The first of the beguiling Quirke Mysteries from Benjamin Black, set in the dark underbelly of 1950s Dublin.

Introducing Quirke: a pathologist uncovering darkness in 1950s Dublin. Christine Falls is the first in the enthralling literary crime series from John Banville, writing as Benjamin Black. Now major TV series: Quirke, starring Gabriel Byrne and Michael Gambon.

‘His control and pacing cannot be faulted, and the final outcome is almost unbearably moving’ – Michael Dibdin, Guardian

Quirke’s pathology department, set deep beneath the city, is his own gloomy realm: always quiet, always night, and always under his control. Until, late one evening, he stumbles across a body that should not be there – and his brother-in-law falsifying the corpse’s cause of death.

This is the first time Quirke has encountered Christine Falls, but the investigation he opens into her life and death uncovers a dark secret at the heart of Dublin’s high Catholic network. A secret with the power to shake his own family and everything he holds dear.

‘Succeeds sensationally . . . An absorbing plot, beguiling characters and evocative settings’ – Marcel Berlins, The Times

‘A gripping, beautifully crafted thriller . . . A one sitting-read, an all-night enticement’ – Scotsman

Continue the spellbinding crime series with The Silver Swan.