John Banville's "Snow": The First Installment in the St. John Strafford Series

Anne C McKenna: Found this book a little different from his usual work

United Kingdom on Nov 02, 2023

Foggers: Plenty of moreish characters and a decent plot, even if our shock at its catalyst has been numbed by too many real-life scandals. Strafford is an intriguing and unusual lead protagonist. So I will be reading April in Spain and The Lock-up to find out more - and hopefully meet Quirke.

United Kingdom on Jun 12, 2023

Marguerite: I absolutely adored the Quirke books, which John Banville wrote under the name Benjamin Black, and I was gutted when they stopped, so imagine my delight when I discovered that Banville had gone back to them. Quirke isn't in this book, save that we hear he's 'on his honeymoon' intriguingly - who has he married!!!!

In fact this is the first of a new series with a new detective, St John Strafford ('with an r') who works for Quirke's erstwhile detective-in-arms Inspector Hacket, who is now counting the days to his retirement. Strafford is a brilliant character, a man who everyone points out 'isn't what they expect of a detective', a man from the Protestant Establishment post-independence, basically a fish out of water with a heap of insecurities to carry around with him, and the perfect foil for Quirke - not that we meet him yet.

This is a classic murder mystery, but one where the protagonists are much more fascinating than the murder itself. Banville resurrects (to my delight) all the history he has created in the previous Quirke books, the orphanage where Quirke was raised, the control exerted by the Church, the subtle underlying conflict of the old and the new...

United Kingdom on May 31, 2023

JoyceZ: I quite like Banville’s writing style, regardless of which name he is writing under. He has a wonderful ability to make you physically feel that you are actually in the scene he’s describing. Aside from Strafford, the characters are just that- stock characters playing a role which fits the storyline. The plots are rarely as simple as they seem. You think you know the culprit but are always surprised in the end.

United States on Apr 05, 2023

Mainer: John Banville is a well-known Irish author and one-time winner of the Booker Prize, but I've never read any of his books. It appears that this was not the book I should have selected to read first.
Set in county Wexford in 1957, St. John Strafford is sent to investigate a death at a decaying mansion in the countryside. A Catholic priest has been murdered, stabbed in the neck, and then his genitals removed. The family is Protestant, one-time wealthy landowners, but Father Tom often visited because his horse boarded there. Like a Christie novel or Gosford Park, the book takes place at Ballyglass House with stock characters (Strafford frequently mentions how like character actors in a play everyone seems to be).
I quite enjoyed the historical details of life in the fledgling Republic of Ireland, but Banville tended to drag out some descriptions, especially with dress and food. The biggest problem for me as a reader was the so-called mystery. While Strafford didn't seem to be too interested in the actual murder case, not asking a lot of questions and shrugging off actual detective work in favor of kissing the second wife and the barmaid, I mostly read this book for the mystery....

United States on Apr 01, 2023

BookWorm: Fans of Agatha Christie will quickly recognise the basic set up of John Banville's 'Snow'. Set in the 1950s, a detective - Inspector Strafford - arrives at an Irish country house to investigate the brutal murder of a priest. As the title suggests, it is snowing heavily. He meets an eccentric cast of characters who all may have something to hide, and all had the opportunity to commit the crime. The usual country house murder tropes are further complicated by the opposition between Catholics and Protestants and the interference of the church seniors in the case.

'Snow' is a detective story that doesn't feel like one - Banville's writing is delicate and and restrained, more suited to a meditative literary novel than a crime story. Oddly, this is a bonus rather than a drawback. Because it is written differently to the typical whodunnit, it feels different even though the storyline is not particularly original. In fact, I guessed who did it and why early on. So early on that you almost wonder why it took Strafford so long to catch on.

Readers should be warned that the novel does contain a pretty graphic account of paedophilia, which some may find distressing and prefer...

United Kingdom on Jul 01, 2022

Malcolm Broderick: A fresh blanket of snow can almost cover all the sins in this little gem of a story by John Banville. A wonderfully atmospheric who-done-it adjacent to the world of Dublin pathologist Quirke.

Here Detective Inspector St.John Strafford goes to a southeast coastal town south of Dublin to investigate the murder of a priest at Ballyglass. Who would kill a well-liked preist?

A very enjoyable read. The first of perhaps more St. John Strafford mysteries?

United States on Feb 08, 2022

Carolyn: This was an atmospheric mystery novel that is set in Ireland in the winter of 1957. The characters are well-drawn and believable. It involves the religious and class divisions that permeated the society at the time. The story centres around the powerful Catholic hierarchy's cover-up when their priests were discovered guilty of abuse, brutal beatings, and pedophilia. These priests' acts were hidden from the public, and they were frequently moved to another parish where their misdeeds continued. As in other countries, the plight of orphans and delinquents sent to Catholic-run institutions was often harsh and left a lifetime of psychological wounds. The story takes place in the days around Christmas with the snow, frost and chill vividly described in rich prose.

Detective Saint- John Strafford, a Protestant, is sent to an old, cold and decrepit manor to investigate the murder and sexual mutilation of Father Tom Lawless. Colonel Osborne owns the run-down manor. His aristocratic family is Protestant, but the popular priest stabled his horse on the property and was a frequent visitor before his death. Strafford escaped a similar high-class background by becoming a policeman but...

Canada on Mar 07, 2021

Megan: The actual villain in this novel was, of course, the murder victim. The detailed "reasoning" of this pedophile priest to excuse or explain his own disgusting practice was quite interesting, though. How twisted! Set in the late 1950's, such goings on within the Catholic church were still well kept secrets, well hidden by the powers that be. Shameful! Not being Irish nor Catholic but rather one of those "dastardly protestants," I found the long-lived antagonism for those other than Catholics rather absurd, but then I don't know the full history as do those who have grown up with it. Such long lived vengeance is alien to me. At any rate, the book is certainly well written. The weather itself becomes a character directing the actions of humans. I sit here in sunny Florida growing chilly while reading it. It wasn't my favorite book by far, a bit depressing and I never could quite like or admire the detective, but it was good. I like the way the author uses the language. I like having to look up a word now and then. I like atmosphere.

United States on Jan 03, 2021

CL: This is the first murder mystery Banville has put out over his true name instead of Benjamin Black. This is not one of his literary novels though, so I don't know why anyone is comparing it to Nabokov. It is a wonderful branching off of the world of Quirke to a new character, a detective who is both insider and outsider, so with a fascinating point of view. Another dark tale of repressed 1950s Ireland. Banville is such a marvelous writer, you are always in a safe pair of hands to let yourself go into the tale. Sensitive subject matter.

United States on Oct 10, 2020