The Scholar
The second novel in the bestselling Cormac Reilly crime thriller series, from the author OF WHAT HAPPENED TO NINA and perfect for fans of Jane Harper, Ann Cleeves and Hayley Scrivenor
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4.4 • 50 Ratings
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
'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
Being brilliant has never been this dangerous ...
When Dr Emma Sweeney stumbles across the victim of a hit and run outside Galway University late one evening, she calls her partner, Detective Cormac Reilly, bringing him first to the scene of a murder that would otherwise never have been assigned to him. A security card in the dead woman's pocket identifies her as Carline Darcy, a gifted student and heir apparent to Irish pharmaceutical giant Darcy Therapeutics. The multi-billion-dollar company, founded by her 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. The enquiry 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 as his running of the case comes under scrutiny from the department and his colleagues, he is forced to question his own objectivity. Could his loyalty to Emma have led him to overlook evidence? Has it made him a liability?
PRAISE FOR THE SCHOLAR
'Atmospheric and beautifully paced, with nuanced characters and a gripping plot - The Scholar has it all.' - Chris Hammer
'This is top-notch crime writing - fast, clever, surprising, and psychologically acute. I can only wish Dervla could write as fast as I can read!' - Kate Forsyth
'The Scholar is a gripping follow-up to McTiernan's debut crime novel The Ruin, featuring the enigmatic DS Cormac Reilly ... The Scholar is a tightly plotted, fast-paced read with enough twists to keep you guessing right to the end.' - Better Homes & Gardens
'Another thrilling tale that delivers on all the promise of McTiernan's debut - not to be missed.' - Readings Monthly
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Following up a debut as lauded as The Ruin is never easy, but Dervla McTiernan makes it look easy. Galway Detective Cormac Reilly’s new case involves a victim with links to a powerful pharmaceutical company and a key witness who knows more than she’s letting on. Reilly’s challenging, complex investigation grows more suspenseful as it unfolds, but it’s everything happening around it that makes this novel so strong—particularly the glimpses into the tumultuous personal lives of Reilly and his colleagues, and the heavy toll the job takes on their relationships. You don’t need to read The Ruin before diving into The Scholar; we can’t get enough of McTiernan’s storytelling and we’re sure you’ll feel the same.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In McTiernan's solid second police procedural featuring Galway's Det. Cormac Reilly (after 2018's The Ruin), Reilly's girlfriend, Emma Sweeney, a lab researcher for Darcy Therapeutics, calls him when she discovers the body of student Carline Darcy, a rising research star in the lab and the granddaughter of the company head, on the road near their workplace, the victim of a hit-and-run. In the subsequent inquiry into what develops into a murder case, departmental rivals of Emma, who suspect that she is somehow involved in Carline's death, try to push Reilly off the case. Meanwhile, the lab principals impede the investigation. Though the characters nearest to Carline are a bit too stereotyped, and the solution to the mystery is telegraphed too soon, the complexities of the relationships within the department, and the tensions between Reilly and Emma, are rich enough to carry the reader through this story and into the next one. McTiernan's cautionary tale about money, prestige, and the secretive world of pharmaceutical research will resonate with many.
