Named One of the 10 Best Mysteries of 2013 by "The Wall Street Journal""Absorbing... The murder mystery is solved, after its startling fashion, in due time--but not before Mr. Black has worked his lyrical magic at fine length, in scenes that unfold with a poet's grace.... Long may we wander Dublin's damp streets in the dour doctor's melancholy presence."--"The Wall Street Journal""Sophisticated... Banville is arguably one of the finest prose stylists writing in English today."--"The Atlantic" Wire"It is doubtful that anyone can write as well as Benjamin Black when it comes to a psychological mystery... And it is significant that the silken skill with which he writes of past and present death matches the literary talent that marked the author in his incarnation as John Banville, winner of the Man Booker Prize."--"The Washington Times""["Holy Orders"] starts and ends as strongly as the best of the Quirkes...This book may well introduce many readers to the series, as it is sure to get major attention this year when the BBC airs in Great Britain its production of Black's work. It stars Gabriel Byrne as Black's protagonist, the dour, self-hating, sometimes alcoholic pathologist, Quirke, in 1950s Dublin."--"St. Louis Post-Dispatch""Outstanding . . . Black (nom de plume for the Quirke books by acclaimed Irish author John Banville) has turned in his most complex plot yet in "Holy Orders," the sixth book in this 1950s-Dublin-set series."--"The Star-Ledger "(New Jersey)"[Quirke] appears for a seventh time in Black's gripping, terrific new novel, "Holy Orders." . . Although it shares the vivid settings, evocative mood and striking characters of the earlier Quirke novels, "Holy Orders" has a tighter, more intricate plot."--"The Tampa Bay Times""Banville's knack for drawing the reader in with a good story remains forcefully intact."--The Daily Beast"Black masterfully evokes an Ireland in the iron grip of Mother Church...Quirke, a product of his environm

Benjamin Black is the pen name of acclaimed author John Banville, who was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945. His novels have won numerous awards, including the Man Booker Prize in 2005 for The Sea. He lives in Dublin.