Books: The Silver Swan By Benjamin Black

(Drivebycuriosity) - I just finished reading "The Silver Swan. A Novel" by Benjamin Black (amazon). The book - set in Dublin in the 1950s - is part 2 of a series around Quirke, a pathologist who works in a morgue. Quirke is a twisted and very curious man who develops interest in cases which are not really his business. When he believes that something is not right he starts a personal investigation. In this novel he investigates the case of Deirdre Hunt, also known as Laura Swan, the wife of an acquaintance, who apparently committed suicide, or did she? Soon he discovers surprising & disturbing relationships between unlikely persons  (this is a spoiler free blog).

The book is spiced with strange & challenging characters. I had sometimes problems to believe their interactions, but what do I know, humans  often act weird. Anyway I like Black`s elaborate style and his descriptions of persons & situations, which create a dark atmosphere, and he isn`t afraid of explicit sexual depictions.

Benjamin Black is the pen name of the Irish writer John Banville. I loved his novels "Kepler" and "Wolf on a String" (here my reviews Kepler & wolf ) and enjoyed "Christine Falls" as well, the start of the Quirke series. The second novel of this series is not as strong as the first but enjoyable.