Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • Snow

  • A Strafford and Quirke Murder Mystery
  • By: John Banville
  • Narrated by: Stanley Townsend
  • Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (552 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Snow

By: John Banville
Narrated by: Stanley Townsend
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

'The body is in the library,' Colonel Osborne said. 'Come this way.'
Detective Inspector St John Strafford is called in from Dublin to investigate a murder at Ballyglass House - the Co. Wexford family seat of the aristocratic, secretive Osborne family.
Facing obstruction from all angles, Strafford carries on determinedly in his pursuit of the murderer. However, as the snow continues to fall over this ever-expanding mystery, the people of Ballyglass are equally determined to keep their secrets.

©2020 John Banville (P)2020 Faber & Faber
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Untouchable cover art
Eclipse cover art
See Them Run cover art
When We Were Orphans cover art
The Well of Saint Nobody cover art
Brighton Belle cover art
When You Find Me cover art
Coming of Winter cover art
The Murderer's Son cover art
The Tell Tale cover art
A Litter of Bones: A Scottish Crime Thriller cover art
Beware the Past cover art
An Air That Kills cover art
Traces of Guilt cover art
A Time to Change cover art
A Great Deliverance cover art

Critic reviews

'Outstanding.' Irish Independent

'Exquisite.' Daily Mail

'Hypnotic.' Financial Times

What listeners say about Snow

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    276
  • 4 Stars
    164
  • 3 Stars
    74
  • 2 Stars
    24
  • 1 Stars
    14
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    348
  • 4 Stars
    102
  • 3 Stars
    24
  • 2 Stars
    11
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    224
  • 4 Stars
    145
  • 3 Stars
    77
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
    20

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

A pretty much perfect novel. Beautifully written with not a word out of place, incredibly vivid characterisation and enough of a plot to race along with. The reader's voice is dreamy and I wanted it to go on forever. Gorgeous, grim, terrifying and sad. Loved this.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great to listen to

standard whodunnit but with lots of twists and turns. Interesting characters highlighted by excellent narration. What a great voice!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

great story and narration

I enjoyed this story a lot. Very engaging content. the narrator did an excellent job.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Snowball shurely??

I would expect a book by John Banville to be well-written, which this is but he’s no Agatha Christie. There is a plot twist at the end, but much of it is predictable and the characters verge on charicatures of rural Ireland, Garda stock-types (drunken sergeant, lippy basic rank) and the Anglo-Irish family, from retired officer father down are straight out of central casting. It is read in a way that exaggerates the accents in a slightly distracting fashion.
However, I did enjoy it and finished it, which I can’t say of all fiction I consume these days.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Storytelling at its best

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A rich narrative with well developed characters who each came to life through excellent writing and narration. Some gruesome happenings but somehow it was a comforting read thanks to the Irish magic. I wanted a little more help to grasp the fine details of whodunnit but maybe it was intentional to leave it unsaid.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A gripping tale well-told

Perhaps typically of Banville this is almost two books in one. A country house who-dunnit is streaked through with a visceral examination of paedophilia and the Catholic Church; delivered with 5-star narration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

"The body in the library."

Just superb.
Yes, it's a murder mystery with somewhat ironic, comic overtones, but it is the characterisations, including those of Irish religious politics and weather, and the cold interplay between the at Christmas time in 1957 which makes this book both unique and, for this reader, totally immersive.
Narrated by Stanley Townsend, his deliciously warm and gentle Irish accented voice comp!Steph compliments the writing. His is a very fine performance, sedate, but replete with understanding of all that he is reading.
The book starts from the POV of the murder victim, Father Tom, a priest well known throughout the country and a frequent visitor to the large and mouldering Bally Glass House where he meets his end. Much later, he returns again to give a first person review of himself and his life, this chapter of itself being a remarkably well presented short story. The rest of the novel is mostly, though not entirely, from the viewpoint of the investigator, D.I.St.John Strafford (with an 'r'), locked into the area by the falling snow. The atmosphere throughout is cold, stark, for protagonists as well as countryside, but with a delightfully gentle humour also, such as the Agatha Christie type setting, the attitudes of almost everyone, and the poor sergeant, Jenkins, virtually invisible to everyone, it seems, and no one can remember his name.

For readers who truly enjoy getting to know the characters, their foibles and eccentricities, rather than placing the murder itself centre stage, this is the book for you and highly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good storyline

Well narrated although a bit too descriptive by the priest remembering events of past

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

for the language

The story is just a traditional detective in the vein of Christie, but it is very well written with lots of beautiful words dusted off to give a chronistic vibe to the 1950s setting. Also very well narrated. An enjoyable palate cleanser or bed time treat.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Beautifully written

A moving story, beautifully written. This is what I love about John Banville. He could write about anything at all and his beautiful use of language would charm and weave its magic. A quiet and poignant tale.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!