The Lock-Up by John Banville Book Review

If you’re looking for a slow-paced murder mystery, The Lock-Up by John Banville might be the book for you! Set in 1950s Dublin, the story follows two main characters—Renowned pathologist Dr Quirke and DI St. John Strafford—as they investigate a murder. In this blog post, I’ll provide a brief overview of the plot as well as my thoughts on the book.

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New Release!

Synopsis

The Sunday Times bestselling author of Snow and April in Spain returns with Strafford and Quirke’s most troubling case yet.

1950s Dublin. in a lock-up garage in the city, the body of a young woman is discovered – an apparent suicide. But pathologist Dr Quirke and Detective Inspector Strafford soon suspect foul play.

The victim’s sister, a newspaper reporter from London, returns to Dublin to join the two men in their quest to uncover the truth. But, as they explore her links to a wealthy German family in County Wicklow, and to investigative work she may have been doing in Israel, they are confronted with an ever-deepening mystery. With relations between the two men increasingly strained, and their investigation taking them back to the final days of the Second World War, can they join the pieces of a hidden puzzle?

About The Author

John Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. He is the author of thirteen previous novels including The Book of Evidence, which was shortlisted for the 1989 Booker Prize. He has received a literary award from the Lannan Foundation. He lives in Dublin

My Review

The Lock-Up tells the story of Rosa Jacobs, a young history scholar who is found dead in her car. Renowned pathologist Dr. Quirke and Detective Inspector St. John Strafford investigate her death as a murder, but it’s Rosa’s older sister Molly—an established journalist—who discovers a lead that could crack open the case.

I found this book to be quite slow-paced and more character-driven than I had expected, focusing more on the drama surrounding the characters than the actual plot. While I enjoyed getting to know the characters, which were well developed from previous books in the series, I felt like their drama took away from what should have been an exciting murder mystery plot line. Additionally, I noticed that the two main characters (Quirke and Strafford) rarely talked to each other which made me feel disconnected from them both emotionally and intellectually. They have a strange dynamic, not often seen.

Overall, I thought The Lock-Up was well written, but it wasn’t really my cup of tea. It’s definitely not an edge-of-your-seat thriller and although it does have an interesting murder mystery at its core, it may be too slow for some readers. It may be that this isn’t a fair criticism though as I haven’t read the others in the series. I won’t be going back to read them as I felt that I wanted to give this one up many times while reading. That said, I am glad that I tried it. John Banville is my mother-in-law’s favourite author and I have no doubt that she will love this book I can see why, it’s much more suited to her than to me.

All in all, if you’re looking for an enjoyable read with well-developed characters and an intriguing plot line then The Lock-Up by John Banville might be just what you’re looking for! Despite being too slow-paced for me personally and lacking communication between its two main characters, it was still well-written enough that I’d recommend giving it a try! Readers who appreciate slower reads with plenty of character development will likely enjoy this book much more than I did!

Rated