Irish born Australian author Dervla McTiernan is the bestselling author of The Ruin. Released last year, The Ruin was wildly successful and in fact was one of the five bestselling Australian crime novels of 2018. A year on, and The Scholar is the second in the series to feature DS Cormac Reilly.
Set in 2014 in Ireland, DS Cormac Reilly is still recovering from events in The Ruin, but rushes to the scene of a hit and run when his girlfriend Dr Emma Sweeney phones for help. Cormac begins by identifying the victim, investigating the nearby university and the apparent links to the insanely rich family who fund the research lab where Emma works. Cormac soon finds himself with a conflict of interest and doubts about his girlfriend's involvement in the case.
I read The Scholar as a stand alone (not having read The Ruin), but in doing so I suspect I missed out on some important character development involving Cormac's colleagues and the set up of the complex relationship between Cormac and Emma.
In spite of this, I found a well structured atmospheric crime novel with classic whodunnit and whydunnit themes for the reader to untangle as they follow the investigation.
Cormac Reilly is a likeable protagonist, and fans of the series will be pleased to know the next instalment is due for publication in 2020.
My rating = ***
Carpe Librum!
Set in 2014 in Ireland, DS Cormac Reilly is still recovering from events in The Ruin, but rushes to the scene of a hit and run when his girlfriend Dr Emma Sweeney phones for help. Cormac begins by identifying the victim, investigating the nearby university and the apparent links to the insanely rich family who fund the research lab where Emma works. Cormac soon finds himself with a conflict of interest and doubts about his girlfriend's involvement in the case.
I read The Scholar as a stand alone (not having read The Ruin), but in doing so I suspect I missed out on some important character development involving Cormac's colleagues and the set up of the complex relationship between Cormac and Emma.
In spite of this, I found a well structured atmospheric crime novel with classic whodunnit and whydunnit themes for the reader to untangle as they follow the investigation.
Cormac Reilly is a likeable protagonist, and fans of the series will be pleased to know the next instalment is due for publication in 2020.
My rating = ***
Carpe Librum!
I am going to give The Ruin a go. Don't read a lot of crime but have been binge watching Vera! Cheers
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy it Carole.
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