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alison18's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Pedophilia
mcearl12's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed every page of this book. Unfamiliar with this author so I’ll be haunting the shelves for other works by him.
pujadev's review against another edition
1.0
This book made me really mad. The plot is so predictable, almost lazy which surprised me because Mr. Banville is a highly renowned author. The women are written almost as caricatures of what the author thinks 'alluring/mysterious' women should be like and all of them are somehow attracted to the rather unimpressive, bumbling Inspector. This one was a DNF for me.
organchordsandlightning's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
While an intriguing mystery (with some genuinely interesting political situations thrown in), I don't think the emotional core of the novel hit very well. It was really trying to set up St. John as a protagonist for a further detective series, but any look at his emotional core tended to be the most uninteresting parts of the book.
hannah_gunn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
_shonahenderson's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mindfulmagpie's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Another atmospheric story from John Banville, a nice tangent to the Quirke books
erboe501's review against another edition
1.0
This book was so bad. Boring writing, bad dialogue, unrealistic characters, unoriginal plot. Banville gave into character stereotypes in the worst ways: a pedophilic priest, a troubled youth, a drug abusing high society wife, etc. It felt cheap to use trauma as the only motivation or explanation for character development. I wouldn't have finished this, but I was stuck on a road trip with nothing else to listen to.
kingarooski's review against another edition
4.0
John Banville’s murder mystery set in 1950s Ireland centres around the death of a priest in a country home. Set among the deep sectarian divisions and a conservative society, the reader is treated to a well-paced story with predictable, but well-crafted characters.