Snow

A Novel

By: John Banville

Narrated by: John Lee

National Best Seller

Shortlisted for The CWA Historical Dagger Award

A Globe and Mail Best Book of the Year

A New York Times Editors’ Choice Pick

“Banville sets up and then deftly demolishes the Agatha Christie format...superbly rich and sophisticated.” (New York Times Book Review)

The incomparable Booker Prize winner’s next great crime novel - the story of a family whose secrets resurface when a parish priest is found murdered in their ancestral home

Detective Inspector St. John Strafford has been summoned to County Wexford to investigate a murder. A parish priest has been found dead in Ballyglass House, the family seat of the aristocratic, secretive Osborne family.

The year is 1957 and the Catholic Church rules Ireland with an iron fist. Strafford - flinty, visibly Protestant and determined to identify the murderer - faces obstruction at every turn, from the heavily accumulating snow to the culture of silence in the tight-knit community he begins to investigate.

As he delves further, he learns the Osbornes are not at all what they seem. And when his own deputy goes missing, Strafford must work to unravel the ever-expanding mystery before the community’s secrets, like the snowfall itself, threaten to obliterate everything.

Beautifully crafted, darkly evocative and pulsing with suspense, Snow is “the Irish master” (New Yorker) John Banville at his best.

Don't miss John Banville's next novel, April in Spain!

©2020 John Banville (P)2020 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

Well written, but not much of a mystery

If you are looking for a mystery this isn't it. If you are curious about the social dynamics of 1950s Ireland this is your ticket. Deliciously meticulous descriptions of landscapes, but exaggerated and simply drawn characters.

Narrator ruins stylish book

John Lee is overly theatrical and turns every character into a caricature. Really destroys a good book

Bad impression

Did not like the story about a priest and his horrible behavior and how he preyed on children.

Narration has problems

The story itself is gangbusters- I loved it. Banville has much more on his mind than a simple mystery. But as many other reviewers have pointed out, the narration has big problems. He’s fine with exposition, and speaks with a lovely Irish accent, but delivers all the dialogue with... maddening... starts and stops... that made me want to... throw my phone against the wall. It’s really a disservice to Banville’s writing. Hopefully another narrator will be chosen for the next Banville book.

spoiler alert

Very graphic child abuse. Mystery solid and simple—nothing complicated. Easy listen (except for graphic parts)

Great Irish accents, but a sad tale of priests

I enjoy John Banville’s books as they typically are located in Ireland. This one was sad in that it brought to light, yet again, the scandals involving Catholic priests. As a Catholic, it’s so sad that so many of our good and devoted priests were caught up in a web of lies and sin. Despite this, “Snow” is a good ‘listen.’

Narrator John Lee is the best!

John Banville’s new novel, “Snow” has received varying critiques. Some found the story flat and not up to Banville’s standards. I chose to listen to the audible production of the story, narrated by John Lee, because it’s supposed to be an Agatha Christie-like story. I thought the addition of a good narrator, who uses his voice to add nuance and emphasis, could enhance the story, thus provide the intended narrative. I’m happy I did.

The way John Lee narrated the story, with his emphasis of phrases and words, made me chuckle. There’s a bit about “seeing a man about a horse.” And then there’s much about the said horse. Word play and double entendre run amuck. For me, it added to the story.

The story takes place in 1957 Ireland, when the Catholic Church runs the country. A Catholic priest is found dead, in the library in an old stately manor. Detective St. John Strafford is sent to investigate. Strafford finds the murder and set-up similar to an Agatha Christi novel, just short of the candlestick and Colonel Mustard. Adding intrigue, the priest’s body has been sexually mutilated.

Banville writes the plot within the social context of religion in Ireland at that time. The Archbishop wants the murder covered up as an accident and makes it clear to Strafford what will happen to his career if he crosses the Archbishop. And Father Tom, the victim, has a sordid past, which was common in Ireland at the time. There is a reform school for wayward teenage boys. Father Tom had “his favorites”, boys who he counselled in private. Make no mistake, Banville wants the reader to know and remember the atrocities of the Church. He also writes of the underlying conflict of the Catholics and the protestants at the time. To me, this is a part mystery part social study of Ireland in the mid 1950’s.

I enjoyed listening to John Lee’s performance. It was a fun romp within a tragic story. The characters are richly developed. Father Tom is the most despicable, well, maybe the Archbishop competes. I’m a Banville fan, and I remain a Banville fan.

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I cannot stand this reader. He should be in vaudeville. Omg so dramatic, and the pauses! It makes it impossible to listen to.

Great writer but nothing new in this ongoing tragic topic

John Banville is arguably one of the best writers in the English language alive today. There are few surprises in this whodunit but it's definitely worth the listen if not for the enjoyment of Banville's writing skills alone. His telling of a sordid consensual sexual encounter has to be one of the best literary examples of how to portray such an encounter without stirring any prurient interest in his readers, leaving us only with feelings of revulsion and pity. His tale overall breaks no new ground. The worldwide scandal on which he bases his tale is by now an old story and sadly one that has yet to come to an end.

Outstanding Police Procedural

Excellent writing and characters. Both women and men were plausible. Engrossing story. Not predictable but not surprising plot.