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Death in the Quadrangle
Professor Daly journeys to his alma mater to give lectures, only to become involved in the intrigues of murder
160 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1986
About the author
Eilís Dillon
53 books39 followersEilís Dillon (1920-1994) was born in Galway, in the West of Ireland. Her father, Thomas Dillon, was Professor of Chemistry at University College Galway. Her mother, Geraldine Plunkett, was the sister of the poet Joseph Mary Plunkett, one of the seven signatories of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic, who was executed in Kilmainham Gaol at the end of the 1916 Easter Rising.
Eilís was educated at the Ursuline Convent in Sligo, and was sent to work in the hotel and catering business in Dublin. In 1940, at the age of 20, she married a 37-year-old Corkman. Her husband, Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin, became Professor of Irish at University College Cork. Eilís had always written poetry and stories, and in the intervals of bringing up three children and running a student hostel for the university, she developed her writing into a highly successful professional career. At first she wrote children's books in Irish and English, then started to write novels and detective stories. Over twenty of her books were published by Faber and Faber, winning critical acclaim and a wide readership. Her work was translated into fourteen languages.
In the 1960s, her husband's poor health prompted early retirement and a move to Rome. He died in 1970. Eilís Dillon's large historical novel about the road to Irish independence in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Across the Bitter Sea, was published in 1973 by Hodder & Stoughton in London, and Simon & Schuster in New York. It became an instant bestseller.
In 1974 Eilís married Vivian Mercier, Professor of English in the University of Colorado at Boulder. They moved to California when Vivian was appointed to a chair in the University of California, Santa Barbara. They spent each winter in California until Vivian's retirement in 1987, returning to Ireland for the spring and summer.
Eilís Dillon was active in a number of public and cultural bodies. She served on the Arts Council, the International Commission for English in the Liturgy, the Irish Writers' Union and the Irish Writers' Centre. She was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and a member of Aosdána, the State academy of writers, artists and composers. She had long argued for the establishment of such a body.
Vivian's death in 1989 was followed by the death in 1990 of Eilís's daughter Máire, who was a violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Despite these blows, and her own declining health, Eilís kept writing until the last months of her own life. An honorary doctorate was conferred on her by University College Cork in 1992. Her last two published works were Children of Bach (1993), a children's novel set in Hungary at the time of the Holocaust, and her edition of Vivian Mercier's posthumous Modern Irish Literature: Sources and Founders (Oxford, 1994). Her scholarly work on this book meant that her own last novel remained unfinished.
Eilís Dillon died on 19 July 1994. Of her fifty books, ten are now in print and others will shortly be republished. A special prize, the Eilís Dillon Award, is given each year as part of the Bisto Book Awards. She herself had won the main Bisto Book of the Year award in 1989 with The Island of Ghosts.
Eilís was educated at the Ursuline Convent in Sligo, and was sent to work in the hotel and catering business in Dublin. In 1940, at the age of 20, she married a 37-year-old Corkman. Her husband, Cormac Ó Cuilleanáin, became Professor of Irish at University College Cork. Eilís had always written poetry and stories, and in the intervals of bringing up three children and running a student hostel for the university, she developed her writing into a highly successful professional career. At first she wrote children's books in Irish and English, then started to write novels and detective stories. Over twenty of her books were published by Faber and Faber, winning critical acclaim and a wide readership. Her work was translated into fourteen languages.
In the 1960s, her husband's poor health prompted early retirement and a move to Rome. He died in 1970. Eilís Dillon's large historical novel about the road to Irish independence in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Across the Bitter Sea, was published in 1973 by Hodder & Stoughton in London, and Simon & Schuster in New York. It became an instant bestseller.
In 1974 Eilís married Vivian Mercier, Professor of English in the University of Colorado at Boulder. They moved to California when Vivian was appointed to a chair in the University of California, Santa Barbara. They spent each winter in California until Vivian's retirement in 1987, returning to Ireland for the spring and summer.
Eilís Dillon was active in a number of public and cultural bodies. She served on the Arts Council, the International Commission for English in the Liturgy, the Irish Writers' Union and the Irish Writers' Centre. She was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and a member of Aosdána, the State academy of writers, artists and composers. She had long argued for the establishment of such a body.
Vivian's death in 1989 was followed by the death in 1990 of Eilís's daughter Máire, who was a violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Despite these blows, and her own declining health, Eilís kept writing until the last months of her own life. An honorary doctorate was conferred on her by University College Cork in 1992. Her last two published works were Children of Bach (1993), a children's novel set in Hungary at the time of the Holocaust, and her edition of Vivian Mercier's posthumous Modern Irish Literature: Sources and Founders (Oxford, 1994). Her scholarly work on this book meant that her own last novel remained unfinished.
Eilís Dillon died on 19 July 1994. Of her fifty books, ten are now in print and others will shortly be republished. A special prize, the Eilís Dillon Award, is given each year as part of the Bisto Book Awards. She herself had won the main Bisto Book of the Year award in 1989 with The Island of Ghosts.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 29, 2018
Professor John Daly has been invited back to King's University to give a prestigious series of lectures, but it turns out that it is not for his academic prowess but rather his crime solving that was the reason for the invitation. The current President of the University has been sent a series of threatening letters and after the first few President Bradley has started to get worried and take it seriously. Professor Daly has just managed to get his friend Inspector Kenny in to the University incognito (although Bradley recognised him) when the worst possible outcome happens and Bradley is found dead.
The problem is that there is no shortage of suspects as practically everyone disliked him - so academia and the Gardai will need to work together and quickly to find the solution!
The problem is that there is no shortage of suspects as practically everyone disliked him - so academia and the Gardai will need to work together and quickly to find the solution!
October 23, 2024
This mystery is set in the 1950s, a time often viewed as having higher moral standards, with less explicit content and coarse language in literature. With that in mind, I found this mystery to be thoroughly enjoyable.
March 22, 2020
First Published in 1956. Retired Professor Daly is invited to give a series of lecture at his old university in Dublin by the present University president Professor Bradley. His underlying reason in doing so is to get Daly to determine who is sending him threatening letters to kill him.
Soon Bradley has been killed and Daly with his friend policeman Mike Kenny they determine the guilty party.
I found the style of writing not really to my taste and the story felt a little flat.
A NetGalley Book
Soon Bradley has been killed and Daly with his friend policeman Mike Kenny they determine the guilty party.
I found the style of writing not really to my taste and the story felt a little flat.
A NetGalley Book
April 30, 2024
Four years after his retirement as an English professor at the King's University in Dublin, Professor Daly is invited back to give a series of lectures. When Daly arrives, he is told by President Bradley that Bradley had an ulterior motive in inviting him: Bradley has been receiving anonymous threatening notes, and he fears for his life.
Daly invites his detective friend Inspector Mike Kenny to visit the university and observe the inhabitants. When a murder indeed occurs, Kenny is all set to carry out an investigation. Kenny gets some valuable assistance from Daly in navigating this foreign environment and figuring out what to make of the quirky professors who had been Daly's colleagues for years. These unusual characters are a highlight of the story, which gives a vivid portrayal of academic life at an Irish university in the 1950s.
Daly invites his detective friend Inspector Mike Kenny to visit the university and observe the inhabitants. When a murder indeed occurs, Kenny is all set to carry out an investigation. Kenny gets some valuable assistance from Daly in navigating this foreign environment and figuring out what to make of the quirky professors who had been Daly's colleagues for years. These unusual characters are a highlight of the story, which gives a vivid portrayal of academic life at an Irish university in the 1950s.
July 19, 2025
I've listened to three books by Eilis Dillon, and I have found them to be all the same, rather dull, prosy and difficult to follow due to the number of characters. I listened on audiobook so perhaps this is the reason. The narrator's voice - the same in all three - was plodding and ponderous, making the stories unlively and dull, rendering it difficult to stay focussed and interested in the story. He also made only very slight vocal differences between the different characters, and this is audiobook suicide. The lack of any significant 'voice acting' is probably what let these down for me. Reading the books might have made them better; or perhaps not. Could be they just weren't very good books, but I'll give the benefit of the doubt.
June 13, 2017
There are too many characters and too little plot in DQ. Set in ye olde claustrophobic university the staff is quirky, and their quirks have quirks. Not the interesting kind, either. Decently written, but dull.
May 2, 2020
I did not find this as engaging or as interesting as Death at Crane's Court. While the academic setting was well enough done, there were just too many quirky characters around, even given the Irish setting.
Disappointing. 3.5 stars
Disappointing. 3.5 stars
October 8, 2022
Very good
A retired professor and a police inspector are not the crime fighting team I was expecting to find when I started this novel but a good team they make. His is my second Eilis Dillon book and I will certainly be looking for number three when it is released.
A retired professor and a police inspector are not the crime fighting team I was expecting to find when I started this novel but a good team they make. His is my second Eilis Dillon book and I will certainly be looking for number three when it is released.
December 13, 2021
Many of the characters are so vaguely described that I couldn’t tell the difference between them. Makes the ‘who dun it’ reveal very unsatisfying.
October 14, 2024
Kept my interest. Not something that I ran home to, though. I can honestly say that I won't be looking for more books by Dillon.
August 5, 2016
Retired professor Daly returns to his college in Dublin to give a series of lectures, only to find changes mandated by the unpopular new college president. Then the president confides that his life is being threatened. Daly invites his friend, Guards Inspector Kenny, in for a quiet look around, but unfortunately the president's fears are justified. Even Daly himself has a motive to kill the unpleasant man, and Kenny must find the real murderer before Daly ends up in real trouble.
October 4, 2016
A fine story of academic life and death which put me in mind of Dorothy L. Sayers Lord Peter Wimsey novel Gaudy Night.
I look forward to reading more from Ellis Dillon.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Endeavour via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
I look forward to reading more from Ellis Dillon.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Endeavour via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
June 13, 2017
For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews