You can’t get more appropriate than reading a book called “Snow” during a winter snow storm! Banville is a new author to me, but I know I will be reading more of his work. 

It is a snowy winter day, 1957, and Detective Inspector St.John Strafford, from the Dublin police, has been called to Ballyglass House, the family seat of the secretive aristocratic Osborne family. The parish priest has been found murdered in the library.

The priest had been visiting the Osborne’s, as he often did,  and had been persuaded to stay the night because of the snow. It seemed that at some point in the night he had left his room and had fallen down the stairs and then in a particularly gruesome act, someone had removed his reproductive organs while he laying dying.  

Strafford, and his deputy, Jenkins are under enormous pressure, not only from the Chief of Police in Dublin, but from the Archbishop of Dublin, who wants to control the result of the investigation so that the Catholic Church’s reputation is protected. Under these difficult circumstances, Strafford and Jenkins begin their investigation and find that the Osbornes are not the wealthy aristocrats they try so hard to appear to be.  There are questionable finances and mental health issues, prescriptions for drugs and two children who seem to have little or no respect for authority. Additionally, there is a brother in law who is constantly in need of funds, and various servants who may have had a grudge against the priest. With the snow coming down quickly, and threatening to cover up whatever evidence the killer might have left, Strafford tries to focus his attention on solving the murder in spite of the political pressure that is being exerted. But when his deputy goes missing, he realizes that the killer may need to kill again in order to get away with murder.

With some faint bows to Agatha Christie, like the body in the library trope, Banville teases us into thinking this an ordinary whodunit, but he soon exerts the full weight of his talent and creates a story of betrayal and revenge, driven by characters who are in search of justice in a time where justice was often sacrificed on the altar of preserving power and reputation. Banville, a previous winner of The Man Booker Prize and other prestigious awards, is an author I look forward to reading more of in the future!

Brenda’s Rating: ****(4 Out Of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Keith, Sharon and Marian

Book Study Worthy? Yes

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