Dervla McTiernan delivers another brilliant story with her latest novel, The Murder Rule. Hannah Rokeby is a young idealistic law student desperate to join The Innocence Project, an organisation who represents people wrongly convicted of a crime. The start of the novel moves between Hannah’s voice and the recollections of her mother in a diary kept during the summer of 1994, where she is the victim of a crime, and it soon becomes clear that the past and present are intertwined and Hannah’s motivations are not what they seem.

As McTiernan continues to weave the threads between past and present the tension builds as secrets and corruption are exposed and Hannah soon realises that she is in over her head and she might be on the wrong side of the battle, if a right side even exists.

To say more would be to spoil the thrill of the journey and by the end of the novel I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough, a sign of being in the deft hands of a master story-teller who delivers a deeply satisfying ending.

4.5 stars

3.5★

Dervla McTiernan has enjoyed enormous success with her Cormac Reilly series, and deservedly so. For her latest release, The Murder Rule (a standalone) she is trying something quite different. For me it was good, but didn't reach the heights of her Irish crime series.

Laura Rokeby is a fragile single mother with a strong, independent daughter in law student, Hannah. The two have a very close bond that members of larger or more traditional families might struggle to understand. Hannah has been looking after, and looking out for, her mother since she was 6 years old. Laura would be lost without her. So when Hannah literally sneaks off to Virginia without telling her mother her plans, you just know she has a compelling reason. She's gone to volunteer on the Innocence Project, a legal service within the University of Virginia Law School, that champions death row inmates who they believe to have been wrongly convicted. But she's not there to help - she's there to make sure the man who broke her mother stays in jail.

It was a good story with a couple of truly unexpected twists that make you question where you thought it was heading. If this had been McTiernan's debut, I would have been rather impressed. But it wasn't, and I think in a few weeks I'll have forgotten a lot of the detail of this story. Well, except for one thing. The diary entries. I won't forget Laura's diary entries because I thought they were the weakest part of the novel. After days of reflection I'm still undecided whether McTiernan's use of this device was clumsy or clever. These diary entries are threaded through the first 2/3 of the book, and each time I found them frustrating to read and a good excuse to put the book down for a while. Who writes a diary in the present tense? Or in such complete sentences, with that much background detail? By the time my brain circled back around to the idea that maybe it was actually clever, it was too late - I was already annoyed and disappointed. In the end, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and concede that she knew what she was doing.

That was anther winner from Dervla McTiernan. Law student Hannah Rokeby blags her way into a student associate position with the Innocence Project. Then she deviously manipulates things so that she is on the team working on the appeal for convicted murderer Michael Dandridge. The claim is that he had his confession beaten out of him and certain evidence that may have resulted in reasonable doubt was not presented to the court.

Hannah, however, is on a personal mission. For years she has looked after her fragile, alcoholic mother, Laura. As a teenager she found and secretly read her mother’s diary. In it, Laura describes one summer of her life. She was working as a cleaner at a hotel but some of the cleaners had side hustles and she was invited along to clean one of the big mansions that the wealthy use for summer holidays. Two young men were staying there - Tom and Michael. Michael didn’t seem to like her very much but Tom was friendly and they soon started seeing each other, Laura having ditched the cleaning.

She says the young men seemed to argue a lot. When the time came for them to leave, Tom decided to stay on another week with Laura and apparently Michael was furious. The next day Tom’s body is found near the jetty. It is deemed to be an accident - he was drunk, fell and hit his head and then drowned. Laura, however, is convinced that Michael killed him in a rage.

Years later Michael Dandridge is convicted of the murder of Sarah Fitzhugh. Angry on her mother’s behalf, Hannah sets out to scupper any chance of having him released.

The Innocence Project team go over all the evidence and speak to many witnesses in order to find something to exonerate Dandridge (of course Hannah is looking for the opposite). But what they find, what they slowly piece together is a surprise to everybody!

This one has a real kick in the tail! It was a wonderful plot with believable and likeable characters, mostly. By the end of the story though nothing was as it seemed and everybody was questioning their assumptions. There was a brilliant twist at the end and it’s likely not what you were expecting. I enjoyed this story from the talented Ms McTiernan immensely. Many thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

Author of the Cormac Reilly series, Dervla McTiernan has released a new standalone thriller - The Murder Rule. Promoted as a mother-daughter suspense story, it’s a legal thriller set in the actual existing University of Virginia Law School. Hannah is a law student who volunteers for the Innocence Project Clinic after transferring from Maine to be near her mother undergoing a clinical trial for cancer sufferers. Working on overturning wrongful convictions, the Project Team is working to stop the Dandridge case at its Preliminary Hearing. As the team explores all avenues, there is a glitch in the filings and other complications requiring additional follow up. Hannah’s involvement is no coincidence and the role her mother plays is revealed through her diary entries that Hannah reads. The tension mounts and the ulterior motives of those involved are brought into question, culminating in the finale with a decisive court hearing. The flowing narrative, subtle edgy drama and nuance law question of guilt or innocence, makes this a first-class legal thriller with a five-star rating. With thanks to Harper Collins Publishers Australia and the author, for an uncorrected advanced copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given without obligation.

Admittedly I am a dedicated McTiernan fan. She just does it so well, seemingly effortlessly, although I suspect the opposite is true. Sure, I missed Cormack Reilly, and the geographical setting was puzzling, given that Dervla
is Irish and lives in Australia, but what the hell it fits the plot and the title.

It's been said that factually, within the legal framework, the plot is shaky. But then why 'Ruin' a good story with facts. It's about entertainment for me and a little poetic license never got in the way of a good trip to fantasy land.

I would like to see Cormack back sometime soon though. When you're on a good thing........

The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan revolves around a young law student who starts working for the innocence project. She is there for nefarious reasons, however as the story goes along more and more is revealed and she starts to question everything she thought she knew.

I really liked this book, I didn't trust anyone in the story and I was never sure if someone was 'good' or 'bad'. The characters were well developed and I loved how the book made me question everything without giving it all up in a predictable manner.

The Murder Rule was a quick, suspensful read. Hannah has the aim of getting herself on the death row case as part of the Innocence Project. She is there under a ruse and wants to do damage to the client. Whilst the team is fighting to get Michael released, Hannah has her own agenda. I really enjoyed getting to know Hannah and the other law students at the Innocence project, along with the characters from the town where the murder happened. There were plenty of twists and turns.

The story has journal entries from Laura, Hannah's Mum intertwined throughout - which give us additional infomation. But can they be trusted?
The chapters start all giving us times and dates, but this fell off for the last few chapters - I missed the additional information.

I read the story in 2 days and enjoyed the suspense.

Although I enjoyed this book I didn’t enjoy it as much as the previous Cormic Riley series but don’t get me wrong it’s still worth reading.
The story switches between the past and present, with Hannah reading a diary she found that her mother had written when she was younger.
Kept me guessing for quite a while.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book for an honest review.

‘No-one is innocent in this story’

A cracking read with plenty of twists and turns, lies and secrets and characters that continued to surprise me.
This is my second Dervla book and I enjoyed it as much as the first. You can never think you have a character sorted out; just when you do, they blindside you or reveal a snippet that has you reassessing everything you first thought. I love a book that's not predictable, I love characters that keep me guessing. This is definitely one of those.
I'm not sure on the legal side of things, particularly in the courtroom - I think perhaps there may have been some leeway there - but it was entertaining none the less.
I really enjoyed this rollercoaster of a read.

Right from the start of <b> The Murder Rule</b> by Dervla McTiernan I was drawn into the story and I was intrigued by my mistrust of the main character Hannah.   Here was a girl who was secretive, apparently up to no good and certainly ruthless.   We quickly learnt she was a law student, hellbent on getting onto the Innocence Project and more specifically onto the team that would defend one of the death row inmates.   Her motivations were becoming clearer thanks to her mother's old 1994 diary entries and nothing was going to stand in her way.     Did she want to defend and fight to free an innocent man?   No she did not.  She was determined to ensure he got what was coming to him.

This book made for quite addictive reading and it was one of those I struggled to put down.    The characters kept me interested and although I wasn't sure about Hannah and I kind of liked tge sound of Laura, her mother,  I kept wondering if one or both of them were unreliable narrators.    Despite what I knew of Hannah I suspected I'd come to like her and sure enough by the end I was kind of rooting for her, even if I didn't endorse her methods.

Without spoiling the plot, I had many theories about what was happening and why.   Some of my theories weren't too far from the mark but there were plenty of twists that kept me guessing.    I really enjoyed the legal aspects of the story which might be explained by the fact the author worked as a lawyer for twelve years before turning her hand to writing.   Some of the storyline didn't really seem plausible, but it was entertaining fiction and I was happy to go along for the ride.    This was my first full length novel by Dervla McTiernan and I wouldn't hesitate to read her again.  

My thanks to the author, to HarperCollins publishers and to NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review which it was my pleasure to provide.

I love a good crime story, and this did not disappoint. Fuelled by her mother’s diary, Hannah bribes her way into The Innocence Project to ensure the man who caused her mother harm remains in prison.

Along the way, she convinces her team to open their eyes and see the whole picture, and in turn winds up making some discoveries of her own.

There are twists and turns, deceit and betrayal.
I was emotionally invested in the characters. And during the trial, I was on the edge of my seat.

Well executed story. Really enjoyed it.

This is a legal thriller set in the USA and is totally different to the author’s Cormac Reilly series set in Ireland.

Hannah is a law student who schemes and lies to get herself into The Innocence Project at the University of Virginia. This project tries to prove innocence of wrongly-convicted prisoners but we’re not clear why Hannah wants to be involved until we start reading excerpts from her mother’s 1994 diary. It then becomes apparent that she is only interested in a single case but, even though she is obviously focussed on revenge, it’s not clear what her purpose is until there are some plot twists later in the story.

I didn’t find her a likeable character. Hannah is so full of righteousness about her self-appointed mission that she has no empathy for any of the other characters. She crashes through other people’s lives with abandon and doesn’t seem be aware of the negative impact she has. It’s all about Hannah.

This book is full of lies. Lies from Hannah, from her mother and from other characters involved in the events of the past. With so many of these, it’s challenging to know which are facts and this held my attention. Add in plot turns and this makes for a suspenseful read.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for sending me the ARC of The Murder Rule for review.

‘The night before she left for law school, Hannah Rokeby did not sleep.’

Hannah Rokeby lives with her mother Laura, a single parent traumatised by events in the past and who takes refuge in alcohol. Hannah believes that she has a better understanding of her mother when she discovers and reads a diary written when Laura was a teenager. Laura believes that her boyfriend Tom, Hannah’s father, was murdered by his friend Mike. And when Hannah learns that Michael Dandridge, who has spent eleven years in prison after being convicted of rape and murder, may have his conviction reviewed and possibly overturned, she plans to prevent his release.

The story shifts between Hannah’s actions in the present and Laura’s diary entries. Hannah inveigles her way into membership of the ‘Innocence Project’, a group at the University of Virginia, who are looking into Michael Dandridge’s case. She does so by making up a story about her achievements and her mother’s medical history, and then arranges to have one of the other team members removed.

But then Hannah makes a discovery, which has her questioning what she thought she knew.

Well, aspects of this story really took me by surprise. Ms McTiernan’s characters display both the best and best attributes of humankind, and while I found aspects of the story difficult to believe, I could not stop reading. No spoilers here but be prepared for a twisty ride through a story of betrayal, intrigue, and revenge.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishers Australia for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

When The Murder Rule popped up on Net Galley, I didn't hesitate to ask for an advanced reader copy. Here is my honest review. I loved it! The three books of the Cormac Reilly series were fantastic reads. This story leaves Cormac and Ireland behind and is set in the USA. It all starts with a young law student focused on revenging her mother by preventing a murderer from being found innocent and set free. And so the story begins. With each page, the tension increases. You, as the reader, know all is not as it seems but unable to unravel just what happened all those years ago that set Hannah off investigating this event from her mother's past. I want to avoid writing more because I will spoil the story and suspense of this marvelous riveting roller coaster ride of a novel. Be assured that the author has transitioned from one character and country to a new protagonist and country seamlessly and exceptionally. Read this story; you will be surprised, thrilled, and delighted right to the final page.

I have read previous books by Dervla McTiernan which were set in Ireland.
This setting was unexpected, as it is set in America which has a very different legal system.
I struggled to feel empathy for the main character as she cheats, lies and manipulates the people around her. As I moved further into the book I was impressed by the authors cleverly constructed house of cards.
The story is twisty and by the end my attitude to Hannah and her mother had changed radically.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for an arc of this book.
I found myself galloping towards the end which is very satisfying, and I would recommend it for those who enjoy suspenseful reads.

A departure from the Cormac series, The Murder Rule is equally suspenseful and captivating. It messed with my sleep over several nights, I couldn't put it down. Definitely worth adding it to reading lists for the 10th May 2022 publication. Thanks NG and Harper for the advanced copy.

It has taken me ages to read this book, not sure why but I got a little bit stuck about 25% through, set it aside and gave myself a little break - or in other words got distracted by other books - but when I came back to it I rattled it off in a couple of days. It is a really different book to other books I've read from Dervla McTiernan, I've really enjoyed her Cormac Riley detective books. This is a departure from that and took me a minute to get used to.

Our main character is Hannah, she is part of a team of law students who work to appeal the cases of innocent people who have been imprisoned. They investigate the cases, work to find more evidence and represent them in court. The case of a man convicted of the murder of a young woman, the mother of two little children in a small town is the case Hannah becomes involved in. From the start we know that Hannah has an ulterior motive. We begin to read her mothers journal, a journal she kept as a young woman. Hannah is out to prove the guilt of this prisoner rather than his innocence and there is our story.

There is a great tension build up as the book moves along, and I got very drawn into the mystery of Hannah, her mother and the backstory. It is an interesting story. A thoroughly enjoyable read. I can just see this being turned into a TV series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me access to this book.

New characters, new settings, same Dervla McTiernan Mystery Crime Thriller. With a whole new cast of characters, Dervla weaves a web of mystery that draws you in until the end. Hannah is looking for vengeance, but not everything is as it appears.Actually, very little is as it appears. Hannah is trying to right a wrong, but without the full story, will she manage it?
An intriguing story, with plenty of threads to follow along. Masterful storytelling!

This is my second book by McTiernan and she does not disappoint. She always manages to write an intelligent legal thriller with an unpredictable moment that catches one by surprise. The beginning of The Murder Rule is absorbing and I nearly felt that I was in law school, trying desperately to keep up. The twist was compelling and the ending satisfying. Another winner from Dervla McTiernan!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins AU for the opportunity to read this book.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Publishers HarperCollins for this ARC and to comment and review.

Dervla McTiernan has once again proved that her writing brings all the elements together to create a masterful read of mystery, intrigue, murder, love, betrayal and forgiveness.

Hannah, the main character, has grown up in a single parent family with mother Laura. After discovering and reading a diary her mother had written when she was a teenager, the contents of the diary for which now plays into all of Hannah's decisions when she learns of the news that the murderer of her father Michael Dandridge is to be retried and a group from the university the "Innocence Project" is working with the defence preparing new evidence to be heard to ensure his release. Hannah manipulates herself into getting an interview with leader, lawyer Robert Parekh and is offered a position with the team.

Hannah sets about getting herself on the priority team that works directly with Parekh to circumvent any new evidence. She makes up an astounding story about her achievements, her mother's illness and a fabricated reason for her to be on the team. Hannah goes to great lengths to eliminate one of the existing team members and to wedge and destroy as much as she can in order to frustrate the team's efforts all the while acting convincingly in the team's best interests.

Laura's diary forms part of the story with the contents revealing a nineteen year old who finds herself acquainted through one of her cleaning jobs with two young men Tom and friend Mike, staying at a holiday house. Young Laura narrates her story throughout the book, a girl who becomes romantically involved with Tom from a wealthy family who has plans for college while she works as a cleaner in a hotel as well as her having to moonlight for cash work in order to save for, if possible, a college education. Laura is envious of the opportunities presented to Tom through his parents' wealth while people in her circumstances never have the same opportunities. Her involvement with Tom becomes serious but an event happens that finds her in a terrible situation and being treated with suspicion by the local police.

Hannah; at the prison interview with Michael Dandridge and fellow teammate Sean, discovers a soul shattering truth. She is nauseated with the reality of what dawns on her and what has happened with the prisoner. Slowly all the cards of her existence with Laura and her lies and manipulation are laid bare for her to see.