Dervla McTiernan

Join us as for an evening with Dervla McTiernan as she discusses The Scholar, the incredible follow-up to her much acclaimed debut The Rúin. The Rúin was our Book of the Month on its release, and became an instant bestseller, ending 2018 as one of the top five bestselling Australian crime novels, as well as hitting the bestseller charts in the UK and Ireland. Admired by critics and readers alike, the film rights were quickly snapped up by Hopscotch Features. The Scholar is already one of our favourites for 2019.

About the Book

The Scholar sees the return of the much-loved DS Cormac Reilly in a compulsive new crime thriller that brings his objectivity and integrity into question. Late one night outside her laboratory at Galway University, Cormac Reilly’s partner Dr Emma Sweeney stumbles across the victim of a hit-and-run.

A security card on the dead woman identifies her as Carline Darcy, a gifted student and heir apparent to Irish pharmaceutical giant Darcy Therapeutics. The multi-billion-dollar company, founded by Carline’s grandfather, 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.

Cormac is thrust into investigating the high-profile and high-pressure case, and soon evidence begins to mount that the death is linked to the Darcy laboratory and, increasingly, to Emma herself. Cormac is sure she couldn’t be involved, but as his running of the case comes under scrutiny he is forced to question his own objectivity. Could his loyalty to Emma have made him a liability?

Praise for The Rúin

"As moving as it is fast-paced" - Val McDermid

"Spectacularly good … Excellently written and at times, heart-catchingly sad" - Marian Keyes

"Dervla McTiernan has rocked the crime fiction world with good reason. Taut, tense and darkly addictive. A treat for lovers of fine crime writing.' - Candice Fox

"The Ruin is atmospheric, with intriguing characters and quality writing; making it an instant stand out. ... Reilly is the perfect gritty detective: well-rounded and lovable. Crime fiction doesn’t often make our Book of the Month but this was that good." - Dean, Head Book Buyer, Better Read Than Dead.

Praise for The Scholar

"The Scholar is even better than The Rúin, which I loved! Reilly investigates a pharmaceutical company where his partner Emma works and the line blurs between work and home, landing him in the hot seat and facing suspension, which to a workaholic is a complete nightmare. Red herrings abound, the who-actually-done-it is obscured, and you're hooked right the way through. Big thumbs up to this gritty police-procedural. I’m now a devoted fan." - Dean Allan, Head Book Buyer, Better Read Than Dead.

About the Author

Dervla McTiernan was born in County Cork, Ireland, to a family of seven. She studied corporate law at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and the Law Society of Ireland, and practised as a lawyer for twelve years. Following the global financial crisis, she moved with her family to Western Australia, where she now lives with her husband and two children. An avid fan of crime and detective novels from childhood, Dervla now writes full-time.