Fans of Tana French, rejoice! There’s a new Irish detective mystery series to love. Dervla McTiernan’s debut novel, The Ruin, features detective Cormac Reilly, as he navigates a recent transfer to Galway and tries to solve a decades-old mysterious death. I really enjoyed the Ruin. It is not quite as literary as Tana French’s work, but the writing is quite good and the story was engaging.
I liked The Ruin so much that I immediately read McTiernan’s second novel, The Scholar, which also features Cormac Reilly and picks up almost right after The Ruin ends. The Scholar revolves around the death of a student on a university campus, and involves a lot of faculty intrigue. It was good, and I recommend it, but I didn’t like it quite as much as The Ruin.
Overall, I’m excited about this series and can’t wait for McTiernan’s next book. Highly recommended!