THE SILVER SWAN marks the second time Booker Prize-winning author John Banville has used a pseudonym for a mystery. Placed two years after the events of CHRISTINE FALLS, Black’s 1950s pathologist Quirke is contacted by someone from his distant past: old classmate Billy Hunt, who has a huge favor to ask.
It entails performing an autopsy of Hunt’s wife Deidre, who was found floating in the ocean. From all looks of it, it’s a suicide, until Quirke discovers a needle mark on her arm. This is the novel’s central mystery, which, I’m sad to say, is not that much of a mystery as events move ahead.
It becomes quite clear to any regular mystery reader that the case is not the hardest to solve, once all the suspects are presented. We are told of Deidre’s secret life as Laura Swan, running a beauty parlor of sorts with male partner Leslie White, whose wife is under the belief the two were having a torrid affair. These two partners also have ties to an Indian doctor named Kreutz. He’s a bit of a photography buff, even if some of his subjects are never aware of it, although White’s a knowing partner.
Quirke works his way through the case, peeling away at the truth, all while dealing with a grown daughter who has come home. This ties back to CHRISTINE FALLS, so new readers – myself included – are left in the cold. Black never gives away major plot points from the first book, but prior events between Quirke and Phoebe are discussed ad nauseam, including major details of Dad’s inner demons and their strained relationship.
THE SILVER SWAN moves along breezily enough, and Black’s writing is enjoyable. After the first 100 pages, the rest of the book flies by. It’s just that I had an idea of how the girl was killed and was not surprised by the fake-out Black offers. Still, this is the type of story that draws in readers like moths to light, but well-versed mystery lovers may want to pass for the simple fact that your suspicions likely will prove true. –Bruce Grossman
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