Absolutely loved The Ruin! Brilliant characters, fantastic story, kept me gripped until the end! Definitely hope there are more books to come in the Cormac Reilly series - my new favourite detective! 5 out of 5 stars *****

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher & Dervla McTiernan for the ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is brilliant. It is wonderfully written and put together and it held my attention from the first page. The characters are great and the plot is really good. I did not notice time passing. I was totally immersed in the story. I could imagine the scenery and the characters. I will definitely be recommending this book to my friends and I hope that Dervla writes more books.

A little bit slow but otherwise a great read hope the author continues to write about this detective as I quite like him

I finished The Ruin in two days, perfect to read while relaxing in the sun... it is a real page turner and a fab debut from Dervla McTiernan, the first in the Di Reilly series. Set in Galway Ireland, this book is a perfect summer read.
Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read

The Ruin (or Rúin as it is marketed in Australia) is a police procedural introducing Inspector Cormac Reilly of the Garda Siochana. The novel opens well, with Reilly in his first week in the guards, sent to investigate a call from a desolate farmhouse in the wilds of County Mayo. He finds a dead junkie and her two young children. It is creepy and mysterious. Then, 20 years later, Reilly finds himself newly posted in Galway, being given the cold cases to review. He is an unwelcome blow-in and is being deliberately frozen out of any real police work. But when the young boy Reilly had rescued that night in Mayo turns up dead, reported to have jumped off a bridge, Reilly is brought into the margins of the investigation.

What follows is good in parts. When Reilly is investigating and interviewing witnesses, the story is engaging. When the narrative turns to office politics, it gets confusing – which is probably intentional; and dull – which probably isn’t. And there is a growing sense of confusion about whether characters were supposed to be in Mayo, or Galway, or moved from one to the other. Trying to piece together the different strands of plot becomes more and more of an effort. By the end, I’m really not quite sure how it did all tie up.

This is redeemed to some extend by a few great characters (the elderly Christian busybody from Mayo is brilliant, and the shady defence lawyer also springs to mind). There is also good social commentary on the enormous value placed on the family by the Irish authorities in the late 20th Century. It was the triumph of optimism over common sense.

But the overall sense is of a novel that is too complicated, too long and unevenly paced.

The Ruin is a thriller set in Galway and the first book in the Cormac Reilly Detective series. I received a free copy from the publishers on Netgalley. The story begins 20 years in the past and we have Detective Reilly being called to a disturbance. He's only fresh out of Templemore. This starts the story and he takes two children from the house, both clearly abused. The book then jumps to the present and Cormac is now a detective. Jack, the little boy rescued from the house 20 years earlier is now grown and living with his girlfriend Aisling. Cormac has moved to Galway and when Jack's body is found and suicide ruled, the story really begins.

There were a lot of characters in this book and I found it difficult to keep up with who was how. We also get points of view from a number of characters including Cormac, Aisling, and Maude (Jacks sister who has just arrived back to Ireland after being away for 20 years). Maude doesn't believe Jack committed suicide and begins an investigation herself. Things twist and Maude is charged with her mother's mother back in 1993.

This story had plenty of tension and the who-done-it factor that kept me reading. I have to say I wasn't over fond of Aisling's character and found her very unemotional.

From about 40% this story really took off and I found myself devouring it and completing the rest of the book in a day. I was hooked and wanted to see what had really happened.

Cormac's character was believable and likeable as was Maude. I think there's a lot more to come especially from Mill Street Guarda station and can't wait to see what book 2 brings. Overall I'd say this is an excellent thriller with plenty of tension and twists that will keep readers asking questions right the way to the end.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the book in exchange for an honest review. This was the author’s , Dervla McTiernan’s, debut book.and it was a riveting read. I thoroughly enjoyed the story set in Ireland and the way it touched upon the Church’s history of abuse and the abuses in the police force and how all the story fitted together. It was an amazing accomplishment for a first book.
I would recommend this book to all readers and look froward to reading any more books published by the author in future.

Brilliant atmospheric novel in which the ever present rain gives the perfect backdrop to unfolding events. Impressive twists which keep you guessing almost to the end. Gripping from the beginning with a story that draws you in. Can't wait for more.

"The Ruin" is Dervla McTiernan's debut novel and the first in the DI Cormac Reilly series set in Galway, Ireland.

I started this book with no expectations or preconceptions as I hadn't heard of Dervla before. However straightaway the book had me hooked. It is gripping and engaging throughout, with likable character and a lot of interesting twists and turns. In fact I enjoyed the book so much, I found myself leaving my bookclub read down and reading this instead! (A lot of speed reading to do now before bookclub on Friday!)

The story opens in an old "ruin" in Galway, twenty years previous, with a dead body and two damaged children. Cormac Reilly is the rookie guard who is sent to handle this situation and it has continued to haunt him for the last twenty years.

A series of circumstances leads Reilly back to this case and he must discover how it has become intertwined with a current case his unit are working on. Reilly has moved from a high flying career in Dublin to what some may consider a step down career to start a new life in Galway with his partner Emma. He is viewed with suspicion by many of his new colleagues, who are reluctant to help him out.

Although it becomes clear who the culprit is before the reveal, this only adds to the overall sense of the book, as it is more a story about why it happened, than the mystery of who did it.

This is truly an excellent debut novel from Dervla McTiernan and I look forward to reading about DI Cormac Reilly's future escapades in her following novels!

I really loved this book! Excellent story with brilliant main characters. I would recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book. The Ruin is a slow burning Irish thriller that escalates into a great surprise climax. I liked the characters are lot, especially Cormac and look forward to reading the next book in the series. Loved it

I love a good Irish crime thriller and I am very happy to add this one to my list Great story!

Five stars for this book. It was brilliantly written. The storyline was fab, the characters were very believable. I couldn’t put this book down, I was hooked from the first page. Loved it. Highly recommended

Many thanks to Netgalley and Dervla McTiernan for the copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

Cormac Reilly is a young Garda in Galway and his first case involves a dead mother and 2 young children left alone with her. Twenty years later, after working in Dublin and returning to Galway as a detective, Cormac comes back into contact with the family. Jack, now a man and engaged, is taken from the river and a verdict of suicide is recorded. His fiance and sister do not believe it was a suicide. Cormac is ordered to reopen the case of their dead mother, but why? This case opens a lot of cans of worms.
I loved this book, the characters were very well written. Aside from the main story there was other cases and stories happening. I look forward to reading more from Dervla.
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review

What a great cold case story. Very interesting how it was solved and how the police worked it out. There was a separate story about a crooked policeman running parallel with the cold case which again was very well explained. Yes I enjoyed this very good book.

Cormac Reilly has recently moved from Dublin to Galway, not by choice though, rather that of partner Emma who is starting a new job there. He sees it as a step down but is willing to give it his best. Sadly, his new colleagues don't share his enthusiasm and he is really struggling to fit in. Given old cold cases rather than current ones and working pretty much solo as his team have been seconded elsewhere. To say he is frustrated would be an understatement but he gets on with it in the vain hope that things will eventually get better.
Then, one day, an old face comes back to haunt him. A young man is found drowned in the river. Deemed suicide on the evidence of an eye-witness, the case is closed. Cormac recognises the victim, Jack, as being associated with one of his very early cases, when he had just started with the guards. Jack was the young boy he rescued from a mother who had died from an overdose some 20 years since. Rescued along with his sister who subsequently disappeared from the hospital. Cormack remembers that he wanted to pursue the case back then but it was closed by his superiors.
But, with Jack's death and the subsequent reappearance of his sister, coupled with the fact that Aisling, Jack's girlfriend, not believing it was suicide, gives Cormac the chance to re-open the old cold case. But are things best left alone? Did Jack really kill himself or are the two cases linked? And if so, how? Is there more to this than meets the eye?
Oooo, this was a delightful, slow burner of a book. It wasn't all wham, bam from the start but it did get right under my skin from the off and gave up its secrets slowly along the way. It was definitely refreshing to read a slightly slower paced book for a change. I guess this was due mostly to the nature of the alleged crimes involved. One cold case and the other already ruled suicide. With no immediate panic to "solve" either, we get more of a plodding investigation. Chipping away at the truth, hinting at some foul play, piece by piece until the whole, rather shocking, truth is laid bare.
The slow build up also gave the truth far more impact that I think it would have had if the pace had been more frenetic. I definitely thought that as I started to cotton on to what really happened many years ago.
In Cormac, the author has created a really great character. Apart from some happening between him and partner Emma, he really is just a straight forward guy. Moral, principled, fine upstanding citizen. Determined to get to the truth no matter how many toes he has to tread on to get to it. He is put through the mill at work somewhat but although it does anger and frustrate him, he is still just determined to do his best for people. I guess that the thing that is hinted at throughout the book, the thing about Cormac and Emma, the thing that I hope is resolved in book two and not dragged on throughout the series, is significant enough for him to have made the sacrifice in his career rather than her in hers. Whatever it is!
I know that crime books aren't meant to be happy but there is an underlying feeling of doom and gloom throughout the majority of this book. Probably not helped by the setting which is almost a character in its own right, significance wise. Also not helped by some of the gritty subject matter. But it works, it really does and there is always that glimmer of hope trying to shine through.
All in all, a good debut and a solid series opener that has left me wanting more. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

This is the first in the DI Cormac Reilly series set in Galway, Ireland. Reilly is trying to find his feet at the police station, after having moved from Dublin to be with Emma, his partner, who starts a demanding new job. After a high flying career, the move which might be viewed as a step down for him proves to be significantly more difficult than he expected. He is viewed with suspicion by other officers, there are problematic politics and tensions which prove to complex and hard to decipher, and the only person willing to connect with Cormac is a colleague he trained with, but who is being shunned by others. Reilly is only being offered cold cases, such as the disappearance of 15 year old Maura Hughes in 1975. 20 years ago when he was a rookie officer, Reilly arrived at the scene of the death of Hilaria Blake, a terminally ill woman who had overdosed on heroin, with her neglected and badly abused children, 15 year old Maude and 5 year old Jack. Upon taking them to hospital, Maude disappears and Jack was taken into foster care. His efforts to investigate were blocked and he is now being offered the opportunity to look into it as a cold case for which there seems to be no logical reason to do so.

Jack Blake grew up happy in his foster home and is now living with medic, Aisling Conroy. Aisling's life descends into a harrowing mass of horror when she is informed by the police that Jack committed suicide by jumping into the river. Maude has recently returned from having spent her life in Australia, and is unconvinced that her brother committed suicide, and she draws in a confused and reluctant Aisling to look deeper into the circumstances of Jack's death. The police refuse point blank to countenance any other scenario other than suicide, despite being offered video evidence gathered by Maude that proves that Jack was nowhere near the bridge at the time he is supposed to have jumped. However, to Reilly's consternation, Maude is arrested for the murder of her mother 20 years ago for no reason that he can fathom. To add to the pressure on Reilly, there are unfounded rumours swirling around in the station that he had slept with Maude and allegations of misconduct in his time in Dublin. Reilly finds that Maude and Jack had been failed by everyone in their childhood as a curtain is lifted to reveal Ireland's dark history with the church. He encounters the poisonous and evil Domenica Keane, and learns of the presence of a paedophile. Will Reilly be able to battle the sinister hidden agendas and obstacles within the police station and find out what happened to Hilaria in the past and Jack in the present?

Dervla McTiernan gives us a promising beginning to this new series as Cormac begins to establish himself in Galway, only to encounter a real can of worms in his new workplace. Despite all that he comes up against, including betrayal, his focus and determination to get to the truth is undiminished. Although we do not get a real sense of Emma, his commitment to her and their relationship gives us a strong sense of his character, he does not drop into a state of blaming Emma for his woes or wanting to return to Dublin. He feels for Maude and all the responsibilities she was forced to shoulder as a child for Jack and her incapable, ill mother, and the lack of action that shames the Church and the Ireland of that time. I found the story a little slow at the start but was soon caught up in the grip of the compelling and tense narrative. Great to have a new voice in Irish Crime on the scene. Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book but I was drawn in very quickly and really liked the main character, Cormac Reilly.
He’s the new man in town and is finding it hard to connect with fellow Gardas but someone he’s worked with before is there so he sticks with him at first.
It soon becomes clear to Cormac that Danny has done something to upset his colleagues but he can’t get to the bottom of what this is.
Tasked with going through cold cases Cormac has time to try and work out what’s going on with Danny but then he’s asked to re-open a murder investigation from 20 years ago.
Cormac is familiar with this case as he worked on it when he first joined the Garda but soon matters are taken out of his control and he has to find out why.
This is a gritty crime thriller which will keep your interest throughout as there’s constant revelations as the story progresses
I really enjoyed this book and will read the next one in the series.
Thanks to Sphere and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Dervla McTiernan’s first novel is an accomplished police procedural set in the west of Ireland town of Galway. It is an atmospheric and moving piece of writing with an assured plot and a range of well-drawn characters, both the sympathetic and the odious.

As a young policeman Cormac Reilly was the first on the scene at a ramshackle mansion where he encounters two neglected and abused children and their mother, lying dead in her bed. Twenty years later events of that night come back to haunt Reilly, now a successful detective. An apparent suicide, a missing young woman, child abuse and police corruption all combine to draw in a wide range of suspects and participants.

There are many twists and turns in the story: Cormac finds it hard to know who to trust among his police colleagues and among the various other participants in the drama. If the novel has a fault, it is that the guilty party becomes obvious too early, although the motivation remains a mystery until the end.

This was a very entertaining read and I would recommend it to lovers of crime fiction.

A 20-year-old cold case. A suicide that might not be all it seems. A dogged garda trying to establish the links between past and present, and a whiff of corruption in the Garda Síochána as fresh as today's headlines. Dervla McTiernan deftly weaves all the strands together in this hugely impressive debut novel, set in Galway and Mayo. Her real strength is in writing credible characters with whom you empathise from the off. This is the first in a series that will feature detective Sergeant Cormac Reilly - refreshingly normal and morally upright, and not a divorced, alcoholic loner - and I eagerly anticipate the next one. Thanks to #NetGalley for the advance review copy.