*Many thanks to Ms McTiernan, Littlr, Brown Books and Netgalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
I have not read The Ruin yet, but the introductio to DS Reilly went rather smoothly with this second instalment of the series. A solid police procedural that takes place in Ireland, and that tackles a case of a brutal murder of a young woman whose identity is unknown and whose body is found by Cormac's partner, Emma.
The plot is engaging, and there is a plethora of characters that are dynamic and whose interactions are intetesting. I enjoyed the description of the Irish police force in action and of the police procedures.

Cormac, Carrie and Fisher. My new favourite police team. Great storyline; tragic yet engrossing. Really enjoying this new series by Dervla McTiernan. Looking forward to reading book three.

An excellent novel with a fascinating depiction of characters. I very much enjoyed this wonderful story and highly recommend it.

I really, really enjoyed The Ruin, Dervla McTiernan's first Galway-set police procedural so was excited to read her follow up novel, continuing a year after the events in The Ruin. Luckily it didn't disappoint. Cormac Reilly is still struggling with his move to Galway and is still stuck on cold cases whilst newly promoted Carrie O'Halloran barely sees her kids or husband, she is so overworked. A request for help sees Carrie handing over several cases to Reilly, and he is also given a very hot potato of a case, a hit and run involving the grand daughter of powerful billionaire John Darcy, a case his vulnerable girlfriend is embroiled in. Reilly's instinct to protect Emma, his girlfriend, wars with his own ambitions and instincts, as she is pulled deeper and deeper into the case.

McTiernan brings Galway to life, a small, rainy city with its influx of students and tourists, where gentrification and the echoes of the crash cause tensions amidst escalating costs. We get to know the other members of Reilly's department better, their ambitions and loyalties, strengths and weaknesses, as he slowly makes allies - and enemies who are more than happy to see him crash and burn as the case moves ever close to home. Like the Ruin we are given enough information to work out some of the answers, and yet the denouement is still a surprise thanks to careful plotting and great tension maintained throughout the book.

The Scholar maintains the high standard set by The Ruin. I'm already looking forward to the third in the series.