Holy Orders: Quirke Mysteries Book 6 - Tapa dura

Named One of the 10 Best Mysteries of 2013 by "The Wall Street Journal""Absorbing... The murder mystery is solved, after its startling fashion, in due time--but not before Mr. Black has worked his lyrical magic at fine length, in scenes that unfold with a poet's grace.... Long may we wander Dublin's damp streets in the dour doctor's melancholy presence."--"The Wall Street Journal""Sophisticated... Banville is arguably one of the finest prose stylists writing in English today."--"The Atlantic" Wire"It is doubtful that anyone can write as well as Benjamin Black when it comes to a psychological mystery... And it is significant that the silken skill with which he writes of past and present death matches the literary talent that marked the author in his incarnation as John Banville, winner of the Man Booker Prize."--"The Washington Times""["Holy Orders"] starts and ends as strongly as the best of the Quirkes...This book may well introduce many readers to the series, as it is sure to get major attention this year when the BBC airs in Great Britain its production of Black's work. It stars Gabriel Byrne as Black's protagonist, the dour, self-hating, sometimes alcoholic pathologist, Quirke, in 1950s Dublin."--"St. Louis Post-Dispatch""Outstanding . . . Black (nom de plume for the Quirke books by acclaimed Irish author John Banville) has turned in his most complex plot yet in "Holy Orders," the sixth book in this 1950s-Dublin-set series."--"The Star-Ledger "(New Jersey)"[Quirke] appears for a seventh time in Black's gripping, terrific new novel, "Holy Orders." . . Although it shares the vivid settings, evocative mood and striking characters of the earlier Quirke novels, "Holy Orders" has a tighter, more intricate plot."--"The Tampa Bay Times""Banville's knack for drawing the reader in with a good story remains forcefully intact."--The Daily Beast"Black masterfully evokes an Ireland in the iron grip of Mother Church...Quirke, a product of his environm

She looked at him and smiled sadly. `You've lived too long among the dead, Quirke,' she said. He nodded. `Yes, I suppose I have.' She was not the first one to have told him that, and she would not be the last. 1950s Dublin. When a body is found in the canal, pathologist Quirke and his detective friend Inspector Hackett must find the truth behind this brutal murder. But in a world where the police are not trusted and secrets often remain buried there is perhaps little hope of bringing the perpetrator to justice. As spring storms descend on Dublin, Quirke and Hackett's investigation will lead them into the dark heart of the organisation that really runs this troubled city: the church. Meanwhile Quirke's daughter Phoebe realises she is being followed; and when Quirke's terrible childhood in a priest-run orphanage returns to haunt him, he will face his greatest trial yet . . .