Even the Dead: A Novel [Paperback]

Quirke's latest case leads him inexorably toward the dark machinations of an old foe, in this mystery from one of the most imaginative literary novelists writing in the English language today (The Washington Post)

Perhaps Quirke has been down among the dead too long. Lately the Dublin pathologist has suffered hallucinations and blackouts, and he fears the cause is a brain tumor. A specialist diagnoses an old head injury caused by a savage beating; all thats needed is an extended rest. But when a body turns up, any possibility of that vanishes.

The corpse, discovered in a crashed car one hot June night, is assumed to be the victim of an accident or a suicide, but Quirkes examination of the body leads him to believe otherwise. Then his daughter Phoebe gets a mysterious visit from an acquaintance, who later disappears. Before long, Quirke and his old friend Inspector Hackett find themselves deep in a shadowy world where one of the citys most powerful men uses the cover of politics and religion to make obscene profits.

JOHN BANVILLEwas born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. He is the author of numerous novels, includingThe Sea, which won the 2005 Booker Prize, and the DI Quirke mysteries. In 2011 he was awarded the Franz Kafka Prize, in 2013 he was awarded the Irish PEN Award for Outstanding Achievement in Irish Literature, and in 2014 he won the Prince of Asturias Award, Spains most important literary prize. He lives in Dublin.

Praise forEven the Dead

Even the Deadaffirms what we Quirke admirers already know: namely, that there never was much distinction between Banville's so-called 'literary novels' and his mysteries. Both are graced with Banville's signature pensive atmosphere and a subdued beauty of language.
Maureen Corrigan, NPR

There are now seven [novels] that feature Quirke, and by the latest,Even the Dead, they make a series with a complex intertwining olãÞ