April in Spain: A Novel

Booker Prize winner John Banville's Quirke returns for a dramatic new mystery on the Spanish coast in this dark and evocative follow up to national bestseller Snow

Don’t disturb the dead…

On the idyllic coast of San Sebastian, Spain, Dublin pathologist Quirke is struggling to relax, despite the beaches, cafes and the company of his disarmingly lovely wife. When he glimpses a familiar face in the twilight at the bar Las Acadas, it’s hard, at first, to tell whether his imagination is just running away with him.

Because this young woman can’t be April Latimer. April Latimer was murdered by her brother, years ago—the conclusion to an unspeakable scandal that shook one of Ireland’s foremost political dynasties.

Unable to ignore his instincts, Quirke makes a call back home to Ireland and soon Detective St John Strafford is dispatched to Spain. But he’s not the only one en route. A relentless hitman is on the hunt for his latest prey, and the next victim might be Quirke himself.