The Ruin (by Dervla McTiernan)
If you’re looking for an excellent mystery with suspense, betrayal, and corruption, I highly recommend The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan. It’s the first installment of the Cormac Reilly Mystery series.
Twenty years ago, Detective Cormac Reilly is new to the squad and called to a home for a domestic disturbance. He finds Hilaria Blake dead in her bed, leaving her two children alone. Present day, Aisling is a 25-year-old medical student with high ambitions to become a surgeon. Her live-in boyfriend, Jack, is found dead in a local river. Jack’s sister, Maude, returns to Ireland after being gone for many years, and is convinced that Jack was murdered.
Detective Reilly, new to the detective squad in Galway, is assigned a cold case from 20 years ago involving the suspicious death of Jack and Maude’s mother. Reilly is having difficulty fitting in with his peers and begins privately questioning the integrity of the squad. Detectives in the squad begin urging Reilly to arrest Maude in connection to the death of their mother. Reilly isn’t sure what’s going on, but he knows to trust his instinct.
I enjoyed how the story slowly unfolded. The back story of Reilly’s character and why he transferred from the detective squad in Dublin to Galway, gradually came into full picture. It’s nice to be left a trail of breadcrumbs by the author. This approach keeps the story interesting and the pages turning. Or the minutes ticking away if you’re listening to the audiobook. There are several threads of the story and learning how characters and events weaved together was awesome. The ending of the book leaves me eager to pick up the next installment, The Scholar.
I purchased the audiobook of The Ruin from Audible. I loved the beautiful narration by Aoife McMahon. I could listen to her all day!
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