Holy Orders, by Benjamin Black

Jimmy Minor is beaten to death and his naked body thrown into a canal.  Inspector Hackett and pathologist Quirke look for answers in the stories Jimmy was investigating. Quirke's daughter Phoebe has more than her share of people following her, and Quirke's girlfriend Isabel Galloway is wondering what she got herself into. The 1950's Catholic church isn't looking too good in this one.

Broken Harbor, by Tana French

I don't read this kind of book. Ever.  Only my appreciation of Tana French kept me going when I discovered that the mystery the detective was unravelling was also the story of a family descending into madness, assisted by a terrible economy; an isolated, poorly built, and largely vacant housing development; and an old friend who's a little nutty himself.  The Shining where everyone is Jack.  I'm not sure what French is going to do with Scorcher Kennedy next.  He's an endearing character.

A Death in Summer, by Benjamin Black

John Banville should either make an honest effort with the Benjamin Black books or just stop now.  The first Quirke book was wonderful, the next pretty humdrum, the third back in great form, the last a complete bust.  Admittedly having a dreadful readers hammers lots of painful nails into the coffin of a mediocre book, but it's not all the fault of Keating.  The book begins with a headless tycoon and meanders casually through some fairly grim territory -- a ring of powerful child molesters, a horrific orphanage-cum-brothel, a maiming, a couple of fratricides.  The anti-semitism thread weaves steadily throughout but ultimately goes nowhere, and I was disappointed in Quirke for his risky affairs with drink and Francoise.

Minding Frankie, by Maeve Binchy

If this had been my first Binchy, it would probably have been my last.  It's sort of a cobbled together series of plot devices and ill-formed characters.  When a dying pregnant woman places her daughter in the care of her one-night-stand father, the immature, alcoholic father changes his directionless and dissolute ways to make a home and life for the baby with the help of a Mary-Poppins-esque American cousin and a dozen people from a Dublin neighborhood who pull together to mind baby Frankie.  A damaged social worker hovers, becoming ever more convinced that Frankie should be taken into care.  Death, grief, dangerous situations for the baby, love and moral quandries are all stapled together.  Kate Binchy did the reading.

Faithful Place, by Tana French

Faithful Place circa 1900

Sort of an amazing book about dysfunctional families and lost loves set in a seedy part of today's Dublin.  The main character, Francis Mackey, is an undercover detective sargeant.  There's some interesting commentary about the difference between undercover cop and homicide cops.  The folks who've continued to live in Faithful Place are presented as if they're from a different century, if not planet.  Pretty complex, needs attention.

Elegy for April, by Benjamin Black

Benjamin Black is the name that John Banville uses when writing the Quirke murder mystery series. Pride of place in Black's mysteries goes to language. Places, people, clothing, rooms are described so deftly and richly that it is easy to miss a turn of the plot while mesmerized by the language. Who knew English could be used so fully and faithfully? His characters are also striking. Quirke, an alcoholic pathologist, and his daughter Phoebe, who works in a Dublin hat shop, are such sad, damaged souls; Hackett, the Garda detective, and Malachi Griffin, his brother-in-law and friend, are counterpoints of contentment. The plot, which revolves around the search for a missing young doctor, was a little disappointing. I did enjoy the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride of Quirke's first car.

Timothy Dalton did a great job reading.