I’ve read and loved all of McTiernan’s other titles so much that this book would have been an instant purchase for me even if I hadn’t snagged this one from NetGalley (thanks to them and HarperCollins). I suppose then I will admit this book was so different to her others that I felt a little shell shocked by its style and I didn't quite warm to it.

The first thing that threw me was the place setting. It’s not her usual Irish one. Nor is it her adopted country of Australia. Instead, the action takes place in the US. I guess, considering the plot, it has to be a US based story but… still… it was a little jarring.

Hannah joins a law college’s ‘Innocence Project’ which looks to overturn convictions of prisoners on death row or serving long sentences. Hannah’s reasons for joining the project are not so innocent. She manipulates her way into the graces of the professors in charge and, for reasons we come to understand from her mother’s diary entries, sets out to undermine the defence of the project’s latest case.

McTiernan’s writing flows in a way that it was an easy read but this plot was unfortunately predictable and she included some overused tropes (such as the small town crooked cop; ugh - I hate that trope!). I’m afraid I guessed the twist; it wasn’t that tricky to foresee.

To be honest, I felt like the entire thing was written for a different demographic than the one I fall into. It just makes me wonder if McTiernan was really trying to crack the US market for readers maybe 18-30. Considering she has a large fanbase already buying her Irish based mysteries, I’m still a bit thrown by the entire book.

Maybe… 3, 3½ at the most

Thank you to #NetGalley for my advance copy of #TheMurderRule by #DervlaMcTiernan

I found this book a bit hard to get into but once I found the rhythm I was hooked. A truly gripping courtroom drama that Hannah was drawn to for all the wrong reasons.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Ingenious, disturbing and guaranteed to keep you glued to its pages, Dervla McTiernan’s The Murder Rule is a hair-raising and heart-pounding thriller you will not want to miss.

Hannah Rokeby seems like the quintessential law student. Idealistic, hard-working and determined to right wrongs, it’s only natural that she is willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that she gets on her University’s Innocence Project, which aims to acquit people who have been wrongly accused of a crime they did not commit. The Innocence Project has only got one case at the moment; a case Hannah will move mountains to work on. But what connection is there between Hannah Rokeby and the accused? Will Hannah’s plan about this particular case manage to come to fruition? Or is she going to be thwarted at the eleventh hour?

Everybody thinks that Hannah is putting in all the hours to get Michael Dandridge off. But Hannah is a woman with a hidden agenda and with a closet full of skeletons that she will go to any lengths to keep hidden. Hannah has got a very special interest in this case and in Michael. However, Hannah does not want to get Michael acquitted – she wants to make him pay for what he’s done to her and her family and there is simply nothing she won’t do to get what she wants.

Intelligent, ingenious and full of twists and turns you simply will not see coming, in The Murder Rule, Dervla McTiernan takes the legal thriller to new heights that will leave readers with their jaws on the floor. Superbly plotted, hugely enjoyable and full of complex, complicated and layered characters you don’t know whether to love or hate, Dervla McTiernan’s The Murder Rule will knocks your socks off.

A thoroughly enjoyable read. Lots of twists, turns and plot developments keep you interested until the very end.
A recommended read.

I adored this book and the journey I went on with our main protagonist Hannah. This is a legal thriller where you get Hannah's perspective of what is going on currently. Other chapters are taken over by diary entries of her mother back in the early 90's and it is those entries that help shed light on what Hannah is really trying to achieve with her sudden road trip.

I enjoyed reading from Hannah's perspective, and I just generally liked her character a lot. She faces moral dilemmas in this book, and it makes her a well rounded character with strong growth.
This novel goes through phases of being slower paced at times, which I didn't mind as I found the vast majority of this story character driven anyway. Towards the end the action does get tense though, and I found myself biting my nails and trying to guess how everything would come together.

If you enjoy twisty thrillers with unreliable narrators and a mixture of character driven and action, then this could be just the thriller for you.

A law student gets a job investigating cold cases where there may be a chance of their sentence being overturned
But she has an ulterior motive
Interesting characters and intriguing storyline

I haven’t read any of Dervla McTiernan’s previous books, but I love thrillers and court room dramas, so I was intrigued by the synopsis for The Murder Rule, which seems to tick all my boxes as far as genre goes. And it proved to be an intriguing page-turner with a clever premise.

Hannah Rokeby, a law student, manages to get herself on to the Innocence Project, run by Professor Robert Parekh at the University of Virginia. The project allows students to investigate crimes in the state of Virginia where the convicted continues to claim innocence - but Hannah joins simply to investigate one particular case, that of convicted murderer Michael Dandridge. Whilst the law school is looking to free him, she has the opposite goal, seeking revenge for things she has learnt about Dandridge through reading her mother’s diary.

The story switches between Hannah, working with the project, and her mother’s diary entries. The book starts relatively slowly, but the tension builds throughout the book as the twists start coming and Hannah is forced to rethink her perceptions of reality, at which point I was all in. Hannah is an intriguing protagonist, complex and interesting if not always likeable and the momentum builds, leading to its dramatic ending.

I had the honour of attending an online meet and greet with Dervla McTiernan in April. This event left me extremely excited about both this book and the author, who has a truly inspiring story of her own.
Unfortunately, I had other commitments and was forced to wait before I could reach for this book, simply adding to my anticipation. I was worried that all the hype would leave me expecting too much. But oh boy, this book turned out to be everything it promised to be. I genuinely loved this book, it will most likely be my book of the month. (I doubt I will find another book to wow me in the same way before the end of May).
The Murder Rule looks at a relationship between a mother and her daughter, with one trying to put the past behind her and the other hunting for the truth. This book is both creative and hugely interesting. The author adds her experience as a lawyer to this gripping psychological tale and mixes legal facts with emotion to bring her characters to life.
Dervla McTiernan tells this story from Hannah’s point of view, while she includes extracts from Laura’s diary. This allows you to get to know Laura, while understanding who Hannah is. What Hannah is facing and what motivates her actions. I was concerned that this book might prove to be a little too “legal” based on the author's background, but she managed to keep it simple and not overdo the legal jargon. This book includes interesting legal facts that had me visiting googling to learn more.
Hannah Rokeby is a third-year law student who transfers to the University of Virginia and volunteers at The Innocence Project. She is determined to get assigned to the Michael Dandridge case and will do whatever it takes to join the team.
They are convinced that Hannah is a hardworking, motivated student who is eager to make a difference. She says and does everything they expect from her. But what they do not know is that Hannah has her own agenda, she is determined to make sure that Michael is never released from prison, no matter what it takes.
As the mother of a third-year law student, I found it easy to relate to the character and found that I saw Hannah as my daughter at times. I was expecting a very different conclusion to this book and found the twists the author added simply brilliant. I loved that the legal facts included were not overpowering, yet interesting enough to send me to google to read more about The Innocence Project and The Murder Rule.
Some of Hannah’s behaviour is extremely questionable, which left me curious and kept me flicking pages. However, no matter what this young woman does, her actions feel justified, you are left supporting her bad actions even if you might not fully agree with them. Dervla McTiernan managed to wrap both the good and the bad into one character while leaving the reader loving her no matter what she did. Hannah’s relationship with her mother is not a healthy one and the more you read, the more likely you are to understand this woman and what drives her.
This book is a five-star read that has stolen my heart and will remain a favourite for a long time. I read a digital copy, but I cannot wait for this book to be available locally so that I can add a hard copy to my shelf. Yep, you guessed it – I love this book!
If you enjoy Ruth Ware and Tana French then you will not want to miss out on this interesting, gripping page-turner. I cannot recommend this book highly enough – please get a copy and read it!

I've heard a lot about Dervla McTiernan and her books but never actually read one myself. As The Murder Rule is not part of a series, this tour seemed the perfect opportunity to do so and I was not disappointed. The premise of The Murder Rule is fascinating and I followed the minutiae of the case on which Hannah and her team were working in awe. McTiernan explains the law in detail but it never became overbearing and I was completely engaged all the way through, wondering how the cases would conclude.

The story is told mostly from the perspective of Hannah and through a diary written by her mum, Laura, in 1994. I found this really interesting as it gave us much more insight into Hannah's back story. However, it does make it more difficult to know who to trust and this adds an extra dimension to the novel.

McTiernan has created some memorable and complex characters in The Murder Rule. There are some who are not likeable at all and I was desperate for them to get their comeuppance. However, the vast majority of them were flawed but ultimately had redeeming characteristics which made me root for them. I love the way that the author struck this balance which helped me to invest in their fate.

Towards the end of the novel, there is a marked increase in tension and I really enjoyed this. I was on edge wanting to find out what would happen next.

Dervla McTiernan’s The Murder Rule is a quick and easy read. It’s full of the things I love in a crime novel – a strong character with motives you long to find out about; a legal setting and moral dilemmas to be overcome.

Though the premise is interesting- a young woman out to revenge a grievous wrong, no matter the cost to herself or others, sets out to thwart the efforts of a group of people working to prove the innocence of a convicted felon – the execution requires a bit of suspension of disbelief.

Hannah Rokeby is a young law student and this story is told partly from her perspective and partly through a series of diary entries written by her mother, Laura in which we learn just why Laura is now an alcoholic, reliant on her daughter to keep her safe and looked after.

Hannah has read these diaries; she stumbled on them at an early age and ever since her shock and rage have been building to a point where she wants revenge. And nothing will stop her from getting what she wants.

What she needs is to insinuate herself into The Innocence Project’s Virginia group. Virginia is where Michael Dandridge, the man she knows is responsible for her mother’s broken condition is incarcerated – 11 years into a sentence for rape and murder. The University of Virginia’s Innocence Project, headed by Professor Rob Parekh, is handling his appeal for release. The Project takes on cases where the claimant protests their innocence and is under a whole life or a death sentence. They take on cases where they believe there may be grounds for a wrongful conviction. That’s not Hannah’s aim, though. She wants something quite different.

With ruthless efficiency and utilising underhand methods, Hannah sets about removing all the obstacles in her path to becoming not just a member of the Project, but also a key team member on Dandridge’s case.

McTiernan takes us through Hannah’s duplicity in getting on to the team and then in having to juggle her own intentions to thwart this appeal with making sure she is still seen as a valuable team member, working to achieve what they feel is justice.

The case then takes quite a different turn and becomes much more of a full on thriller as danger seeps into the team’s investigations at around the same time as Hannah realises that deceiving people who have put their trust in her and who are, to all intents and purposes becoming her friends, is not as easy as she thought it would be.

Verdict: All these conflicting emotions come to a devastating climax and there’s a thrilling courtroom finale when all is revealed. I did have to suspend my disbelief somewhat, but overall I enjoyed this easy and straightforward read which comes with some very notable surprises.

I have really enjoyed McTiernan's previous novels set in Ireland and was keen to see a new title from her with a different setting.

I enjoyed this one too, although perhaps not as much as her other novels so do check those out if you have read and enjoyed this one.

Now, as a thriller I'm not sure it worked as well as it could have for me because the twists were a bit too obvious. But, I read it as a fascinating character study and I found it satisfyingly on that front.

The ending hints at the possibility of more stories with these characters, and if that were the case I would read more.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

We know from quite early on in The Murder Rule that Hannah has a very personal reason for inveigling her way on to the Innocence Project team. Far from wanting to prove the innocence of one of the individuals the Innocence Project is representing, she’s convinced of the person’s guilt and is determined to ensure they remain in prison. As we discover, she’s willing to do anything to achieve her objective even if that means deceiving others or sabotaging the Project’s activities. Her determination to achieve what she’s set out to do borders on obsession, even if seemingly born out of love.

Hannah’s not a particularly likeable character to begin with but I had to admire her tenacity, her ingenuity and her chutzpah. She’s not going to let anyone stand in her way and if that means some shady tactics, that’s fine with her. After all, the end justifies the means doesn’t it? The more we get to know her, though, the more we sense there’s someone quite vulnerable behind that tough outer shell. And what if everything you thought you knew, everything you had been told, was wrong and the truth was quite different? Can a desire for revenge be transformed into a desire for justice, and just what will that entail? After all, if the truth has been buried for over a decade, there are sure to be those with an interest in ensuring it never sees the light of day.

At times you’ll probably find yourself cheering on Hannah and at other times find yourself thinking, I really wouldn’t do that if I was you, or, look out here comes trouble. If you like the idea of a courtroom scene that could have come straight out of a TV drama, and you’re willing to suspend disbelief just a little, then you will love the scenes towards the end of the book.

The Murder Rule is a twisty legal thriller with some moments of high drama that gathers momentum, reaching warp speed in the final chapters. Will justice prevail?

The Murder Rule is a standalone suspense-thriller, from Irish-Australian author Dervla McTiernan, probably best known up to this point for her series featuring Garda Síochána detective Cormac Reilly.

The story follows Maine law student Hannah Rokeby, as she manipulates her way onto the highly-selective University of Virginia Innocence Project. (Many such organisations exist around the world, and operate with the aim of providing legal and investigative services for selected individuals seeking to prove their innocence of crimes for which they have been wrongly convicted). However, unlike her Project colleagues, Hannah's motives aren't altruistic, idealistic or even based around bolstering her own employability post-law school. She's motivated purely by thoughts of revenge, and is fully prepared to undertake any skulduggery necessary to achieve her aim.

The UVA Innocence Project's current big case is that of Michael Dandridge, a man who has spent 11 years in prison for the rape-murder of Yorktown mother of two Sarah Fitzhugh in 2007. New evidence of prosecutorial misconduct has recently come to light, and Dandridge's case has been sent for retrial. He protests his innocence, claiming that a false confession was beaten out of him by Sheriff Jerome Pierce, and that a witness identification - by the victim's then-8-year-old son - was wrong. Unfortunately, the friend who might have been able to provide Dandridge with an alibi seems to have vanished off the face of the earth.

The story employs a dual timeline narrative, alternating between Hannah's exploits in the novel's 2019 present and a series of diary entries made by her mother, Laura, during the summer of 1994. By this means, we gradually learn the link between Hannah, Laura and Michael, and the reasons that justify her determination to prevent him from being released.

However, as Hannah dives deeper into Michael's alleged crimes and gains a greater appreciation for what her Innocence Project colleagues are trying to achieve, she finds herself beginning to question what is reality and what is illusion. Her repeated investigative trips backwards and forth across Virginia, from Charlottesville to Yorktown, to the Greensville Correctional Centre, morph into a journey of discovery and ultimately an attempt at redemption for the self-righteous Hannah.

I found The Murder Rule a taut and multi-layered mystery, an engrossing read with a thrilling conclusion. A courtroom scene which draws the threads together is perhaps more than a little far-fetched, but I was willing to suspend disbelief for the sake of the story. Hannah is a complex character, and is difficult to like in many respects, given her blatantly dishonest activity in attempting to undermine the Innocence Project's defence of Michael Dandridge. However, as more details of her upbringing emerge, the reader can at least understand her rationale, if not her methods. The supporting cast of characters are varied and intriguing, from Hannah's student colleagues to her supervising professor, her demanding alcoholic mother to an almost cartoonishly-evil town Sheriff.

I'd recommend The Murder Rule to readers who enjoy contemporary crime fiction with strongly character-driven plot threads. However, fans of Dervla McTiernan's Irish-set Cormac Reilly series should be aware, before launching into The Murder Rule, that this is a very different beast indeed. While there are some common themes around police corruption and the re-consideration of old crimes, the setting and style of The Murder Rule struck me as distinctly American in flavour, and perhaps lacking the subtlety of McTiernan's earlier work.

My thanks to the author, Dervla McTiernan, publisher HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, and NetGalley (UK) for the opportunity to read and review this intriguing title.

I’ve loved the author’s Cormac Reilly series, so when I heard that she has written a new standalone I was intrigued. Not more Cormac, boo, but something new, Yay! Plus a new setting of the US. All in all I couldn’t wait to read it!

Hannah Rokeby wants in on The Innocence Project. A non-profit organisation that takes on possible miscarriages of justice, and she seemingly will use any means available to her to do so.

Hannah is interested in their biggest current case. A murder conviction given to one Michael Danbridge, whom the project believe has been wrongfully charged and is in fact innocent of this charge. However, we soon learn that Hannah may not want in to help them overturn this conviction but in fact to make sure it sticks!

I’m not going to say much on the plot of this book as it would be far too easy to give away spoilers and I feel, now that I’ve read it, that to go into this book knowing no more than the blurb, makes the story even more enjoyable.

I found this a great fast paced, quick flowing novel, full of twists and turns and some interesting and likable characters. As with the author’s other books I soon slip into her style of writing and she captures my attention right from the very start. The action and revelations keep the story moving wonderfully along making it a great page turner which I finished in just a couple of days. The scenes are described perfectly enabling me to see everything in my minds eye as I read along. I can’t wait to read whatever this author writes next!

This stand-alone novel from Dervla McTiernan was a bit of a disappointment, as I loved the first two books in her Cormac Reilly series (please, publishers, make the third one available in the UK!). I liked the unusual set-up: law student Hannah starts working for the Innocence Project, a real-life US organisation that helps to exonerate wrongly convicted people, but she plans to secretly use her position to make sure one particular man remains in prison. Hannah believes this man is the source of all of her mother's suffering, and although he was never convicted for the crimes he committed against her mother, she aims to make sure he pays for a later rape and murder. Unfortunately, The Murder Rule became increasingly unbelievable as it went on. It's obvious that McTiernan is more comfortable writing about Ireland than the US, and Hannah's manoeuvring felt more and more unlikely. The book was also predictable, and I wished that the felony 'murder rule' had played more of a direct rule in the narrative, rather than serving as a metaphor for the characters' culpability. This is a readable novel, but I prefer crime fiction to be more grounded.

After reading her mother Laura’s diary, Hannah has moved to Virginia to join the Innocence Project. A group of law students who volunteer to help people in prison they believe to be innocent. The team she wants to get onto is the one looking at getting death row inmate Michael Dandridge exonerated. She is there to see he is never released. Told in part with excerpts from her mothers diary, we slowly piece together the events that have led Hannah to the Innocence Project. Her mother has always been an unreliable alcoholic and it is the cause of her mothers sorrow and downfall that Hannah wants to avenge, but when she finally meets Michael she realises all she knows may not be the truth.
It’s a page turning read with quite a few twists and revelations. Highly recommend.

#TheMurderRule. #NetGalley

The Innocence Project has a name which evokes a world wide recognition of attempts to overturn erroneous convictions-but what if the gaze was turned the other way, onto those involved in the cases?

The presumption of innocence is a difficult concept-so many mitigating factors can create a distorted view of what is, essentially, the death of at least one human being-so when these ingenious novel flips it to look at the individuals who might want to work with this legal team, means , motive and intent take on an insidious glow.

Here, we have young law student Hannah, leveraging her way into first, the Project itself, and then onto a Death Row case.

What the link between her and the accused is, slowly unfurls in the evidence provided by Hannah's mother's teenage diaries. The breaking of the mother and daughter bond by Hannah's wilful plundering of teen Laura's experiences as a house maid in Maine, is carefully patched over by the intricately planned scheme for a meaningful, and permanent swinging of the scales of justice back to these two women.

The reality of living with an alcoholic mother is painfully detailed, and as you read the excerpts of Laura's diaries you realise the gap between where Laura existed as an aspirational person, and the reality of her life as a perceived failure, is where the mother Hannah was deprived of lives.

The notion of justice as a restorative feature of a society which values every member, is noble but not realistic. Add in certain factors-age, race, social class, life experiences and sex-and suddenly there is a two tier system of worthy and unworthy punishment.

As a point in fact, the recent proposals for banning access to abortion in the US ,would create a harsher punishment than rape, incest, or sexual assault would. It makes you seriously consider the way that punishment is meted out, who the decision makers are and the way women's voices are considered in a legal context. Hannah uses her wiles to firstly get a place in the Project and then to carry out her plan, a Trojan horse of a character who subverts the expectation of a bright young woman championing justice for all.

But is she really all that she seems?

And is she prepared to fight for the life of another if a compelling piece of evidence pointing to a man's guilt comes to life?

Or will she use her position to bury it?

So without revealing what has happened to Laura, -because spoilers, sweetie!-you are immediately invested in firstly, what actually spurred Hannah to take this path of action, and secondly, it challenges your perceptions of what is right, and what is wrong. And when a death penalty is the irrevocable conclusion of 'failing' to prove an accusation is illegal, it really makes you think about what we are doing in a so-called civilized world, still having so many places around the planet where this is an option.

Thought provoking, deeply intriguing and satisfying, this is my first novel by Dervla and I already have 'The Ruin' on my teetering book mountain range to look forward to!

A legal thriller based on an American law school campus. The best students work on the innocence project, aiming to address miscarriages of justice. A new student arrives and jumps the queue unscrupulously in order to work on a specific case, but all is not what it seems. There is clearly some connection between the student and the prisoner whose case is under review. Also entwined in the narrative is a diary kept by the student’s mother chronicling events from several decades previously. This is a compelling story with multiple unreliable narrators which keeps the reader guessing.

With thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advance copy to read and review.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for the advance copy.
An intriguing story. So different to her Cormac Reilly series. I loved it. The premise was brilliant, a book you have to read! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hannah Rokeby has arrived at the University of Virginia determined to get involved with the Innocence project.
It involves Law Students in appeals where all other avenues have been explored. The next big case they have is Michael Dandridge and she wants in on it..
She inveigles her way in and with some manipulation is on the team. But is Hannah all she appears to be?
Is Michael Dandridge the mysterious Miki in her mother's old diaries?
Hannah finds out that people lie and manipulate just as she has and not always for the best reasons.
Will she realise in time to do something about it?
I could not put this down.