This is an excellent follow up to the author's first book, The Ruin. Cormac is back as our brilliant but long suffering detective. Somehow he always seems to end up in the wrong despite doing everything right. I start to feel a bit sorry for him!

The Scholar begins with a hit and run death and the first person on the scene happens to be Emma, Cormac's partner. Cormac, who should know better, takes the case and it is all down hill for him from there. Luckily his team is becoming more supportive, as his boss is definitely not, and certain fellow workers are out to undermine him too. Emma causes many problems as well.

There is some great character development in this book which I hope indicates the author plans to continue with this series. The story is excellent, the identity of the murderer is hard to guess and the tension increases hugely in the last section which makes it very hard to put the book down at all. I enjoyed it enormously!

After responding to the call from his partner, Dr Emma Sweeney, DS Cormac Reilly arrived at the scene of the young woman’s body that Emma had stumbled across. The deserted grounds of the university where Emma had been heading to the laboratory seemed a strange place for the unknown young woman to have been. But it was when a security ID was found in her pocket that the case took a sinister turn. Perhaps it wasn’t the simple hit-and-run that it had first seemed…

As head of the investigation Cormac felt frustrated. He was up against big money and dark secrets – plus word from the top had him feeling uneasy. And with Emma’s involvement, he knew he really should hand the case over to another detective. But he continued to follow his gut, and that was telling him that the Darcy Laboratory was linked to it all. What would be the outcome with Cormac’s superiors giving him orders which went against what he believed?

The Scholar is the 2nd in the Cormac Reilly series by Aussie author Dervla McTiernan, and just as well written as The Ruin. Fast paced, filled with twists, emotion, devious minds and heartache, this gritty thriller is everything I love in this genre. Cormac is an excellent character and I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for my honest review.

The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan is the second book to feature DS Cormac Reilly and the Galway Police. It an be read as a stand alone but I recommend you read The Ruin first - which is also a fantastic book. The Scholar does not disappoint, the story starting off with a bang and not really letting go til the very end. The story is twisty and had me guessing. I love the character of Cormac and how he is developing as the series progresses. This time the case hits a lot closer to home and we see how he deals with that.

Emma Sweeney is leaving Galway University late one night when she comes across a victim of a hit and run. Instead of calling the guarda she calls her partner Cormac. He arrives at the scene and it soon becomes evident that they are looking at a murder enquiry. The security card found in the victims back pocket states her name is Carline Darcy - a gifted student and high profile member of society being the granddaughter of the Darcy Laboratories CEO. The case twists and turns so many ways that it is impossible to work out who the killer is. But when the clues start to point towards Emma, Cormac struggles to stay objective but is determined not to let this case get away.

A fantastic book and series. Thanks to Harper Collins Publishing Australia and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

‘I found a body. A girl. Someone’s killed her.’

Detective Sergeant Cormac Reilly and his partner Emma Sweeney live in Galway, where Emma has obtained a funded position at a prestigious medical research laboratory. The couple first met when Emma was charged with a murder. While Emma was exonerated, the experience has scarred them both. When Emma stumbles across the body of girl, the victim of a hit and run accident, she rings Cormac. He is first to the scene. The dead girl is carrying the ID of Carline Darcy, granddaughter of John Darcy, the owner of Darcy Therapeutics. Darcy Therapeutics, Ireland’s most successful pharmaceutical company has many interests. It is also the sponsor of Emma’s research.

It quickly becomes clear that this was a deliberate and vicious murder. It is going to be a high-profile case and, arguably, one which Cormac Reilly should not be overseeing given that Emma was first on the scene. But the Galway Gardaí are under pressure, and Cormac Reilly has finally been moved off cold cases at the Mill Street Station. He is keen to prove himself.

But who killed this girl and why? And then there’s a second murder. It seems clear that both murders are linked to the laboratory where Emma works. Could she be involved? Cormac doesn’t think so, but doubt starts to creep in as the investigation deepens.

I really enjoyed this novel. While some aspects were (to me) more credible than others, I was too caught up in trying to work out ‘who’ and ‘why’ to be distracted. If you enjoyed Ms McTiernan’s first novel, ‘The Ruin’ then you’ll want to read this. Cormac Reilly is the main character in both. There are some well developed secondary characters as well, including Detective Sergeant Carrie O’Halloran and Garda Peter Fisher.

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

‘The Scholar’ opens with a prologue set in 2006 where we are introduced to the Darcy family who own Darcy Therapeutics - a pharmaceutical company that will be central to the story.
Skip ahead to 2014 and chapter one. We meet DS Carrie O’Halloran and by the end of this chapter we have reunited with Cormac Reilly from ‘The Ruin’ ( McTiernan’s previous book) and have launched into his next murder case.
McTiernan presents believable characters who struggle with family life, duty and moral dilemmas and at the same time gives us a fast moving crime novel with the red herrings, plot twists and surprises that we love. I finished the book knowing and liking Cormac Reilly a bit more and looking forward to the next instalment of his life.

I really loved Dervla McTiernan’s first book, The Ruin, and was a very happy chappy when I received a copy of The Scholar, number two in the Cormac Reilly series. I am pleased to say that I liked it equally as much, and it was great to see all the characters back again and to get to know them a bit better.

In The Scholar, DI Cormac Reilly is finally taken off cold cases and given a caseload of current crimes to solve. However, when one of the cases involves someone close to him, it may test his loyalties. That is really all you need to know about the story– some books are best plunged into with held breath and eyes closed, letting the author take you on a journey.

As soon as the story started, McTiernan transported me seamlessly into Cormac’s world, and I was totally engrossed. He really is one of the best fictional detectives to come along in the last two years! I said it in my review of The Ruin, and I will say it again, the refreshing thing about Cormac is that he is so “normal”. He is neither an alcoholic, nor a tortured cynical soul that lives on take-aways and donuts, neither is he a sad divorcee nor involved in some bizarre workplace romances. Cormac just appears to be an average nice guy, and a damn good investigator to boot. However, all is not totally whole in Cormac’s world. There are some workplace issues that have seen him banished to work cold cases after his transfer to Galway, and even though he is finally granted permission to take on a caseload of fresh cases, his boss seems determined to see him fail. Cormac does not appear bitter or resentful about this, surprisingly, although he will be sorely tested when one of the crimes he is sent to investigate involves his girlfriend Emma. This brings me to his personal life, which may have appeared quite idyllic in The Ruin, but which also has some darker events preceding his move to Galway. I loved getting to know Cormac better as a character, and really look forward to watching him grow in depth and background as the series progresses – which I hope will be a loooong one!

McTiernan writes well, and drew me in with the ease of a skilled author, effortlessly evoking the sights, the sounds and atmosphere of the world her characters inhabit. I found both cases Cormac is trying to solve in The Scholar utterly intriguing, and as in The Ruin, some of the themes pulled on my heartstrings.

With The Scholar, the author has written another intelligent, multi-layered mystery that was pure joy to read and get lost in. Some things may not come as a surprise to a seasoned mystery-lover, but the side stories added a depth that is not often found in other police procedurals. I must also mention that I thoroughly enjoyed the development of the side characters, like Carrie O’Halloran and Peter Fisher, and will look forward to seeing them back in the next book. McTiernan’s Cormac Reilly series has quickly risen to reside amongst my favourites, and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!

Dervla McTiernan's debut novel The Ruin was quite enjoyable, so I jumped at the opportunity to read the follow-up, as I was eager to reacquaint myself to Detective Cormac Reilly.

Detective Reilly moved to Galway, where his girlfriend, Emma, a scientist, was offered a job in the laboratories of the prestigious Darcy Therapeutics.
When Emma stumbles across a dead girl on her way to work, she calls Cormac, who takes on the case as the lead investigator, despite Emma being a witness. This was the first time I raised my critical eyebrow in disbelief, but I let it pass.

Quite early on, without trying, I was able to see one of the main subplots. It took Cormac and his team halfway through the novel, if not longer, to get to that point. Besides the red herrings that this genre employs in order to distract us from the culprit, I found quite a few loose threads and incongruences. Also, without going into too many details for fear of spoilers, the motivations were unbelievable to me and there was too much made-up unnecessary drama and a bit too much filling, including the introduction of a character - Carrie O'Halloran - who basically gives the case to Reilly and then comes back to it in the end, but ends up getting Reilly to close it. I hope the introduction of O'Halloran was for the benefit of the third novel. While I'm at it, the prologue was too long, and worse, unnecessary.

I am aware that there's pressure to ride the wave of success, before people's attention moves onto something else, but in my opinion, this novel suffers from a lack of credibility, lose plot points and too many fillers.

I'm afraid The Scholar hasn't overcome the curse of the second novel. In saying all that, I'm looking forward to reading McTiernan's third novel.

I'm happy to report that Dervla McTiernan's sequel to The Ruin is just as good! Cormac Reilly is back and this time, after a year in Galway, he's finally been moved off cold cases and allowed to investigate some live cases to take some of the pressure off his colleagues. When Cormac's partner, Emily finds the body of a young woman killed in a hit and run outside the pharmaceutical R&D labs where she works, Cormac finds himself investigating the people who work there, including Carline Darcy, the grand-daughter of the owner of the powerful multinational Pharmaceutical company, Darcy Therapeutics. Carline is a research student at the University, who has grown up an outcast from the Darcys after her father died and is desperately trying to get some recognition from her grandfather by trying to impress him with her work in the labs.

Cormac is dangerously close to overstepping the line in this case, remaining as lead investigator while Emily is a witness in the case. He is starting to get to know and respect the team at Galway, but still has to tread warily around his Superintendent and the politics involved in upsetting a very powerful, wealthy man. To eventually find the truth, Cormac must unravel a web of secrets and lies, even at the risk of putting his own relationship with Emily in danger.

Ms McTiernan has woven a very credible tale of intrigue and corruption in the race by pharmaceutical companies to design new drugs to sell for huge profits. The plot is well developed and gripping and the main characters are all developing well into engaging personalities - besides hoping Cormac and Emily continue to stay together, I really want Carrie O'Halloran to sort out her problems at home and for Peter Fisher to keep doing well enough to become a sergeant and for Moira Hanley to be called out for telling tales behind Cormac's back. Guess I'll just have to wait for the next book in this excellent series!