Christine Falls

by John Banville, Benjamin Black

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SNOW

'Absorbing' The Times
'Gripping' Scotsman

Quirke's pathology department, set deep beneath 1950s Dublin, is his own gloomy always quiet, always night, and always under his control. Until, late one evening, he stumbles across a body that should not be there.

The investigation he opens uncovers a dark secret at the heart of the city's high Catholic network - a secret with the power to shake his own family and everything he holds dear.

Praise for the Quirke
'A joy to read.' Sunday Times
'Darkly dangerous [with] flinty humour.' Daily Telegraph
'Beguiling characters and evocative settings . . . Impeccable.' The Times

Genres: Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

Published August 19, 2025

About the author

William John Banville is an Irish novelist, short story writer, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Proust, via Nabokov", Banville himself maintains that W.B. Yeats and Henry James are the two real influences on his work.
Banville has won the 1976 James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the 2003 International Nonino Prize, the 2005 Booker Prize, the 2011 Franz Kafka Prize, the 2013 Austrian State Prize for European Literature and the 2014 Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2007. Italy made him a Cavaliere of the Ordine della Stella d'Italia (essentially a knighthood) in 2017. He is a former member of Aosdána, having voluntarily relinquished the financial stipend in 2001 to another, more impoverished, writer.
Banville was born and grew up in Wexford town in south-east Ireland. He published his first novel, Nightspawn, in 1971. A second, Birchwood, followed two years later. "The Revolutions Trilogy", published between 1976 and 1982, comprises three works, each named in reference to a renowned scientist: Doctor Copernicus, Kepler and The Newton Letter. His next work, Mefisto, had a mathematical theme. His 1989 novel The Book of Evidence, shortlisted for the Booker Prize and winner of that year's Guinness Peat Aviation award, heralded a second trilogy, three works which deal in common with the work of art. "The Frames Trilogy" is completed by Ghosts and Athena, both published during the 1990s. Banville's thirteenth novel, The Sea, won the Booker Prize in 2005. In addition, he publishes crime novels as Benjamin Black — most of these feature the character of Quirke, an Irish pathologist based in Dublin.
Banville is considered a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He lives in Dublin.

Reviews

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com 📖

[Bip Padrnos · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

I liked the dark, edgy atmosphere that pervaded the whole book. That was just about all I liked. The mystery started off interesting, but really petered out about halfway through and it featured one of my least favorite types of protagonists: a brooding, emotionally distant thinker who just so happens to be irresistible to women.

[Peter Moreira · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book! I haven't read any of Banville's literary work (but I plan to now) but I was blown away by his deft craftsmanship in the crime genre. It's no easy feat as so many literary titans have tried to write crime novels and sucked at it. Meanwhile, the prose in this novel is magnificent. I can't wait to read the other books in the series.

[Mary Wherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audio book.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really well written. Story compelling. Great characters. Story gets a bit contrived.

[Tejas Sathian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable mystery - dark, realist, filled with social commentary

[Michelle Mundt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well written but rather bleak Irish murder mystery. Not sure I liked the characters enough to read another in the series.