The naked body of Deidre Hunt is found in the Dublin Bay on the edge of town. Her husband Billy asks his classmate Garret Quirke, the local pathologist, to not have an autopsy done on his wife. Quirke tells Billy he'll do what he can and ends up performing an autospy on the body which confirms that Deidre did not drown.
Deidre Hunt, or Linda Swan her alias, owned a beauty shop in town with her partner Lester White, a suave businessman. Phoebe, Quirke's daughter, ends up meeting Lester at the pub and sleeps with him. Both Phoebe and Quirke work separately (but together) on trying to solve what really happened to Deidre.
The investigation into Deidre's murder is mixed in with chapters that tell Deidre's side of the story from when she meant Billy up to when she dies. The book is set in Dublin during the early 1950's - but the reader would never know that. The time period does not enhance the plot at all.
I'm not sure how this book made it on my to-read list. I didn't read the first book by this author and it was clear within a few chapters that this book was building on the first. I wasn't impressed by this book and would not recommend it.
Black, Benjamin. The Silver Swan. Henry Holt and Company (2008). 304 pages. ISBN 0805081534.
I saw this link on Library Thing and thought I'd check it out. I just finished this book and was very disappointed with it as well. I wrote a one star review for it as well. The first one was a very little better but still not very good. It is such a depressing book and the characters are so hard to connect with. I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one who didn't like it! :)
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