Two years have passed since the events of the bestselling "Christine"" ""Falls," and much has changed for Quirke, the irascible, formerly hard-drinking Dublin pathologist. His beloved Sarah is dead, the Judge lies in a convent hospital paralyzed by a devastating stroke, and Phoebe, Quirke's long-denied daughter, has grown increasingly withdrawn and isolated.With much to regret from his last inquisitive foray, Quirke ought to know better than to let his curiosity get the best of him. Yet when an almost-forgotten acquaintance comes to him about his beautiful young wife's apparent suicide, Quirke's "old itch to cut into the quick of things, to delve into the dark of what was hidden" is roused again. As he begins to probe further into the shadowy circumstances of Deirdre Hunt's death, he discovers many things that might better have remained hidden, as well as grave danger to those he loves. Haunting, masterfully written, and utterly mesmerizing in its nuance, The Silver Swan fully lives up to the promise of "Christine Falls" and firmly establishes Benjamin Black (a.k.a. John Banville) among the greatest of crime writers.

本杰明•布莱克（Benjamin Black）是著名作家约翰•班维尔（John Banville）的笔名。班维尔1945年出生于爱尔兰，现居都柏林。班维尔是一位敏锐的评论家，更是一名出色的小说家。2005年，凭《海》获得当代英国小说界最重要的奖项——布克奖（Booker Prize）；随后，应《纽约时报》之邀，班维尔化身本杰明•布莱克创作“犯罪侦探小说”《堕落的信徒》等，成为当代备受瞩目的犯罪小说作家之一。