpse into the lives of Dublin's upper-crust at the middle of the last century, complete with suicide, murder, and a leisurely unfolding of the investigation.
December 23, 2013
The quality of the writing in this work is superior to any other crime novel I have read, and its protagonist is among the most complex and opaque among a legion of inquisitors. The prose simply stopped me, requiring a rereading, and sometimes another. Here, a man enters his father's nursing home room.
"There was a bed, a chair, a bedside locker. A copper beech tree outside loomed in the high sash window, darkening the room within and giving it an underwater look. Jack's father inhabited this cisternlike space with the indolent furtiveness of an elongated, big-eyed, emaciated carp. Over time he had taken on protective coloring so that always when Jack entered the room it took him a moment to make out the old man's figure against the background of drab wallpaper and the brown blanket on the bed and the rusty light in the window." A page later the father transforms from a fish to something like an insect: "As a young man Philip Clancy had been tall and thick and now he was stooped and gaunt. He had a small head with a domed forehead and a curiously pitted skull on which a few last stray hairs sprouted like strands of cobweb."
Most often the sentences that hold the reader are simply extended by a phrase or a repetition, a nuanced fold or an evocative word, all done with subtlety and exquisite purpose.
There are inexplicable deaths, of course, and detection of the Dublin murder police sort, but in the end the resolutions seem to be merely required afterthoughts; as reader I wanted more of the murky pubs and motives, drink and smoke and dark air. All of the books in this series, set in the smothering fifties of the last century, are barely modern. Quirke, the police surgeon at their center, might as well have emerged from a book co-written by Dickens and Dostoevsky. He carries an impenetrable darkness everywhere, and that is the pull for the reader. And, as in all good books, it does not end at the final page.
"There was a bed, a chair, a bedside locker. A copper beech tree outside loomed in the high sash window, darkening the room within and giving it an underwater look. Jack's father inhabited this cisternlike space with the indolent furtiveness of an elongated, big-eyed, emaciated carp. Over time he had taken on protective coloring so that always when Jack entered the room it took him a moment to make out the old man's figure against the background of drab wallpaper and the brown blanket on the bed and the rusty light in the window." A page later the father transforms from a fish to something like an insect: "As a young man Philip Clancy had been tall and thick and now he was stooped and gaunt. He had a small head with a domed forehead and a curiously pitted skull on which a few last stray hairs sprouted like strands of cobweb."
Most often the sentences that hold the reader are simply extended by a phrase or a repetition, a nuanced fold or an evocative word, all done with subtlety and exquisite purpose.
There are inexplicable deaths, of course, and detection of the Dublin murder police sort, but in the end the resolutions seem to be merely required afterthoughts; as reader I wanted more of the murky pubs and motives, drink and smoke and dark air. All of the books in this series, set in the smothering fifties of the last century, are barely modern. Quirke, the police surgeon at their center, might as well have emerged from a book co-written by Dickens and Dostoevsky. He carries an impenetrable darkness everywhere, and that is the pull for the reader. And, as in all good books, it does not end at the final page.
October 23, 2012
“Vengeance” is the fifth book in Black’s mystery series featuring Quirke, a pathologist who supports Detective Inspector Hackett in his cases.
The plot is an interwoven, complicated story about two families headed up by business partners who are the sons of business partners. It seems as though one of the families has always been the ‘top dog,’ holding the upper hand in all the business dealings that have occurred over the years.
Victor Delahaye (the dominant partner), takes Davy Clancy (son of the secondary partner) out for a day’s sail—much to the dismay of Davy as he is not a very good sailor. While out on the high seas, Victor tells Davy a story about fathers and sons, and then proceeds to commit suicide by shooting himself in the heart, leaving behind a very gruesome scene.
Victor’s corpse is sent to Dublin and because of the prominent position Delahaye held in the business world, the case comes to the attention of Detective Inspector Hackett and, of course, Quirke—who is named as the pathologist on the case. The two men have to proceed very carefully because of Delahaye’s position in the community, so they tread meticulously as they hold their interviews with everyone, including Mona, the dead man’s young wife; James and Jonas, his twin sons; and Jack Clancy, his partner. However, when a second death happens, a secret from the past is revealed, one that could destroy the reputations of some of the most prominent people in Dublin. The question the Detective has to answer first and foremost is, “Why did Delahaye kill himself?” And what on earth does it have to do with knocking the other families out of society once and for all.
Although an interesting read at times, anyone that is new to Black’s writing should probably begin with the first in this series in order to fully comprehend all the ins-and-outs of the characters.
Until Next Time, Everybody,
Amy
The plot is an interwoven, complicated story about two families headed up by business partners who are the sons of business partners. It seems as though one of the families has always been the ‘top dog,’ holding the upper hand in all the business dealings that have occurred over the years.
Victor Delahaye (the dominant partner), takes Davy Clancy (son of the secondary partner) out for a day’s sail—much to the dismay of Davy as he is not a very good sailor. While out on the high seas, Victor tells Davy a story about fathers and sons, and then proceeds to commit suicide by shooting himself in the heart, leaving behind a very gruesome scene.
Victor’s corpse is sent to Dublin and because of the prominent position Delahaye held in the business world, the case comes to the attention of Detective Inspector Hackett and, of course, Quirke—who is named as the pathologist on the case. The two men have to proceed very carefully because of Delahaye’s position in the community, so they tread meticulously as they hold their interviews with everyone, including Mona, the dead man’s young wife; James and Jonas, his twin sons; and Jack Clancy, his partner. However, when a second death happens, a secret from the past is revealed, one that could destroy the reputations of some of the most prominent people in Dublin. The question the Detective has to answer first and foremost is, “Why did Delahaye kill himself?” And what on earth does it have to do with knocking the other families out of society once and for all.
Although an interesting read at times, anyone that is new to Black’s writing should probably begin with the first in this series in order to fully comprehend all the ins-and-outs of the characters.
Until Next Time, Everybody,
Amy
July 9, 2017
Oh dear, I was introduced to this series with the last book in the series and was quite excited to think I'd found a new author. Sadly, I was wrong. I battled my way through "Elegy for April," and reluctantly read this one, but knew in my heart that this would be my last.
Black, pen name for John Banbury, overwrites. Descriptions are endless; people staring out of windows, lighting cigarettes, musing about the rain, some of which is useful but in the sheer volume he produces, it's just too much. There are endless descriptions of the light, of the clouds, of lampshades, of the wet streets, of dingy offices. I know, because I've been told, the series is set in Dublin, but it could just as easily be Prague, or Indianapolis, or Tbilisi (although I guess you'd need to change the street names). I like a sense of place; my sense of this place is I don't want to go there.
No one looks at anyone else. Everyone is seething inside. No one says what she feels. Everyone is popping in and out of beds and it isn't clear they're enjoying themselves. People make bad choices, even the characters who, perhaps, should know better. And no one, except possibly the detective, is at all likable.
There are lots of glowing reviews which just demonstrates that tastes vary. But to anyone considering trying Black on for size, I suggest you get the first book from the library. You may adore his style and characters, but if not, you aren't out any money.
Black, pen name for John Banbury, overwrites. Descriptions are endless; people staring out of windows, lighting cigarettes, musing about the rain, some of which is useful but in the sheer volume he produces, it's just too much. There are endless descriptions of the light, of the clouds, of lampshades, of the wet streets, of dingy offices. I know, because I've been told, the series is set in Dublin, but it could just as easily be Prague, or Indianapolis, or Tbilisi (although I guess you'd need to change the street names). I like a sense of place; my sense of this place is I don't want to go there.
No one looks at anyone else. Everyone is seething inside. No one says what she feels. Everyone is popping in and out of beds and it isn't clear they're enjoying themselves. People make bad choices, even the characters who, perhaps, should know better. And no one, except possibly the detective, is at all likable.
There are lots of glowing reviews which just demonstrates that tastes vary. But to anyone considering trying Black on for size, I suggest you get the first book from the library. You may adore his style and characters, but if not, you aren't out any money.
October 31, 2012
Good idea for a story, but the author doesn't bother to execute it. There is no character development, and the reader is left to imagine what a stereotypical rich/bored person might think or feel. It felt like watching a muted movie. You see people moving around, but you don't really know why. It was also very difficult to keep characters straight. The character's reactions throughout the story seemed abnormal and aren't explained, so the story just feels unrealistic.
The langage is also very thick and trips up the American reader. It was also very verbose. The author discribes random, unrelated things in detail. Entire paragraphs could be deleted without impacting the story.
The langage is also very thick and trips up the American reader. It was also very verbose. The author discribes random, unrelated things in detail. Entire paragraphs could be deleted without impacting the story.
April 24, 2012
It was a very interesting novel. I felt like there were too many characters who were trying to play detective, so we didn't really focus on the main detective. I also haven't read the earlier books featuring this detective, so although the character's backstories were explained so I wasn't completely lost, I wish I had read the other books featuring Quirke first.
Overall it was pretty enjoyable. Not too long and drawn out. The plot is more character based than actually hunting out clues.
I received this book through Goodreads Free Giveaway.
Overall it was pretty enjoyable. Not too long and drawn out. The plot is more character based than actually hunting out clues.
I received this book through Goodreads Free Giveaway.
November 19, 2019
I am so glad I am not part of an Irish family! Banville provides vivid portraits of all of the characters in this fine historical piece, using omniscient narration strategically, moving into each character’s point of view for sparkling little set pieces with tension and precision and clear description as the story unfolds. While not a difficult mystery, it nevertheless has cute twists that lead Quirke to the answers.
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