We eventually learn that the tension is probably also associated with the unusual relationship between Quirke and Malachy. Certainly this unusual situation is what peaks Quirke’s interest in the case. A sense of tension between the two is suggested in this opening scene which could be due to Griffen’s unexpected presence in Quirke’s office writing in a file. In the opening chapter we meet Malachy Griffen, an ob/gyn doctor who practices at the same hospital as Quirke. But in this case, Quirke is a hospital pathologist, not a police officer, and in this book, no police are involved in the case at all except when they are called to deal with people that end up dead after Quirke connects with them to talk about this case he can’t quite leave alone.
His inability to let them go reminds one of the character “Columbo” in the 1970’s TV series-always another question to consider. Quirke is a melancholy, often drunk, pathologist who manages to get involved in trying to understand cases others think should be considered closed. This is the first book John Banville wrote as Benjamin Black and the second book of this Quirke series he is producing with this pen name.
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