This was a book I couldn't put down! Hannah's diary of the past events and Hannah's mother's record of the past events were both used to tell the story. Laura's anguish was palpable, as was Hannah's desire to see her get justice. I like Hannah's determination and how she formed unexpected friendships along the road. This was a one-of-a-kind thriller with a surprising conclusion.

Thank you NetGalley for a free review copy!

It all started with a diary which led to Hannah studying law. Hannah transferred from Maine to Charlottesville after reading about the Innocence Project in the Vanity Fair magazine. The Project is run by Professor Rob Parekh. His team of law students at the University of Virginia volunteer to free convicted prisoners whom they believe are innocent. Michael Dandridge is in prison and believes he has been wrongly accused of a murder he didn’t commit. For the last eleven years Michael has been in prison for the murder of Sarah Fitzhugh. His conviction has been vacated by the federal courts. The state prosecutor is planning on trying the case again. Robert Parekh wants to save the wrongly convicted prisoner.

I found this investigative tactic quite intriguing. It was a unique approach. An approach that has not been written about before.

The Murder Rule explored Laura’s journal entries. Hannah used these journal entries as a tool to begin as investigation about Michael Dandridge.
This is a character driven story. There are many players to consider.

This is my first read by Dervla McTiernan. This is her first standalone thriller. I liked the concept. However, the execution got bogged down with busy activity. Hannah was focused on proving Michaels guilt while the rest of the team was working to prove his innocence. The Project was a brilliant format to help Hannah begin her investigation. I enjoyed this investigative approach. This unique and original idea was what drew me to the story. The writing was simple and easy to read. Although, I wasn’t hooked in all areas of the process.

Wow!!! Loved, loved, loved this book. Hannah, a third year law student is joining the innocence project yet for very personal reasons. This story had me guessing from the beginning to the end. I really thought I had it figured out and then a huge twist at the end. Read this! You won’t regret it.

Most people volunteer for places like the Innocence Project because they believe incarcerated people have been wrongly convicted. This is not Hannah’s reason, however, as her POV along with her mother Laura's in the past will tell a different tale. Hannah's objective is simply to make sure that the ‘innocent’ man that the team is defending stays right where he has spent the last 11 years, in jail.

How Hannah a recent transfer student to the UVA manages to get on the team overseeing this man's defense is quite a story (she is very sharp and honestly, pretty conniving). Alternate chapters from Laura's diary give us background information on why Hannah will go so far to undermine this team. Plenty of twists and turns had me believing one thing before the author exposed the truth(and it turned everything upside down).

The beginning and the end had me furiously flipping pages and even though I thought the middle dragged a bit, overall, it was an interesting look at justice, corruption, and the selfish motives that can consume anyone. I was not expecting how it ended and wow, did one of these characters do a number on another one (maybe even more than one). No spoilers but there was more than one tragedy here. My first read by this author and I would read more of her work.

This book had all the elements I love: corruption, scandal, legal thriller and an old (not so mysterious) diary. I flew through it trying to understand how the old diary fit into the current day storyline of Hannah working on the Innocence Project and was not disappointed. The twist was unexpected so that was fun plus the characters were developed really well, to the point that I was rooting for Hannah to do her thing and finish what she started. This was my first book by McTiernan but I will definitely be checking out her backlist! Thanks so much for the opportunity to read this one!

Thanks to NetGalley for a free ebook in exchange for an honest review!

I recently came across Dervla McTeirnan’s Cormac Reilly series and loved all those books. I was thrilled to get my hands on an ARC of her latest book.

Like McTiernan’s earlier books, “The Murder Rule” is a tense finely paced crime procedural. The story follows Hannah Rokeby as she joins the Innocence Project to help exonerate wrongly convicted prisoners. But Hannah has secrets and ulterior motives that’s she’s trying to hide from her idealistic colleagues.

As she gets deeper into an investigation for a case. she encounters entrenched corruption that may have sent an innocent man to prison. But the source of the lies and corruption is not what Hannah expects to find.

This is a page-turner that examines the reasons people make choices, for good or bad. And when other people’s choices come back to haunt Hannah, she has to decide who she can forgive and who she can save.

Thank you William Morris and NetGalley for this advanced reader e-book. Hannah is a law student whose mother tells her she was abused and rapes by a man who is in prison for another crime. When they learn that he may be released based on his innocence of that crime, Hannah finds a way to get involved with the Innocence Project. Her plan is to sabotage their case showing he is innocent where she discovers some revelations about her mother’s past. The character development is very good but the book is predictable. It took me some time to get into it but once I did, it was a fast, easy, good read.

The plot was gripping and it has such an easy flow. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who would like to have an easy read.

Will review in the future, was offered as a free book with no review needed. However, as soon as I read this I will review. Thanks for offering free reads for Scene of the Crime.

You had me at “elaborate revenge plot”. THE MURDER RULE follows Hannah Rokeby and her attempt to keep Michael Dandridge on death row for his murder conviction. As an ambitious law student Hannah connives her way into the The Innocence Project at The University of Virginia to ensure Michael is never released.

I’m fascinated by the criminal legal system so I found the angle of The Innocence Project really engaging. I also enjoyed the revenge plot in the campus setting and the family dynamics that unfold as the story progresses. I would consider this story to be a slow burn suspense with the action really picking up in the last 15% of the story.

I flew through this book with a combination of print and audio. The audiobook was narrated by three separate people which truly brought the story to life and differentiated the characters well.

Dervla McTiernan is a best-selling Australian author for her Cormac Reilly crime series. The Murder Rule is her first standalone novel and I’m excited to be introduced to an author with an extensive backlist.

RATING: 4/5
PUBLICATION DATE: May 10, 2022

Many thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review. Review will be posted to www.instagram.com/kellyhook/readsbooks in advance of pub date

Hannah is a law student who will do anything to succeed. She has been raised by a single mother, Laura, who is extremely volatile alcoholic. When she finds that the man who she believes hurt her mother may go free, she can’t let that happen.

I couldn’t put this book down! It was told in dual viewpoints by both Hannah and her mother’s diary of the past events. The reader could really feel Laura’s pain and Hannah’s desire to seek justice for her. I loved how driven Hannah was and how she made unexpected friendships along the way. This was truly a unique thriller with a shocking ending.

Thank you to Netgalley, William Morrow books and Dervla McTiernan for the ARC.

“The Murder Rule” is out May 10th! This review will be shared to my Instagram blog books_by_the_bottle shortly ☺️

The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan is a twisty legal tale. Centered at the Innocence Project, a new student joins the group as an appeal for a convicted murderer comes to a head. Is she there to save him or is there another plan?

What a ride! While there were moments where I felt the story dragged a bit, I did not see the twist coming. Once I got to the end, I understood the necessity of the earlier over-details.

This book was engaging right from the start. I loved the dual timelines and enjoyed the journal entries that were used to accomplish this. I also loved the inside look into the legal system - a completely new word for me. I loved reading this book and will definitely recommend it to others!

This book gripped me from the beginning. I loved the dual timelines and thought that journal entries were a great way to accomplish this. The book was engaging and suspenseful from beginning to end. I also loved the look into the legal process - a completely new world to me. I will definitely recommend this book!

I am a huge fan of McTiernan's Cormac series. So when I saw she had a stand alone novel coming out, I was pumped to be approved for the galley.

What I enjoyed: The quiet, but big twist at the end. The story line itself. The topic of the Innocence Project. This is definitely more of a criminal justice mystery-- not a lot of court room time at all, but plenty of work done behind a case.

What I didn't: the ending was a bit too neat.

Thank you to the publisher for a free netgalley.

This was one of the best books I’ve read this year! I cannot wait to purchase a physical copy! I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.

If you're into a fast-paced whodunnit with emotional courtroom scenes, this book is for you! The plot twist at the end was a real shocker, making it an especially entertaining read. Reading the Murder Rule was a great use of my time!

Hannah Rokeby is a third year law student at the University of Maine. She lives with her single mother Laura, an alcoholic who suffered a traumatic event before Hannah was born and now drinks to numb the pain. When Hannah was fourteen, she found her mother’s diaries and read about the man who was her father and the man who abused her mother. That man, Michael Dandridge has served eleven years in prison on death row for the rape and murder of a young mother in Virginia. However, she recently discovered that the Innocence Project in Virginia is working to overturn his conviction.

Through various ways and means Hannah manages to inveigle herself onto the team of law student volunteers at the University of Virginia who work on the Innocence Project under the leadership of Prof Robert Parekh. Only applications that fit three criteria are considered by the group.Firstly, the inmate must have been convicted of a crime in Virginia, secondly the conviction must be final with no ongoing appeals and thirdly the inmate must be claiming factual innocence of the crime. The students are required to assess the applications, including any new evidence and make a recommendation on the likelihood of being able to prove innocence. The budget is limited so the students are expected to investigate facts and follow up new evidence themselves.

However, Hannah has clearly not joined the team for altruistic reasons and is only really interested in a single case, that of Michael Dandridge. She discovers that Michael is claiming that a false ‘confession’ was beaten out of him by the arresting Sherriff and that evidence pointing to an alternative suspect was withheld from the trial. If she is to find a way to prevent the overturn of his conviction, she must somehow first become part of the select group focusing on his case and find some way to undermine the investigation.

This is an engaging and gripping tale of betrayal and corruption. Dervla McTiernan’s experience as a lawyer shows in the intriguing legal details and investigative leads that the students follow. Entries from Laura’s diary are interspersed with the narrative so that we learn what lead to Hannah’s desire that Michael should never be released. Hannah may not be a likeable character with her ability to lie and manipulate everyone, but she is certainly resourceful and courageous and it would be difficult to not to be on her side by the end of the novel.

The novel’s pace is steady at first, picking up speed as the new trial draws closer and it becomes evident that other parties also have vested interests in the outcome of the trial, finally exploding into a tension packed thriller laced with danger for Hannah and others involved in the trial. While the final courtroom scenes might be stretching plausibility, they certainly made for a compelling and very satisfying ending.

THE MURER RULE by Derva McTiernan

Hannah Rokeby has fraudulently procured a place on the elite Innocence Project at UVA law school. It’s mission is to free prisoners who have been wrongly convicted. Led by distinguished attorney Robert Pareskh,the team must search for the evidence needed for a judicial appeal for Michael Donelson. Hannah, the newest member of the team, is covertly working against them to ensure he stays in prison.
Throughout the story, we realize how life events have shaped the characters’ actions. I enjoyed the twists and turns in this satisfying legal procedural.