Christine Falls

A Novel

By: Benjamin Black

Narrated by: Timothy Dalton

Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

It's not the dead that seem strange to Quirke. It's the living. One night, after a few drinks at an office party, Quirke shuffles down into the morgue where he works and finds his brother-in-law, Malachy, altering a file he has no business even reading. Odd enough in itself to find Malachy there, but the next morning, when the haze has lifted, it looks an awful lot like his brother-in-law, the esteemed doctor, was in fact tampering with a corpse—and concealing the cause of death.

It turns out the body belonged to a young woman named Christine Falls. And as Quirke reluctantly presses on toward the true facts behind her death, he comes up against some insidious—and very well-guarded—secrets of Dublin's high Catholic society, among them members of his own family.

Set in Dublin and Boston in the 1950s, the first novel in the Quirke series brings all the vividness and psychological insight of Booker Prize winner John Banville's fiction to a thrilling, atmospheric crime story. Quirke is a fascinating and subtly drawn hero, Christine Falls is a classic tale of suspense, and Benjamin Black's debut marks him as a true master of the form.

©2006 Benjamin Black (P)2006 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers LLC

Critic reviews

“Christine Falls is a triumph of classical crime fiction, finely, carefully made, not a single false move or wrong word--why don't they write books like this anymore?” —Alan Furst

This is a good listen

I think this is a very good book. I had to listen to the first half hour twice as I found it hard to "get into" the story. After I did that, I really liked it. (Read the NYT book review before you buy it - helps you to know if you are going to like it.)

I Really wanted to like this story

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I do like British Detective novels, it's all I seem to be buying these days. But this one took a lot of trying to like before I finally turned it off. The story was good enough. It had more twists & turns & evil with a little religion, some politics & corruption most high, but alas, it was too detailed, to wordy & put me to sleep too many times. Maybe it was the darkness of Quirk's character or the 'noir' of the atmosphere or maybe the tone of the Reader's voice?? I am done. I don't want to have to struggle through a book & this one was a struggle even though the story was a good one.

Any additional comments?

If you loved 'Death in Holy Orders' you will love this book. Same style of extreme detail.

Not my favorite

This book did not get me going at all. It had too many un-redeeming characters I did not like any of them and therefore they were not interesting. Some like it but it was not for me.

Enjoyed this

This was an interesting story with intertwining story lines between Ireland and Boston. The characters were well developed and it was fast paced. I listened to this on audio, and the narration by Timothy Dalton was good. I didn't realize it was a series, as it is also a good stand-alone.

Excellent Choice

I hesitated after reading reviews. So glad I took the plunge. Timothy Dalton was most definitely NOT boring or monotonic. The story was compelling and all the elements were neatly tied together by the end. I could imagine a juicy entry for MASTERPIECE THEATER or MYSTERY!

Too dreary

It's funny how some listeners loved Timothy Daltons reading and others didnt. I found it to be way too monotone. I felt like I should have read this one myself and then I could have decided if indeed the book was as dark and dreary as it seemed while I was listening. I am going to try another book of his and see, because I think the author has potential.

Not for fans of fast paced stories...

While the story is very well written, I found that most of the time I was getting lost in the dark words and soulful language of the narrator/book and not the story. I found the main character too reflective and without a lot of sympathetic traits to be likeable, at least to me, He was pitiable but not so interesting that I would like to read anymore about him. So, while the story itself did stir some emotions within me, the slow pace and plodding realizations of the main character did nothing except make me want the story to be over and done with, much like my association with most of the characters, all of whom seemed gloomy and morose. Were the 1950's really like that or is this just an Irish thing? I was glad this story finally ended and a little surprised to see that this was book 1 in a series. I might pick up book 2 if I could download it for free at the library. That way, if it continues down the same dark, foreboding path I can shut it off, delete it from my player and not worry about a wasted credit.

In summary, read this if you enjoy doing penance, wearing a sackcloth and weeping in your beverage of choice, for all the sad, literary characters you can think of, otherwise you might want to steer clear of this one.

So good

I had to take it in small bits sometimes because it was so good. I will write a longer review for my own gratification sometime, but it was a refreshing change.

Great story, great reader.

It’s a perfect match, Benjamin Black and Timothy Dalton. I intend to read, then listen to the whole series.

Banville as crime writer

I'm not sure this should really be called a crime thriller, but it's gripping, dark, psychologically astute, intriguing historically. Can't get much better than that as far as I'm concerned!

Timothy Dalton is a superb reader, though it might have been better not to have attempted American accents!

I hope they'll record the second Quirke novel, The Silver Swan.