Thrillers & Suspense
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The Lock-Up: A Novel
Booker Prize winner and "Irish master" (New Yorker) John Banville's most ambitious crime novel yet brings two detectives together to solve a globe-spanning mystery
In 1950s Dublin, Rosa Jacobs, a young history scholar, is found dead in her car. Renowned pathologist Dr. Quirke and DI St. John Strafford begin to investigate the death as a murder, but it's the victim's older sister Molly, an established journalist, who discovers a lead that could crack open the case.
One of Rosa's friends, it turns out, is from a powerful German family that arrived in Ireland under mysterious circumstances shortly after World War II. But as Quirke and Strafford close in, their personal lives may put the case-and everyone involved-in peril, including Quirke's own daughter.
Spanning the mountaintops of Italy, the front lines of World War II Bavaria, the gritty streets of Dublin and other unexpected locales, The Lock-Up is an ambitious and arresting mystery by one of the world's most celebrated authors.
In 1950s Dublin, Rosa Jacobs, a young history scholar, is found dead in her car. Renowned pathologist Dr. Quirke and DI St. John Strafford begin to investigate the death as a murder, but it's the victim's older sister Molly, an established journalist, who discovers a lead that could crack open the case.
One of Rosa's friends, it turns out, is from a powerful German family that arrived in Ireland under mysterious circumstances shortly after World War II. But as Quirke and Strafford close in, their personal lives may put the case-and everyone involved-in peril, including Quirke's own daughter.
Spanning the mountaintops of Italy, the front lines of World War II Bavaria, the gritty streets of Dublin and other unexpected locales, The Lock-Up is an ambitious and arresting mystery by one of the world's most celebrated authors.
Readers Top Reviews
Goff
The full Monty. Sex, murder, detectives, jealous father, naughty professor who gets away with murder. And as usual for the author, a swipe at a heavy handed bishop. Above all, beautiful writing. I loved it.
D in Ireland
Another tour de force from Benjamin Black AKA John Banville. Noir based in 1950s 'Baggatonia' in leafy, Georgian, canal banked Dublin 2. Atmosphere, atmosphere and a great whodunnit ... and surprising reveal. A love story.
Graham G Grant
Quirke is living somewhat uneasily with his daughter and trying not to drink too much, a plan that seems to be working - well, at least to begin with. He’s recovering from the tragic events of the previous novel, April in Spain. Misfortune is his constant companion. Work is a distraction. But it leads to a new case - the body of a student, Rosa Jacobs, has been found gassed in a car, in a Dublin lock-up garage. Quirke and teetotal detective Strafford - living a bachelor’s existence after his wife left him - are an unlikely crime-fighting duo. They regard each other with mutual suspicion and disdain. But they join forces in the hunt for Rosa’s killer - and in the process stumble into another mystery, this time involving a sinister German businessman and his son, with whom Rosa was thought to be in a relationship. The beauty of the Quirke novels lies in the quality of Banville’s poetic writing, and in the familiarity of the characters, and the insular world they occupy - one that’s dominated by religion and political corruption. These novels aren’t exactly conventional whodunnits, and there are generally some loose ends. The broad message is that people in high places always have something to hide. And Quirke doesn’t always get all the answers (nor does Strafford). In that sense, there’s not much in the way of classic Holmesian detection. The breaks in the case tend to happen more by accident than as a result of Quirke and Strafford’s exertions. And yet it all seems to work, primarily because characterisation and prose take priority over plot, as with Raymond Chandler (a Banville idol). The Lock-Up is more substantial than April in Spain but less successful overall than the earlier Snow, the brilliant novel which introduced Strafford. But it is beautifully written and highly readable - let’s hope there are many more Quirke/Strafford titles to come.
Mrs Terri Warren
I have read other books in this series by John Banville and they are all excellent reads
