For awhile during the middle of this book, the 6th in the Quirke series by Benjamin Black (aka John Banville of Booker Prize fame) I thought that Black had disappeared, replaced by the old John Banville and his long-winded, highly stylized novels – (literary, you might say – lol). 

Holy Orders
By Benjamin Black
2013
Reader:  John Keating 8h 39m
Rating: A+/8 – / literary mystery 
(Quirke series #6)

But no!  There he was, more apparent toward the end, but with all the tension and suspense of your average noir thriller. Don’t get me wrong – I love Banville and his novels. I read 6 I believe,  but it seemed as though he went on a hiatus from “literary fiction” for about 10 years (2006 – 2016) during which time he wrote the Quirke series (8 to date?) and some standalone novels including a couple mysteries. He wasn’t quite able to escape his natural literary leanings, so he put that to great use bringing it back to the name Banville, even for the Quirke books – (See The Lock-Up and others).  

The Quirke books have more substance than I first thought. Set in the 1950s when the Catholic Church was still very powerful in the new Republic of Ireland, Black conjures up the noir of the times, a darkness rife with corruption and violence in the Church, the police force and the politics. Tensions still run high between Protestants and Catholics with a high rate of poverty among Catholics. Quirke, because of his background, is a lower-middle class Protestant and friendly with Catholics. He even has a certain awe and respect for their ways.

All the usual characters of the series are here in Holy Orders starting with Dr Quirke (with no first name), a consulting pathologist for the city of Dublin. (And fwiw, I advise reading this series IN ORDER – yes, in order to know each of the ongoing characters.)  So there’s Quirke, his police force buddy Detective Hackett and another pathologist, Dr David Sinclair. Then there is Quirke’s daughter Phoebe (not raised by him), his girlfriend Isabel, the sister and  husband of Quirke’s deceased wife It was Sarah and Malachi who actually raised Phoebe and did a fine job of it although she’s a bit screwed up.  Holy Orders also involves some Irish “travelers” (“Tinkers” in the book) and a small bunch of local priests from the still very powerful Irish Catholic clergy. A local newspaper and employees are involved briefly as the victim was a reporter.  

This book does NOT move quickly to where the action is.  This is literary crime in a very good sense but we miss some of the ongoing tension building of lesser authors (James Patterson?) When the action picks up though, it’s good and there are twists right up to the end – although Black doesn’t pack his books with twists, either. 

The literary is in the details, especially of people, their appearance and their thoughts as well as details of place. But read carefully because with the next paragraph (no, not chapter) the reader might find himself thrown from the trailer of a “tinker” with Quirke and a victim, back at Phoebe’s apartment where she’s having some physical rouble with her own guest.  

Quirke’s own very sad background is an overarching theme of the series as is his drinking problem and those two might be connected. The psychological problems of both Quirke and his daughter Phoebe produce tension in the series as a whole. And for more tension, Black adds devices like cliff-hanger chapter endings, unknown persons appearing suspicious and the narrative abruptly switching scenes.

In Holy Orders (to finally get to it) the mystery is a who-done-it in that a nice young, local, single man was found dead in the canal, probably having been beaten to death. A note mentioning a certain priest was found. Hackett and Quirke are on it. (Quirke rarely needs to be involved in detecting work, but he gets curious and Hackett encourages it.)  

I’m going to have to get on with the next book in the series, Even the Dead and not take my dawdly time like I have been with these prior books. 

John Keating, the narrator, is perfect for these books and does most of the books in the Quirke series. My only criticism is his whispering is too low to hear easily, even at highest volume setting.   

This link is terrific if you’re interested in this kind of thing: 
The Noir Landscape of Dublin in Benjamin Black’s Quirke Series