Book Review: THE SCHOLAR by Dervla McTiernan @DervlaMcTiernan

I have been in a bit of a blogging slump lately. Luckily, I have had the brilliantly atmospheric second novel of the Cormac Reilly crime thriller series THE SCHOLAR by Derva McTiernan to drag me out of my reading and blogging slump!

THE SCHOLAR by Dervla McTiernan

“Being brilliant has never been so dangerous”

Paperback: 377 pages

Published: February 18th 2019 by HarperCollins – AU

ISBN: 1460754220 (ISBN13: 9781460754221)

Series: Cormac Reilly #2

Source: HarperCollins Publishers Australia

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“When DS Cormac Reilly’s girlfriend Emma stumbles across the victim of a hit and run early one morning, he is first on the scene of a murder that would otherwise never have been assigned to him. The dead girl is carrying an ID, that of Carline Darcy, heir apparent to Darcy Therapeutics, Ireland’s most successful pharmaceutical company. Darcy Therapeutics has a finger in every pie, from sponsoring university research facilities to funding political parties to philanthropy – it has funded Emma’s own
ground-breaking research. The investigation into Carline’s death promises to be high profile and high pressure.

As Cormac investigates, evidence mounts that the death is linked to a Darcy laboratory and, increasingly, to Emma herself. Cormac is sure she couldn’t be involved, but how well does he really know her? After all, this isn’t the first time Emma’s been accused of murder…”

THE SCHOLAR picks up the life of Irish detective Cormac Reilly not long after the ending of the runaway best selling THE RÚIN. Since then, he has moved to Galway with his girlfriend Emma so that she can take up a prestigious job at the Irish pharmaceutical giant Darcey Therapeutics.

Cormac has taken a step backwards in his policing duties which suits him quite well. Despite the boredom and petty office politics he is dealing with, he is quite enjoying living a peaceful life with Emma…until she is accused of committing an unthinkable crime that he is working on. Cormac is forced to question his loyalty to the woman he loves and his own ethics when his work on the case comes under scrutiny.

The setting of Galway University as the scene of the crime was perfectly done and really added to the tense and atmospheric feel of the novel. I love the book cover design, which includes a dark and menacing image of Galway University.

THE SCHOLAR is a page-turning crime thriller that will have you wondering what the truth really is until the very end. We’ve come to know Cormac and Emma so well that it feels like such a huge betrayal when the evidence against Emma begins to mount up and it seems as though Cormac has used his position to protect her. This is a testament to Dervla McTiernan’s excellent character development skills.

I can’t wait to read more about Cormac Reilly. 5 stars!