The Scholar by Dervla McTiernan Narrator: Aoife McMahon
Series: Cormac Reilly #2
Published by Blackstone Audiobooks on May 14, 2019
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Length: 10 hours, 19 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
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 Ruin is the first in the Cormac Reilly series and I somehow got it as an Audible freebie. Cormac is a homicide detective in Ireland and has been for 20 years. He has had real success but has just transferred from to a new location because of his girlfriend, Emma’s job. He’s being shunted off to cold cases in the new unit.
I was thrilled to get The Scholar and continue his journey. Now Emma finds a body and Cormac takes the case to try to protect her. The politics get twisty and dangerous. We continue to learn more about Emma and Cormac’s backgrounds. College students really have a diverse set of moral values and abilities to tell the truth. And they get this somewhat from their manipulative elders. It’s an exciting, fast-paced tale with lots of good police work.
I highly recommend this series. I would read it in order as there is some progression in both the world and personal relationships, and characters. I like getting to know more of those in the unit and their various personalities and characters. Carrie Ryan becomes more familiar as she is another Detective Sargeant in the same unit.
I went immediately on to listen to The Sisters which is an Audible original, just released this month. It is a third the length of the regular books. The story is about 10 years ago at the beginning of Carrie Ryan’s career. So while it is in this series / world, Cormac is not in it. It was excellent.
Narration:
I don’t have the experience to know if the Irish lilt is authentic but it was certainly enjoyable. The main character is male but many of the story’s important characters were female. All the voices seemed right for both male and females. I was so happy to hear this narrator again. The performance was a pleasure at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip:
About Dervla McTiernan
Internationally bestselling and critically acclaimed writer, Dervla McTiernan is the author of The Ruin, The Scholar and The Good Turn. The Ruin was published in 2018 and is the first in the detective Cormac Reilly series. The Ruin was a top ten bestseller and an Amazon Best Book of July 2018. Dervla was a New Blood Panellist at Harrogate Festival. The Scholar was published in 2019 and was a top five bestseller. The Good Turn will be published in 2020. The Ruin has been optioned for TV by Hopscotch Features.
Dervla spent twelve years working as a lawyer. Following the global financial crisis, she moved from Ireland to Australia and turned her hand to writing. Dervla is a member of the Sisters in Crime and Crime Writers Association, and lives in Perth, Australia, with her husband and two children.
| Rating Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Plot |
|
| Writing |
|
| Characters |
|
| Narration (Audio) |
|
| Overall: | |
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
Friend or follow me at Goodreads.
- Sunday Post – 8 December 2024 @kimbacaffeinate @readingreality - December 8, 2024
- Read A Series in a Month Challenge November 2024 Results @AndrewMayne @OhSusannahJones #BrillianceAudio @Limabean74 #BerlsS #SeriesinaMonth #LoveAudiobooks #KindleUnlimited🎧 - December 7, 2024
- Love You A Latke by Amanda Elliot @AmandaPanitch @BerkleyPub @BerkleyRomance #HoHoHoRAT2024 - December 5, 2024
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2019 Audiobooks
- 2019 Library-Love
- 2019 Releases
I’m so happy to see you’re loving this series, Anne! I also picked up the prequel freebie and am hoping to start it soon. Excellent review?
Thank you! I just love this. I don’t know if it is because it is different with the setting in Ireland or my love affair with police procedurals but I am really enjoying it.
I have the Ruin on my audio wishlist. This really sounds good Anne and I want to listen to the series in order.
It is excellent. I have no idea why the first one was free. It wasn’t an Audible original or anything. I think it came in a Slickdeals email or something but I am so so glad I got it and actually listen to it, and the following ones.
Well Anne, I have 0.5 which was free and I own book one which was also free and I have no idea why but like you I grabbed it. Sometimes they do little gifts or remember that celebration they had. IDK, but I am excited to begin them. 🙂 I just needed you to remind me I owned them!
sounds like it might be a pharmaceutical conspiracy and i love conspiracies. enjoyed the review and i have been reading a few books lately that are located in ireland
Well it does involve a pharmaceutical company in Ireland; the story is excellent.
Oh it looks good!
It is REALLY good!
I was able to get the first book as a freebie and I also have the novella. I am very happy to see that you are enjoying this series, Anne. I can’t wait to give it a try!
I LOOOOOVE it! I hope you do.
This sounds really good. I like it when the characters grow from book to book and new ones enter the story. And I enjoy a good police procedural and mystery.
I really love it and can’t wait for the next one next spring.