Changes

The ''niceties'' have extended to the clearing up of the crime scene. Copious amounts of blook have been removed and the stair carpet has been cleaned. Mrs Osborne discovered the body but the colonel then adjusted the priest's clothing so that the mutilation was not immediately visible. There was remarkably little for the forensic team to go on but what had happened before Strafford arrived was down to ignorance. He would soon encounter deliberate obstruction. The head of the Catholic Church, Dr John Charles McQuaid, called Strafford in to see him: what had happened would be put down to a tragic accident when the priest fell down the stairs. Investigation was unnecessary. The press release had already been issued.

It's John Banville, so the writing is exquisite. Sometimes I found myself rereading a phrase or a sentence just for the pleasure which the words gave. I'm used to crime novels coming from Banville's alter ego, [[:Category:Benjamin Black|Benjamin Black]], and there is a nod to the Quirke series. Quirke is - apparently - now the State Pathologist and on his honeymoon. The plot of ''Snow'' is deceptively simple whilst you're reading but complex and carefully-constructed in retrospect. It's a book to read for the pleasure of reading and then to re-read, just to see how it was done.