It is easily one of the most curious developments in the Irish literary scene that John Banville - arguably the most interesting contemporary novelist with a literary/intellectual flavor - has donned the pseudonym Benjamin Black and churned out three suspense novels. Following "Christine Falls" and "The Lemur," Banville/ Black now offers up "The Silver Swan." If Declan Hughes suggests that Dublin has a dark side today, Benjamin Black suggests the very same was true 50 years ago. Black's protagonist Garret Quirke, a pathologist, is asked by an old friend not to perform an autopsy on the body of his wife, Deirdre, the victim of an apparent suicide. Of course, this would not be much of a mystery if Quirke actually listened to his old pal, so Black goes back in time, bringing Deirdre to life, and revealing an underground system of blackmail and deception so vast it threatens Quirke's own family. For better or worse, there is not much of Banville the intellectual novelist in the Benjamin Black books. But they offer memorable characters, as well as (in the case of "The Silver Swan") a fascinating exploration of Ireland in the 1950s. ($25 / 304 pages / Henry Holt)