The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan

Title: The Ruin (Cormac Reilly #1)

Author: Dervla McTiernan

Publisher: Penguin Books 2018

Genre: Crime Thriller

Pages: 380

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Cloak and Dagger

When Aisling Conroy’s boyfriend Jack is found in the freezing black waters of the river Corrib, the police tell her it was suicide. A surgical resident, she throws herself into study and work, trying to forget—until Jack’s sister Maude shows up. Maude suspects foul play, and she is determined to prove it.

Cormac Reilly is the detective assigned with the re-investigation of a seemingly accidental overdose twenty years ago—the overdose of Jack and Maude’s drug and alcohol addled mother. Detective Reilly is under increasing pressure to charge Maude for murder when his colleague Danny uncovers a piece of evidence that will change everything…

This unsettling small-town noir draws us deep into the dark heart of Ireland, where corruption, desperation, and crime run rife. A gritty look at trust and betrayal where the written law isn’t the only one, The Ruin asks who will protect you when the authorities can’t—or won’t.

Our Girly Book Club selection for January is the second in this series (The Scholar). I couldn’t possibly read the second without reading the first, so I grabbed this from the library last week. It took me a few days to get through this one, but I ended really enjoying this murder mystery. The conclusion shocked me a bit and there were definitely some horrific bits. Obviously the series will follow Cormac Reilly’s cases, and I’m interested to see what happens next.

Cormac Reilly

• #1 The Ruin
• #2 The Scholar
• #3 The Good Turn

Next up on the TBR pile: