A murder mystery in Galway, Ireland has the small police force busy following a clue that leads to Ireland's biggest pharmaceutical company. I rarely read books set in Ireland so I really appreciated the backdrop. I also love a good murder mystery. Looking forward to reading book #3.

This suspense / crime thriller is the second in a series of books with DS Cormac Reilly. It takes place in Galway. Reilly is a bit of a black sheep with the Galway Gardai, so when he is in charge of a murder investigation where his girlfriend is a key witness, it doesn't go over well.

This book keeps you guessing, I couldn't have predicted the outcome, but some of the character development fell short. There were some pieces of the story that weren't wrapped up, and made the characters hard to understand, but maybe it has to do with the fact that it's a part of the series.

I received a copy of this book, free of charge, from NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group, as a host of a chapter of the Girly Book Club.

This was a solid piece of crime writing. I appreciated the variety of perspectives from which this was written. Overall, the plot twist was easy to guess and not at all so surprising. Despite the lack of surprise, the book was engaging until the end. The police environment was well-researched and believable.

This is one of those solidly good from beginning to end procedurals. While it stars Detective Cormac Reilly, who was on desk duty cold cases for a while, it also takes you into the lives of other characters in a way that feels like a great addition rather than a distraction. This case also hits close to home for Reilly as his girlfriend is the one who finds the body of the case he ends up on. A case about a murdered woman on a university campus and mistaken identity that will test loyalty, relationships, and job security. If you’ve been looking for a new series you can sink into that does a good balance of focusing on the cases and the characters, procedural fans will be satisfied with both entries so far in the series. And bonus for good audiobook narration!

I read this book without reading the first book in the series (The Ruin) and was happy that this book could stand alone. The characters were interesting and likable and I found myself wanting none of the characters to be the one who "done it." This book did what I think all great mysteries should do - took me on a journey that ultimately lead to a twist that I did not expect, though when I think back, the clues were there all along. The only thing that stopped me from giving it 5 stars is that there was another case being worked on in the book that seemed to have gotten dropped without resolution. I'm excited to read Dervla's other books and would recommend this.

I read this for the Girly Book Club for their January meeting. I really enjoyed the book. The story has a few different story lines. The main storyline is about an 18 year old woman is murdered and her identity is unknown and the challenges in finding out who she is and why was she killed.

Our bookclub generally thought this book was ok. Not great, but not bad either. It felt as though the most riveting parts of the book happened in very short time towards the end. Continually hinting at Emma's past made it hard to not assume her guilt and generally there was a lack of depth to the characters.

I enjoyed reading this book and give it 3.5 stars. Although an interesting police story, I found it to be a little long. The story starts quickly with the death of a young woman and draws you in. The twists begin with trying to identify the woman and carry on throughout the book. My suspicions were somewhat on the right track and I was surprised with how it all turned out. Cormac Reilly is working to prove himself as a detective but gets entangled in this case which involves his girlfriend Emma. Cormac faces some difficult personal and professional challenges through the investigation and while some colleagues hamper his work, others support him which leads to arrests in the case. I look forward to what comes next for Cormac Reilly.

I think McTiernan is one of my new favorite mystery writers! I recommend her books whenever someone loves Tana French of Jane Harper! I love that Cormac is a little gruff sometimes but he's not afraid to show that he loves his girlfriend and he doesn't need to be a dick. I found the impersonation, mistaken identities, and academia parts of this mystery so interesting--I am chomping at the bit for book 3!

Awesome follow to The Ruin but can also be read as a stand-alone book. Dervla has accomplished a fantastic novel bringing in the complex DS Cormac to help some the mysterious murder outside his girlfriend's work lab. If you like Jane Harper, you'll enjoy reading Dervla McTiernan.

Bam! Another great one by McTiernan. The secondary characters really made this one. They were more fully developed in the second book and provided nice alternatives to places that Cormac couldn't go. I am sad to see that the third book isn't out yet. Imagine me with a pouty face. I don't know how I shall avoid housework tomorrow.

The Scholar is a brilliant follow up to The Ruin, and is also a great example of everything that can and should be right in novels that bill themselves as mysteries and/or thrillers. It's got great tension, a great plot, and outstanding writing. I don't know why this isn't is popular in the United States as it should be as The Scholar and The Ruin are not to be missed!

Published by Penguin Books on May 14, 2019

The Scholar is an Irish police procedural. It follows The Ruin, which introduced the series protagonist, DS Cormac Reilly. The novels are set in Galway, where Cormac has been transferred from Dublin and assigned to cold cases as punishment for his justifiable shooting of another cop. In The Scholar, DS Carrie O’Halloran prevails upon her superior to move Cormac from cold cases to open investigations because her department is severely understaffed.

Cormac’s first major case seems destined to end with his return to the basement, if not fired. Cormac lives with Dr. Emma Sweeney, a fragile woman who is haunted by her past. Emma calls Cormac when she finds a dead woman in a road, the apparent victim of a hit-and-run. Cormac can see that the driver ran over the victim twice, likely wanting to make sure she was dead. The victim’s face is mangled but she is carrying a student ID with the name Carline Darcy.

Emma works as a research scientist for a pharmaceutical company that was founded by Carline Darcy’s wealthy grandfather. Carline wants to follow in her father’s footsteps and is widely seen in her college a having inherited her grandfather’s genius. Not everyone shares that assessment, including her grandfather, but she was given a chance to prove herself with an internship in her grandfather’s Galway lab.

Carline seems to have come to an unhappy end, leading Cormac to be surprised and a bit embarrassed when he discovers that Carline is alive and well. Carline has a story about how she lost her ID some months earlier. Cormac’s powerful grandfather, unhappy to be bothered by news of Carline’s death, makes clear that he wants the inquiry to end, as least as it involves his family. Cormac’s politically attuned superior is happy to oblige; Cormac, not so much.

Carline’s relationship with her family contributes one layer of intrigue to the story. Office politics relating to Cormac’s past adds another layer. Since Emma discovered the dead body, Cormac probably shouldn’t stay on the case, but nobody regards Emma as a suspect so he continues the investigation. That turns out to be a misjudgment that Cormac’s enemies in the garda use against him. Whether Emma is or isn’t involved in the murder is the key question the reader is asked to consider, while the impact that question has on her relationship with Cormac adds a bit of domestic drama to the plot.

The Scholar is a straightforward procedural as Cormac works with and against colleagues to solve the murder (as well as a second murder) while hoping that the murderer is not Emma. The plot moves quickly. The reader is given enough information to work out the motive for the murders, although perhaps not the killer’s identity.

Cormac is the kind of character who is a staple of police procedurals: the beleaguered cop who is haunted by his past, doggedly competent and driven by a desire for the truth. Unlike many American police procedurals that make detectives in that mold too sanctimonious to stomach, Cormac is humble and self-doubting, which makes him an appealing character. Minor characters, particularly the first murder victim’s family members, are developed in enough detail to make Cormac’s varying reactions to them seem authentic. The combination of sympathetic characters and an enjoyable story make The Scholar a good choice for fans of police procedurals.

RECOMMENDED

The prologue of this book features a child, “Carline," hearing of her father's death. The next chapter jumps ahead 8 years and is from the point of view of "Carrie," a policewoman working late on an investigation. I confess to being momentarily confused and thinking that Carline had certainly been motivated by adversity into growing up and making something of herself, but that she was still improbably young to be a sergeant. If you happen to have read the author's previous book, you know who the detective is (or isn't), so you would not have had this problem. We then get a sort of extreme Sue Grafton situation: in addition to Carrie and Carline, the author soon gives us characters named Ciaran, Cormac, and Ceri. Is the author's next book going to feature Dave, Daniel, Derek, Deirdre, and Devon? After a couple of chapters, I really could have used a character named Patrick or James. Once I got everybody straight, I enjoyed this story’s setting in a semi-mysterious lab and the mystery playing out among talented young scientists. The pace was good, the detective characters were well-drawn, and the conclusion was satisfying even though you do see where things are heading. I have not read the author’s previous work, but I will make a point of doing so, and I look forward to her next novel.

After finishing the first Cormac Reilly book, I immediately picked up The Scholar. These books definitely benefit from being read in order, as characters and situations are established in the first book. I love my mysteries/police procedurals with a great sense of place, and this series is delivering, making Galway and its police force come alive. There is little time wasted on set up in this book, and very quickly the case that will form the story is introduced, and it's one that will challenge Cormac both personally and professionally. The case is complex, and there were many questions raised, but overall it felt that the story was completed well by the end, not leaving ends hanging, and not relying on simple solutions, either. Well done, and a solid series to recommend!

Full review to come, but this is my favorite crime novel for May. The sequel to The Ruin finds us back in atmospheric Galway, where detective Cormac Reilly finds himself tied to another murder investigation when his live-in lover, researcher Emma Sweeney, discovers a hit-and-run victim on campus. The Big Pharma aspects of the case make this a timely and involving mystery. The ending seemed a little rushed, but it may be I’m just eager for more in this series.

This is the second book by Dervla McTiernan that I've been privileged to read through the publisher and Netgalley. I loved her previous book, The Ruin, and this one also features Detective Cormac Reilly. It is an excellent mystery centering around the murder of a young woman outside a college research laboratory. At first misidentified as the granddaughter of the Pharmaceutical owner of the lab, it turns out that she is not her. She is a former waitress, and a lot of money is found in her home. Her family seems strangely uninterested in what happened, except for her teenage brother. Without him, she might never have been identified.
There are so many questions to be answered surrounding this death. Why did she have Carline Darcy's ID, and why does Darline claim not to know her. Why was Detective Reilly's girlfriend Emma at the lab so late, and is it suspicious that she is the one who found the body? Why do the people at Darcy Laboratories seem evasive, and why was a break in at the lab not reported? The entire story takes place in Galway, Ireland, and briefly touches on the difficulty working cases that may have evidence available in Northern Ireland. Although what's going on seems relatively straightforward at times, there are twists and turns along the way that I didn't expect. I enjoyed learning more about Cormac, his personal life, and his fellow officers. This is definitely a standalone book, but I look forward to reading more about Detective Reilly and the others in the next in the series, to be published in 2020.

The Scholar (Cormac Reilly #2) by Dervla McTiernan.

I missed McTiernan's The Ruin, but hope to pick it up at some point.

Detective Cormac Reilly's partner Dr. Emma Sweeney stumbles across the body of Carline Darcy, heir to a powerful pharmaceutical company. Emma calls Cormac, and he arrives first on the scene. In spite of possible conflicts of interest, Cormac takes over the case.

Pressured to keep the investigation quiet, Cormac continues digging--eventually questioning his decision to take the lead in the case as evidence that Emma may know more than she has revealed emerges. Emma may be more than a key witness.

Compelling and twisty, the novel reveals some problems with the research at the Darcy laboratories, the callousness and corruption of Carline's rich and powerful grandfather, and the grief of a fifteen-year-old boy who is searching for his missing sister.

Read in March. Blog review scheduled for April 28, 2019.

NetGalley/Penguin Group
Crime/Police Procedural. May 14, 2019. Print length: 377 pages.

A good, solid police procedural/mystery, the follow-up to The Ruin. Cormac Reilly's girlfriend stumbles on a hit-and-run victim, calls him rather than the police, and so he is first-on-scene of a crime he would otherwise not be investigating. Mistaken identity, interdepartmental politics, possible corruption in the pharmaceutical industry...it all kept me on the edge of my seat! Perhaps my expectations were too high, because although I thoroughly enjoyed The Scholar, I didn't think it rose to quite the heights of The Ruin. My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books for the opportunity to read the eARC.

Another flawless procedural in the Cormac Reilly series from Dervla McTiernan.

Even aside from the setting, McTiernan’s work feels a lot like Tana French’s (a high compliment in my book), and while it’s a touch less psychologically complex, it’s also mercifully less emotionally oppressive and (at least so far) populated by more satisfying conclusions.

I actually liked this book even better than The Ruin. Both are unquestionably 5-Star books, so I chalk it up to a matter of preference with regard to subject matter.

Regardless, this is shaping up to be a fantastic series, and I eagerly await the next installment.