I did not realize this was part of a series when I first requested it. This is the eighth book and I am not one that can read books out of order. Just knowing I am, makes me less interested in the story. This is one I will have to try again after reading the others. I don’t think my view would be the same.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hanover Square for the eARC of this installment in the Quirke series.

I must say that this was the least satisfying title in this series so far. After last year's turn in some new and pleasing directions for the series, I felt that this was a paint by numbers affair that is not up tot he standards of Black/Banville's previous efforts.

April in Spain is another atmospheric mystery by John Banville. Quirk, the pathologist is a complicated character whose very presence brings forth plot complexities. As is usual, Banville's writing is the star of the show. I would have liked the book to be longer as it is always a disappointment to come to the end of one is this now 8 volume series. It will be a difficult wait for the next novel as this one ends with quite the cliff hanger.

Mystery | Adult
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On holiday in Spain, Irish pathologist Quirke is astonished to see someone he thinks he recognizes. It’s astonishing because that someone is April Latimer, a friend of his daughter’s, and a young woman who was murdered by her brother four years ago. You can see why I was eager to read this one! I didn’t realize this is part of a series, and I’ve not read any of others. There are a few references to a backstory, but all in all I didn’t have any difficulty keeping up, though I think those who’ve read others in the series would enjoy these references. It’s also an historical mystery – set in the 1960s, I’d guesstimate. It’s well after World War II, but that’s about all we have. Most of the time you forget it’s set in another decade – Booker Prize-winner Banville has a classic writing style that is quite enjoyable. The story opens with a distasteful peek into the life of a hired killer: “Terry Tice liked killing people. It was as simple as that.” Ick – still gives me the shivers! I much preferred the chapters featuring Quirke (I don’t think I ever learned his first name) and his psychologist wife, Evelyn – their gentle squabbling over his drinking and her distance ring quite true. The story brings in several other characters that apparently feature in past Quirke novels, but in summary, this is the unravelling of the mystery of April – is it really her? What’s she doing alive? And in Spain? And if she is alive, who wants her dead? I enjoyed it enough that I’m considering trying another Quirke mystery, but in truth, I didn’t find it a particularly compelling book. The story was interesting enough, but most of the characters failed to engage me, except for Quirke himself. If you do want to give it a go, make it an interlibrary loan, as Grand Forks & District Public Library doesn’t have a copy. My thanks to Hanover Square Press for the digital reading copy provided through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Terrific cover, by the way!
More discussion and reviews of this novel: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56383032

The latest in a frankly astonishing record of productivity from this great author. Banville seems prepared to eliminate the fuzzy distinction between himself and "Benjamin Black,' with this book, though it contains both the strengths and weaknesses of earlier Black books. Banville never seems entirely comfortable with plot-devices; he's in it more for the pure joy of language, and that's why novels like "Book of Evidence' and his masterpiece, 'The Untouchable' will last for a long time. The Quirke books are an interesting distraction, but when he's not chained to a formal plot, Banville does exquisite things with language.

Sometimes it's best if the dead stay dead. April in Spain is a coda from Elegy for April an earlier installment in the series of mysteries involving Quirke, a Dublin Pathologist. After he sees April or her doppelganger, the mystery moves forward, switching between Quirke, St. John Stratford (another character in Banville's mystery stable), and a hired killer who is dispatched to Spain to kill who?

April in Spain should be read as part of a series, as there are a few too many questions that would be answered from the previous works.

Pathologist Quirke is on holiday with his wife when he thinks he sees the face of a dead woman. Never one to let a mystery lie, he has to investigate, triggering a series of events that threaten his very life. The writing is lush and the narrator transports the listener to April in Spain.

Quirke, a rather dour Irish pathologist and his wife travel to sunny Spain on vacation. While there he recognizes a woman who is supposed to be dead. Years ago he heard her brother confess to killing her. So what to do? He may find it is best to leave the dead in peace.
Banville's writing and characterization are top notch. He is very good at evoking Quirke's tragic gloom even on a sunny beach.
This is one of a series of Quirke novels which I have not read. I enjoyed it as a stand alone.
This review is of a digital review copy provided by NetGalleey.

I was in the mood for a good mystery that would allow me to do some armchair travelling and some colorful characters would also be a plus.

While Irish pathologist Quirke and his wife Evelyn are vacationing in the Basque region of Spain, he uses a pair of nail scissors to open oysters, causing a hand injury needing medical attention. The attending physician reminds Quirke someone that he cannot quite place at the moment but her suspicious behavior piques his interest even more and starts him down a path of no return.

Banville does a wonderful job at filling in the back stories of the characters for readers like you have not read the previous books in the series.

The storyline starts as a slow burn, but the vivid prose with a strong sense of place, and quirky characters kept me turning the pages until the end.

All the clues were there pointing to the ending, but I was still haunted by the final actions.

Rueful, richly detailed, and often harrowing.

DNF

This might be a case of, It's not the book, it's me.

When I requested this book on NetGalley, I didn't realize it was part of an ongoing series. There's enough detail at the beginning to acclimate readers, so I adjusted to that part quickly.

What totally threw me off is that there's nothing in this book's description indicating it's historical fiction. I was so confused. Finally, I went on Goodreads and checked the first book's description, which places the series in the 1950s.

I finally settled in, but nothing clicked for me. I was bored with the characters and the plot. My policy this year is not to force myself to read books I'm not enjoying, so I gave up.

Ahh man, I had so much hope for this to be a solid and creepy thriller. Unfortunately there wasn’t anything creepy in my opinion and I would’ve liked a bit more.

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Oops. I made a mistake (it happens) when I requested this ARC. While some say that the book can also be considered the sequal to Snow (which I read and loved, which I why I requested the ARC) it's actually a later installment of the author's more longstanding Quirk series - one that I had been unfamiliar with until now and albeit, it's hard for me to review it. The writing is strong and I particularly enjoyed the setting, snippets of history, and atmospheric tension, but the characters themselves remained a bit of a mystery. I attibute this, at least partially to the fact that I don't think that the Quirk series is one that can be read unsequentially and that doing so would enrich reader experience.

I was disappointed in this Banville mystery. It lacked depth, but had interesting characters. When retired Dublin pathologist, Quirke, goes on holiday in Spain with his wife, Evelyn, a psychologist, he sees a woman he thought had died. This opens a can of worms back in Dublin as it is related to some shady dealings of one of the government ministers. I felt the story lacked development although the ending was a total surprise.

John Banville has written at least six books in the Quirke, Dublin set, dark(ish) mystery series. The stories are set in the 1950s. For those who are looking for the older entries, they were published under the name Benjamin Black.

April in Spain hearkens back to an earlier case. That story was told in Elegy for April. Now, while on vacation, Quirke thinks that he spots April. Can it be her? What could this mean?

This book may be most enjoyed by those who remember April. As it true for other titles in the series, it is not a happy story. Still, those who like a Dublin (Spain) noir may want to give this one a read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

The book opened with a chapter about a hit man, his background and how much he liked killing people. I thought to myself, very interesting,beginning!

Then the book switches to a pathologist Quirke who is on vacation in Spain. Rather slow moving, even though this is the eighth Quirke book in this series. This book switches back and forth between Quirke, Terry and St. John Stratford, a third character who has a series of his own. It makes me wish I could go back in time to read the previous books in these two series.

Very slow read. Just seems to drag. Just not my kind of book. Very sad ending and storyline. I kept reading hoping it would get better - and it did in the last 3 chapters.

Set in Dublin and Spain in the 1950s, this latest in the Quirke series sees the pathologist on a vacation (against his will) with his wife Evelyn until he meets April, a young physician who bears a striking resemblance to Angela, who was murdered in Dublin by her brother four years earlier. Or was she? That's the conceit and when Quirke reaches out to home, he sets a series of things in motion, not the least of which is the arrival in San Sebastian of DI St John Strafford. And a killer. Banville does a good job of providing background for those who, like me, have a spotty history with the series. This is very much a character driven tale with good period atmospherics. It's not slow, exactly, but it's not a headlong race for answers either. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This one is for Banville's fans.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

There were interesting portions, but the novel in whole was a struggle.

In this noir series set in 1950’s Dublin, state pathologist Quirke finally finds happiness rather late in life in his marriage to Evelyn, an Austrian psychiatrist who puts up with his lugubrious outlook on life. While on a spring holiday in San Sebastian, Spain, Quirke is convinced he has met his daughter Phoebe’s friend April Latimer, thought to have been murdered years earlier. Quirke urges Phoebe to join him and Evelyn in Spain and to verify that it is, indeed, April who lives there under an assumed name. The problem is that powerful people in high places in Dublin don’t want April to be found, so a hit man is dispatched to do her in.

This is the 8th book in the Quirke series, and the third one in which Banville’s more recent creation Dublin Garda detective St. John Strafford appears. In many ways, the two men are opposites— Quirke is part of a powerful R.C clan that controls much of Dublin’s political world, while Strafford is scion of an Anglo-Irish landed gentry class. Unsurprisingly, they take an immediate dislike to each other when they finally meet. And yet, in many ways, they are similar. Both are loners, outcasts from their respective tribes. Both have a talent for solving crimes, and both are men women find attractive in ways that bemuse their peers. And, with Strafford’s unacknowledged attraction to Phoebe, it looks like their paths will continue to cross in future novels, as painful as that may be for Quirke. Highly recommended. Thanks to the publisher for providing an ARC via NetGalley.

This was slow in the beginning, but once it got going, it was a well written, enjoyable read. Character development is strong, although may of them are flawed… atmospheric with Insight into some Irish history and culture

Set primarily in San Sebastián during the era of Franco, a good sense of time and place is created.
More literary fiction than thriller, this is the eighth in a series, but the first one I have read. It works well as a stand alone.