Books by Benjamin Black
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English
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review 1: This was a quick-reading fun novel. A different turn for Benjamin Black since it is a LA detective noir. Philip Marlowe is sitting in his office when a beautiful (married) black eyed blonde comes in (wearing a cute hat with a veil, of course). She asks Marlowe to find her lover...
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review 1: A really enjoyable series especially after a few books, we get to know the characters and their environment better. Quirke is the ideal anti-hero in a film noir world. He's like the Irish Wallander. The only thing I wish were different is that there are more clues that hint to th...
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review 1: Wonderfully atmospheric thriller set in Dublin of the 1950s. You can almost feel the damp from the mists, both literal and metaphorical, that give this book such an evocative feel. Black is so good at painting the picture of the 1950s - a lot of smoking goes on in this book. Ever...
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English
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review 1: This story was OK. It was very Humphrey Bogart-esque in a Maltese Falcon sort of way. This was the forst I've read of a Marlowe detective story so I can't compare the writing as some of the previous reviewers have but it definitley has the '40s style to it. The talk, the descript...
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English
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review 1: Oh dear. Oh my. Learn from my mistake. If you’re going to read this fourth Quirke book, read it yourself and run, very fast, from the audio version. I watched Gabriel Byrne as “Quirke” in the TV version. Lovely. Then I listened to the first three in the Quirke series on audiotap...
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review 1: John Banville writing as Benjamin Black has created a world where Quirke, a pathologist, also solves crimes--in this case, the murder (meant to look like suicide) of a prominent Dublin business man named Richard Jewell. As the case unravels, and Quirke himself gets a little too c...
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review 1: “Benjamin Black” is the pseudonym for John Banville, a master of language whose serious works often complete for literary prizes.This is a hard bitten narrative with mesmerizing use of language. Black’s descriptions are wonderful, the second paragraph’s evocation of fog being amo...
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English
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review 1: I love a good mystery and this did it for me. You can always count on Black for well developed characters. I have never seen the show, only read the books. Quirke must be larger than life on the television. The book had just enough imagery and balance to let you know where yo...