The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan, Book Review

Another hugely enjoyable crime novel by an Irish author. What is it with the Irish? How do they produce so many good writers? Taking their population numbers into account they must be the per capita writing world leaders. Did they all kiss the Blarney Stone?

 I’d better get on with my review of Dervla McTiernan’s second book, The Scholar, a good follow-up to her first book, The Ruin, which was shortlisted for two awards, one in Ireland, the other in the US.

Detective Cormac Reilly faces a very tricky investigation into the murder of Carline Darcy, the granddaughter of the wealthy and ruthless pharmaceuticals tycoon John Darcy. Cormac Reilly’s personal situation is made infinitely more difficult as his brilliant but troubled girlfriend Emma discovers the body and seeing that she an indirect link to the victim, soon becomes a suspect. How do you investigate a case when your partner is one of the suspects? And what does that do to your relationship?

The setting at Galway University and the pharmaceutical laboratory provides a long list of potential suspects, some of whom are extremely clever and devious. Only Reilly’s persistence will turn up information which can shed light on a possible motive for this murder. I like investigations that struggle to discover motive, as we then have to tease out information by looking at personalities and what makes them tick - interesting characters with great psychological complexities. I also like cases where clues can be found in the past. So much of what shapes us lies buried in the past, and in The Scholar, McTiernan, seemingly effortlessly, weaves the past into the present, the result of which is a very satisfying read.

Dervla McTiernan stems from County Cork where she practised law for 12 years. She now lives in Western Australia with her husband and two children.

The Scholar was first published in September 2019 by Sphere in paperback original (£8.99), Ebook and Audio.