The Scholar

By: Dervla McTiernan

Narrated by: Aoife McMahon

Brilliance can be deadly....

When Detective 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 groundbreaking 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....

©2019 Dervla McTiernan (P)2019 Hachette Audio UK

Critic reviews

"Dervla McTiernan is a future star of the genre." (Chris Brookmyre)

"An exciting new voice." (Sunday Times)

"Cormac Reilly is a brilliant new character." (Sam Blake)

A bit predictable

Compared to the first book in the series I found this one a bit too slow in parts. I've figured out what was going on so far ahead of the detectives that it felt too unrealistic.

I still liked the book and especially the narration.

wonderful story

I am obsessed with these books. The local color is excellent, the mysteries are compelling, the reader is just phenomenal with the accents. The bit where the detective was trying to fake a N Irish accent especially was a brilliant bit of voice work. Strongly recommend!

Brilliantly told story

I love the way the author tells a story - never a word, phrase or sentence out of place!
The mystery of the death of a brilliant young scientist is concluded with a kind of sad satisfaction for her siblings and a feeling of righteous disdain for the parents. The tie-in with the other murdered girl makes an uncaring grandfather the biggest villain, imo, and the cause of the whole tragedy. Completely un-put-down-able!
This author is a fantastic writer of her genre, and I’ll read/listen to anything she produces!

The reader was excellent

The plot was intriguing and gripping, without being too drawn out. The characters were interesting and believable.