The Lock-Up cover art

The Lock-Up

A Strafford and Quirke Murder Mystery

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The Lock-Up

By: John Banville
Narrated by: Stanley Townsend
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About this listen

'The ultimate page-turner.' Irish Independent

'Like drinking Bollinger when your usual tipple is Babycham.' The Times

The Sunday Times bestselling author of Snow and April in Spain returns with Strafford and Quirke's most troubling case yet.

1950s Dublin. in a lock-up garage in the city, the body of a young woman is discovered - an apparent suicide. But pathologist Dr Quirke and Detective Inspector Strafford soon suspect foul play.

The victim's sister, a newspaper reporter from London, returns to Dublin to join the two men in their quest to uncover the truth. But, as they explore her links to a wealthy German family in County Wicklow, and to investigative work she may have been doing in Israel, they are confronted with an ever-deepening mystery. With relations between the two men increasingly strained, and their investigation taking them back to the final days of the Second World War, can they join the pieces of a hidden puzzle?

©2023 Faber & Faber (P)2023 Faber & Faber
Crime Thrillers Fiction Historical Mystery Police Procedural Thriller & Suspense Crime Thriller

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All stars
Most relevant
I thoroughly enjoyed this book - the characters, locations and plot are exciting and so vividly drawn by Mr Banville - I literally could not stop listening and only interrupted my listening to go to sleep! Stanley Townsend is an exceptional actor and so I am not surprised that his performance of the book was rich with colour, tone and fabulous accents that conjured the world of the piece to perfection. Thank you - my only regret was that it came to an end!

Absolutely Brilliant!

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This proves crime writing can be up there with any other genre and have to say Stanley Townsend perfect reader

Brilliant writing and reader superb

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Performance excellent. Historical setting believable- brings reader into that era effectively. Twist in the reveal was an additional bonus. Didn’t experience the same level of absorption in the story as ‘Snow’ however.

Entertaining

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great place making , brilliant narrator again. good plot, twists and turns. just to highlight audible wrongly had this listed as the 2nd book in the 'St John Strafford series' after snow, but it is in fact the 3rd book in this series. Audible's listing of the 'Strafford and Quirke' series has these in the correct order. just so nobody makes the same error I do and missing April in Spain!

atmospheric & strong plot

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Superb on atmosphere and character but a bit light in suspense - which is what I expected. Townsend’s rich tones are well matched to the story. I found the epilogue ending to detract from the rest of the book.

Superb on atmosphere, light on suspense

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