The Lemur is a short, slim new novel from John Banville, writing as Benjamin Black. While his Christine Falls and The Silver Swan were both set in Dublin in the 1950s, this is instead a tale set in modern day New York.
The main character of The Lemur is John Glass. He is a famous investigative journalist who has grown soft through his marriage into money. Now he has settled down to write the biography of his father in law for a fee of one million dollars. 
His father in law is William ‘Big Bill’ Mulholland, an Irish-American. He is a CIA operative turned communications mogul. And Big Bill has his secrets and expects Glass to keep them. Now Mulholland lives the good life. He has set up a charitable trust – run by Glass’s wife Louise, who is also a UN Special Ambassador for Culture – and thinks the story of his life should be told. “Not a hagiography–I don’t merit one, I’m no saint,” he insists. “What I want is the truth.”
Only a few days into his assignment, The Lemur calls Glass to pressure him for money. He knows something and he wants half a million dollars for it. Then later The Lemur is found dead, having been shot through his left eye. The last person he called before being shot was John Glass. ‘That makes you the last one to talk to him alive,’ says Captain Ambrose from the NYPD. And, when Glass replies, ‘You mean, the second last’, Captain Ambrose grins. ‘Yeah. Right.’
However, Glass has a cast-iron alibi. But who killed The Lemur? What was the secret? John Glass turns detective, fearing that his own affair with a young artist may be the damaging secret. With little information, John assembles what facts he can, guilt eventually pointing back to himself and his extended family: wife, Louise; step-son, David; and father-in-law, Big Bill Mulholland.
I greatly enjoyed Black’s other novels (Christine Falls, The Silver Swan). I did not like this one nearly as much. I did not find the characters even remotely likeable. Overall, it is not nearly as gripping, fresh and original as the two previous books featuring Quirke. For me the pages of The Lemur turned fast, but I am a great fan of John Banville and Benjamin Black. So, if like me, you are a fan of John Banville, you should read The Lemur.
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