The Blurb (from Goodreads):
Police corruption, an investigation that ends in tragedy and the mystery of a little girl's silence - three unconnected things that will prove to be linked by one small town.
While Detective Cormac Reilly faces enemies at work and trouble in his personal life, Garda Peter Fisher is relocated out of Galway with the threat of prosecution hanging over his head. But even that is not as terrible as having to work for his overbearing father, the local copper for the pretty seaside town of Roundstone.
For some, like Anna and her young daughter Tilly, Roundstone is a refuge from trauma. But even this village on the edge of the sea isn't far enough to escape from the shadows of evil men.
My Thoughts:
I can’t recommend this series of contemporary crime novels highly enough! If you are looking for cleverly plotted, superbly paced and character-driven police procedurals, you must check out Dervla McTiernan. Her first two books, The Ruin and The Scholar, introduced her hero DI Cormac Reilly, who works for the Irish Garda in Galway, in twisty, surprising and very atmospheric mysteries. In The Good Turn, the third in the series, other characters step to the front but the multiple points-of-view are so adroitly handled that there is no lessening of tension.
The book starts with a mute child and a mother who flees the city to try and save her from whatever has terrified her into silence. Then we have, in fairly quick succession, another child being kidnapped, and the shooting of the main suspect by a young police constable, Peter Fisher. He finds himself in disgrace, and sent back to his home village, a small place where his estranged father is the town cop. He’s put to work to tie up a few loose threads in a violent double murder, only to begin to suspect that the murderer is still at large and very close to home.
From this point on, the story gains momentum until I was honestly unable to put the book down – I was so worried for the main characters and so afraid of what might happen. And the ending was so brilliantly well done. This type of high-level crime writing is just addictive, and so I am now of course desperate for the next book in the series – I just hope Dervla is writing fast!
You might also like to read my review of Where The Dead Go by Sarah Bailey:
https://kateforsyth.com.au/what-katie-read/book-review-where-the-dead-go-by-sarah-bailey
