The Secret Guests by Benjamin Black (2021)
The young girl stood in the darkness before the tall window and watched with excitement and fascination the bombs falling on the city.

Snow by John Banville (2020) – A Strafford and Quirke Mystery
I’m a priest, for Christ’s sake – how can this be happening to me?

April in Spain by John Banville (2022) – A Strafford and Quirke Mystery also Quirke #8
Terry Tice liked killing people.

The Lock-Up by John Banville (2023) – A Strafford and Quirke Mystery
Father Damian stood with a hand held up to shield his eyes against the sun and watched the man, still far off, making his slow way up the steep track towards the monastery.

The books in the Strafford and Quirke series are beautifully written and characterized crime mysteries set in Dublin in the 1950s and feature troubled pathologist Quirke and Detective Inspector St John Strafford. The Secret Guests is set about ten years earlier than the Strafford and Quirke Mysteries and features St John Strafford only; it works a standalone. Benjamin Black is the pen name used by John Banville for the Quirke series.

I read these books totally out of order because I picked up April in Spain first, thinking I was simply reading book 8 in the Quirke series. I was slightly annoyed to discover that chronologically Snow is set between Even the Dead (Quirke 7) and April in Spain. Without reading Snow, you do sense a big jump between the two Quirke books.

My Watching

The Lost King is a dramatization of Philippa Langley’s search for the remains of Richard III and her treatment by the University of Leicester in the claiming of credit for the discovery. It is based on the book The King’s Grave: The Search for Richard III by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones. I thought having Richard himself play a part was inspired and touching.
A wonderful film with touches of humour, I would definitely recommend The Lost King. Although I’m not a real Ricardian, I would suggest having a hanky at the ready.