Faber snaps up John Banville's 'richly atmospheric' new Strafford and Quirke mystery

Faber has snapped up The Drowned, John Banville’s "richly atmospheric" new Strafford and Quirke mystery set in 1950s rural Ireland.

Publisher director Angus Cargill acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Luke Ingram at the Wylie Agency, and Faber will publish in October 2024.

"A loner comes across a mysteriously empty car in a field," the synopsis says. "Knowing he shouldn’t approach, but unable to hold back, he soon finds himself embroiled in a troubling missing person’s case, as a husband claims his wife may have thrown herself into the sea."

The synopsis adds: "Called in from Dublin to investigate is Detective Inspector Strafford, who soon turns to his old ally – the flawed but brilliant pathologist Quirke – a man he is linked to in increasingly complicated ways."

Banville is the author of many novels, including the 2005 Booker Prize-winning The Sea (Picador). More recently, he has written the Strafford and Quirke crime series (Faber), which has twice been shortlisted for the CWA Historical Dagger.

Cargill commented: "Atmospheric, mysterious and beautifully written, The Drowned is perhaps the best yet of John’s much loved Strafford and Quirke series, as the relationship between his two protagonists gets ever richer and more complicated."