The Drowned (Strafford and Quirke, 4)

A distraught husband, Ronnie Armitrage, is found returning to his car in a field, saying his wife may have run toward the ocean after an argument and drowned. The man who discovered Armitrage, Denton Wymes, is a solitary caravan owner and an ex-con who had served time for sexual crimes against children. Wymes suspects there is a connection between Armitrage and the Ruddocks, a couple staying in a house above the field, and observes Armitage “narrowing his little, crafty eyes.” Although Wymes doesn’t want to become involved in a police investigation because of his record; nevertheless, he becomes embroiled.

Dublin’s Detective Inspector St. John Stratford is called in to investigate.

The Drowned is the newest book in a series set in Ireland in the 1950s. It features DI Strafford and pathologist Dr. Quirke, whose daughter, Phoebe, is dating Strafford, much to the doctor’s dismay. Although these two characters—especially Strafford—figure prominently in the novel, the others are given their narrative turns. So while this is a mystery about the wife’s disappearance, with her death viewed as a possible homicide, much of the story is driven by the characters and their thoughts, emotions, and relationships rather than by a feeling of suspense or impending danger.

In other words, The Drowned is not a thriller. While the murder is the scaffolding upon which the novel hangs, Banville concentrates on his characters, especially the solitary men such as the introspective Strafford, who struggles with interpersonal connections and feelings of disengagement from others. “He was, so it seemed, in love with Phoebe. Or at least, he seemed to love her, which might seem to be the same thing but wasn’t . . . one could love one’s sister . . . but not be in love with her, not unless you were Lord Byron, or one of the pharaohs.” Or, in a wry rumination about not wanting a child: “Children in general he regarded as profoundly disabled adults who in time would be more or less cured of their condition.”

Banville also has a penchant for clever insights: “We would do well to keep ever in mind that for the horizon we are the horizon.” And some brilliant descriptions: “She gazed at him for some moments in silence, the cigarette forgotten in her fingers and busily smoking itself.” Or: “She was looking now at the back of her left hand, as if the veins were runes that might be read.” The reader will love these interior narratives and physical descriptions, written with gentle charm and keen perception.

In the end, the mysteries are resolved except for a past case that entwines with the current one and could use a more satisfying conclusion. However, the greatest pleasures gleaned from The Drowned will be the forays into the Irish countryside and time spent in the company of Strafford, his ex-wife, and Phoebe, his current partner, as well as Quirke and the participants in the disappearance.