Christine Falls by Benjamin Black

When you set about to review a book and have a great deal of difficult remembering what the book was even about, it’s a sure bet that the review will not be flattering. In fact, Christine Falls was flagrantly forgettable.

About two weeks ago I seduced my chronically-homebody-hubby to make a road trip with me by telling him that I would pick out a really good mystery for us to listen to on the road.  Christine Falls came highly recommended by audible.com – but what I failed to pay close attention to was that although the reading of the story was highly rated – Timothy Dalton at his most superb – the story was not.

The saga is set in mid-20^th century Dublin and Boston Catholic high society. A girl (Christine Falls) turns up dead. There’s a cover-up, and the story unfolds. Actually, it meanders relentlessly

The characters are drawn well-enough, and the writing is pretty, but the whole story is so tragically convoluted  that about half way through, we just wanted it to be over.  To give you an idea of how incomprehensible this book is, read this New York Times review, which although positive is not unlike the book itself, obtuse and boring.

Christine Falls wasn’t fun or interesting. It was annoying. If it hadn’t been for the drama that Timothy Dalton’s reading brought to the story, we’d have never made it through to the end, which, by the way, was anti-climatic.