The description of this book made it seem like a stand alone novel mystery novel, but I that isn't really what this book was.

I think readers might enjoy this book a lot more if they have already read The Lock-up since the case and characters from that previous book are constantly mentioned.

Also, I don't think I would have picked this title up if I realized one of the main character was a pedophile. It seemed like readers should feel some sympathy for the character and I could not. Perhaps if the mystery was really gripping, I would have stuck with this book, but that was also not really a focus in this story. I ended up not finishing this one.

Banville takes us to 1950s Ireland and brings back familiar flawed characters. DI Strafford sweeps into a rural town to assist with a missing woman and later a missing child. His presence forces interactions with his nemesis and colleague Quirke and a previous case of the death of Rosa Jacobs. This is the second novel but can be read successfully as a standalone. Banville is so incredibly talented in his writing that you quickly feel that you know everyone in the story and can easily picture the town in your mind. It's a strange story filled with unlikeable characters and it is clearly book 2.

That being said, I was magically transported to the town and invested in the conclusion. Banville wins again!
.#harlequintrade #harlequin #thedrowned #johnbanville

This is a mystery thriller set in the stormy landscape of Ireland. Unfortunately, this appears to not be a stand-alone book but part of a series, or interconnected books, by the author. While the writing is effective, it is hard as an entry book for this author. Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

While listed as a follow up to Snow involving Detective Stratford, which it is, it is also very much a Quirk novel so knowledge of that series (which I do not have) helps. Banville's prose is beautiful, but this is not a traditional police procedural - it's as much a character study and examination of a community and the series regulars. I'll be going back to delve into the Quirk series soon.

In my down time today, I wrapped up my E-ARC of The Drowned by John Banville. Not my favorite book. I hate to say it, but I didn't even like it a little bit. It was a slow read and took a couple of weeks for me to finish. Probably because I kept putting it down in favor of about 15 other books.

First off, it's not marketed as the continuation of a series. But apparently it is somehow related to his other series. Which explains why I didn't follow the backstory on some of the characters. Secondly, it is supposed to be about a missing woman, presumed drowned. There is about 5 minutes worth of missing woman. And 5 hours worth of other people and their lives. And then there is the pedophile... I can't even with this one.

I really appreciate the opportunity to review this book ahead of time. Also reviewed on Goodreads.

This book is being marketed as a standalone and as a mystery. It is neither. There are constant references made to the Rosa Jacobs case that was investigated a year earlier by Dr. Quirke, the pathologist, and DI St John Stratford. THE DROWNED appears to be the second instalment of the Rosa Jacobs case, which occurred in a novel entitled “The Lock-up”. Unfortunately, the marketing blurb fails to mention this. So a reader who has not read “The lock-up” flounders almost immediately when information about the Rosa Jacobs case is causally introduced early in the story.

After a short interesting introduction to the mystery—a car is found in the middle of a field and a woman has gone missing—the mystery is dropped while the story rambles on and on about the personal lives of the two investigators, Quirke and Stratford. In particular, it seems to be a rumination about men and their wives, marriages that don’t work in 1950s Ireland, and an affair taking place between Stratford and Phoebe, Quirke’s daughter.

Then, the story switches to the background of a paedophile, released from prison and living in a nearby caravan. He discovered the empty car in the middle of the field, but we know from the beginning that he had nothing to do with the missing woman; he only discovered the empty car, and helped her distraught husband.

Then back to DI Stratford’s personal life. Then a trip into Quirke’s personal life and reminiscences of his past. Back and forth. Ruminations by Stratford, then Quirke, about their past and current personal troubles. But nothing about the mystery of the missing woman and we are at the 50% mark.

Finally, DI Stratford begins his investigation, by visiting Denton Wymes, the paedophile who discovered the empty car. All Stratford discovers is that the husband of the missing woman was behaving very peculiarly.

Finally the body of the missing woman is found, and Quirke solves the mystery fairly quickly through an autopsy.

This is not a mystery story. It is a story of men, women, and their extramarital affairs.

Also, I thought the ending left the reader hanging; the story was unfinished.

Banville’s writing is excellent—in terms of word choice and sentence structure. But the novel lacks a compelling plot.

“The Drowned” Will be released in North America on October 1, 2024.

Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing an electronic copy of this book via NetGallry. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinions.

I really liked this detective novel. This genre is one of my favorites and I loved seeing a slightly different take from the usual fare - the backdrop in Dublin and elsewhere in Ireland, the personal relationships of the main character with others around him, and the use of the natural setting to add more suspense and well-placed confusion to make the mystery harder to solve as the reader. Unfortunately for me, I came into this book not having read previous ones in the series - I look forward to reading the preceding books in this series.

John Banville is a beautiful, intelligent author. I enjoy his "literary" as well as his "genre" (mystery) novels. (I put quote marks because there is great overlap in Banville's work between the two types of writing.)

I'm a big mystery novel fan and Banville's Quirke series is one of my favorite. He creates a powerful sense of Ireland, Dublin and the more rural areas. No one knows better how to use landscape as metaphor while at the same time creating a very specific sense of place with the use of poetic yet accurate details and descriptions. I can get lost in his luxurious prose while coping with the painful, often very dark Ireland society he depicts.

Speaking of dark, Quirke practically defines the word. In The Drowned he is even darker than usual, lost in grief in the wake of his wife's death. I almost hate to see Quirke experience relief from his chronic emotional pain since it always seems to presage another loss. He is an alcoholic of the old-fashioned romantic variety.

In The Drowned, we are faced with mysterious disappearances, deaths, un- (or semi-) solved murders as well as the highly ambivalent relationship between Quirke's daughter Phoebe and Inspector Strafford. Quirke and Strafford's work relationship is strained by this relationship which is already strained.

For much of the book, it's not even certain that a crime has been committed. I enjoyed the confusion over not only "whodunit" but also: what was done? Was there a crime?

None of the characters in this--or any of the Quirke's novels--is wholly sympathetic. At the same time, most are not purely bad either (with some outstanding exceptions!)--Banville's people are complicated. I will say that they do tend to land on the dark side.

Banville switches things up in the final solution. At first I greatly enjoyed this turning things on their head, but I was a little disappointed in the ending--at the same time, it felt totally right for the book and if not predictable not an unexpected Banville conclusion.

I will admit in full disclure that despite his alcoholic moroseness, I'm a little bit in love with the ever-suffering Quirke.

A beautiful, atmospheric read which kept me engaged from beginning to end.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Publishin, and John Banville for providing this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

The Drowned opens with a man claiming that his wife has gone missing. Armitage, believes his wife may have drowned herself in the sea. This he tells Wymes, a passerby, who happened upon an abandoned car and, curious as to why it would be stopped in the middle of an overgrown field with the lights on, engine running and driver’s-side door wide open, goes to inspect it. Armitage, upon seeing the passerby, explains that his wife got out of the car, ran down to the sea and threw herself off the rocks into the water. He then begs Wymes to assist him in finding her.
In the next few chapters, we are introduced to a few key characters in our pursuit to discover what could have happened to Armitage’s wife. In the successive chapters, we delve into the complicated lives of some of these characters. I will say that the characters were well fleshed out, however the author focuses a lot of time introducing us to this lot of complicated characters and not much time on Armitage or his wife and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance. So, we read on and wait for the connection to be made back to the missing wife and by the time we start getting some context on what the potential link could be, the book is just about done. The mystery of the missing woman is finally solved, and the reveal is very unimpressive. I also was not a fan of the ending as it just leaves you hanging.
I will say though that I loved the author’s way with words. He definitely has a gift. I look forward to reading more of his works. I thank NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. This review is voluntary, and the opinions are strictly mine alone.

This was a hard read for me to start but once I got into it I appreciated the story building and twists and turns. I felt a little out of the loop not having read any other books from Banville, as it appears there are character crossovers. I appreciate the chance to access this ARC from NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing.

While I enjoyed the story, I found the characters to be bland and almost predictable in their decisions and all that. The plot was good and the execution was good as well!!

In 1950s Ireland, in a small rural area by the sea, a woman disappeared. Her husband (Armitage) claims after an argument she ran out of the car and probably threw herself off the cliffs into the sea. He is behaving strangely even as a nearby family offers to call for help. Ultimately it is Detective Inspector Strafford who is brought in from Dublin. He consults with Dr. Quirke, a pathologist he has known for a long time. Interestingly, Strafford is seeing Quirke’s daughter. The character of Quirke is in a long-standing series by this author. The Drowned is an atmospheric character study with several tangents. There is soon another missing person to find. While the mystery is solved by the end, it is the complex and interwoven characters that serve as the basis of the book. John Banville is an excellent writer who brings them to life in this dark and foreboding story. With thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC. My opinions are my own. susanh_bookreviews

Well-developed characters. Interesting plot. Vivid descriptions. A good, solid read.

*I received a complimentary ARC of this book in order to read and provide a voluntary, unbiased and honest review, should I choose to do so.

The Drowning is my second John Banville novel, but my first Strafford and Qurke novel. There are some references to previous novels but for the most part it works as a stand alone. The writing is great. I love the lyrical yet sparse prose where surprising facts just come out of nowhere.

Strafford is called to a home where a distraught husband says his wife has drowned. There is no body yet to be found. They were driving in the countryside when he says the wife has disappeared and he goes to the nearest house to report this and ask for help. What is the connection between all of these people? A bystander out with his dog is dragged into the drama against his will.

Meanwhile, Strafford and Quirke’s already strained relationship is put to the test when his daughter Phoebe begins a relationship with Strafford.

I did not like the ending of this novel, too ambiguous for me. However, I did enjoy the writing and will look at more books in this series.

Thanks to Netgalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and the author for an ARC to read and review.

First off: I am a huge John Banville plan. His novel, The Untouchable, ranks as one of the finest achievements in literary fiction for the past half-century. I am not so keen on his seemingly endless "crime novels" starring the forensic pathologist Quirk and (lately) Detective Strafford. In the latest, "The Drowned,' the tone for many pages is more farcical than I've seen in the other crime novels, and the plot--concerning the mystery of a possibly drowned woman--takes a back seat to Strafford's marital chaos. The mystery itself takes a backseat during all of this, which contributes little to the sense of forward narrative motion. Plot as such rarely seems to interest Banville and, with his stellar list of earlier novels (Book of Evidence, Shroud, Athena, Ghosts, etc.), that's never a problem. Why? Because he's a genius with language and his prose is always wonderful to read. For the crime novels, the pacing is different (though not noticeably faster) and there's always a lot of stage business going on (opening a pack of cigarettes, lighting a cigarette, smoking the cigarette, putting out the cigarette). This is just not as appealing as the hijinks going on in his earlier novels, The Infinities, and lately the Singularities--two truly brilliantly crafted novels.

I thought this was a standalone book, but as I read I felt like I was missing background information that I was supposed to know. The book was ok and enjoyable. I just feel I should have read the other one first even though it was never mentioned in the synopsis.

Took me a while to get into it but I did enjoy it. I can see others enjoying it as well. It left me wondering from chapter to chapter.

Spotting a sleek Mercedes SL sports car parked in a sloping field below a house, its engine still running and the driver’s door left open, Denton Wymes, on his way home from fishing, pauses to investigate. It’s a moment that the isolated loner will soon regret as he becomes caught up in a missing-person case that will turn his life upside down. Before Wymes can retreat, a man named Armitage approaches, claiming his wife has thrown herself into the sea. Together they walk up to the house to telephone for help. Armitage’s behavior is odd (“he seemed more excited than distressed’) and Wymes senses that the tenant answering the door, Charles Rudduck, recognizes Armitage. Called in from Dublin to investigate is Detective Inspector St. John (pronounced “Sinjun”) Strafford, who is also juggling a complicated personal life (an estranged wife and a lover who is the daughter of his colleague, state pathologist Quirke). In late 1950s Ireland, divorce is illegal, and Anglo-Irish social tensions remain strong. Banville deftly captures the prejudices and suspicions between the groups. “You’re not a Paddy, then” says Armitage to Wymes, who stiffly corrects him that he is Irish, but not “bog Irish.” In a mostly Catholic police force, Strafford stands out as the rare Protestant. His investigation gradually uncovers secrets that go back years and into previous series installments, but enough back information easily guides new readers through the complex plot. Banville ends his fourth Strafford/Quirke crime novel (after The Lock-Up) on a haunting, ambiguous note. With its complicated, not always likable protagonists, this beautifully written book will appeal to fans of literary mysteries in the vein of Kate Atkinson’s and Tana French’s works.

The Drowned, the title of John Banville's latest book, refers to a woman who may or may not have drowned in the Bay near Wicklow, Ireland. Her husband intercepts a man who is trying to figure out why a beautiful BMW is sitting in the middle of a field with its doors open. He begs for help so the two trudge up to the top of a hill to a house that a couple have rented for a two week vacation. Yes, there is a mystery but the book is so much more. It delves into the fascinating, Irish, dark characters that these people are. Included are two police and the forensic pathologist who take over once the disappearance of the woman is reported.
Wicklow is a small community so it's not surprising that many of the characters not only know each other but have history. The question hovers 'do more of them know each other than they are saying?'
I like John Banville and found this a fascinating read. There were so many twists and turns of who did what to whom and who was what to whom that the ending, in which the mystery is solved, was almost an afterthought.
So if you like a deep character study of complex people and their complicated lives, you will enjoy this book.

The Drowned, like the other titles in the Quirke series by John Banville, doesn't disappoint. The prose reflects the work of a master craftsman, the crime meticulously peeled back layer by layer as the pages fly by until its suspenseful and surprise ending. The further development of Stratford's character continues with this book, making it easy to root for him as he helps solve the crime with Quirke, though not as his equal--yet. Five stars! Highly recommended.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance reading. It was an absolute thrill to read another enjoyable title from this great author.
I look forward to reading The Drowned again when it is released in hardcover in October, when I will also post this review again on various platforms to spread the good work about this book.