Book Review: Snow by John Banville

 Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book from Harper Collins via EdelweissPlus, free of charge, for review purposes on this blog. No compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it, all opinions are my own

The incomparable Booker Prize winner's next great crime novel—the story of an aristocratic family whose secrets resurface when a parish priest is found murdered in their home.

Synopsis:

Detective Inspector St. John Strafford has been summoned to County Wexford to investigate a murder. A parish priest has been found dead in Ballyglass House, the family seat of the aristocratic, secretive Osborne family.

The year is 1957 and the Catholic Church rules Ireland with an iron fist. Strafford—flinty, visibly Protestant, and determined to identify the murderer—faces obstruction at every turn, from the heavily accumulating snow to the culture of silence in this tight-knit community. As he delves further, he learns the Osbornes are not at all what they seem. And when his own deputy goes missing, Strafford must work to unravel the ever-expanding mystery before the community’s secrets, like the snowfall itself, threatens to obliterate everything.

Beautifully crafted, darkly evocative, and pulsing with suspense, Snow is “the Irish master” (The New Yorker) John Banville at his page-turning best.

Review

This is more than just a simple historically based mystery. It's an Irish mystery, so there are hidden meanings and depths to the words them selves. Snow stands in for the Catholic church, and for the mystery tenant of coverage. This is a book to read slowly, to enjoy how Banville twists the situations around, so that you're not sure who is really the suspect, and who is the one hiding the truth. Perfect for Fall reading, this book is one that will stay with you, as the words haunt afterwards!

About the Author

John Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. He is the author of seventeen novels including THE SEA, which won the 2005 Man Booker Prize. In 2011 he was awarded the Franz Kafka Prize, in 2013 he was awarded the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Achievement in Irish Literature, and in 2014 he won the Prince of Asturias Award, Spain’s most important literary prize. He lives in Dublin.