About the Book
About the Book
The Drowned

Booker Prize winner and “Irish master” (New Yorker) John Banville delivers a richly atmospheric new mystery about a woman’s sudden disappearance in a small coastal town in Ireland, where nothing is as it seems.
1950s, rural Ireland. A loner comes across a mysteriously empty car in a field. Knowing he shouldn’t approach but unable to hold back, he soon finds himself embroiled in a troubling missing person case, as a husband claims his wife may have thrown herself into the sea.
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. But as the case unfolds, events from the past resurface that may have life-altering ramifications for all involved.
At once a searing mystery and a profound meditation on the hidden worlds we all inhabit, THE DROWNED is the next great Strafford and Quirke novel from a beloved writer at the top of his game.
Audiobook available, read by John Lee
The Drowned
- Publication Date: October 14, 2025
- Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Mystery
- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Hanover Square Press
- ISBN-10: 1335471995
- ISBN-13: 9781335471994