The Ruin

DI Cormac Reilly, Book 1

By: Dervla McTiernan

Narrated by: Aoife McMahon

Galway 1993. Young Garda Cormac Reilly is called to a scene he will never forget. Two silent, neglected children – 15-year-old Maude and five-year-old Jack – are waiting for him at a crumbling country house. Upstairs, their mother lies dead.

Twenty years later, a body surfaces in the icy black waters of the River Corrib. At first it looks like an open-and-shut case, but then doubt is cast on the investigation's findings – and the integrity of the police. Cormac is thrown back into the cold case that has haunted him his entire career – what links the two deaths, two decades apart? As he navigates his way through police politics and the ghosts of the past, Detective Reilly uncovers shocking secrets and finds himself questioning who among his colleagues he can trust.

What really did happen in that house where he first met Maude and Jack? The Ruin draws us deep into the dark heart of Ireland and asks who will protect you when the authorities can't – or won't.

2018, The Guardian's Not the Booker Prize, Short-listed

2019, Ned Kelly Award Best First Novel, Winner

©2018 Dervla McTiernan (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

'Corruption, clandestine cover-ups and criminal conspiracy ... as moving as it is fast-paced.' (Val McDermid, bestselling author of the Lindsay Gordon series)

'The Ruin is spectacularly good. So CONFIDENT ... excellently written and, at times, heartachingly sad.' (Marian Keyes, bestselling author of Again, Rachel)

'Brilliantly crafted ... incredibly real-feeling characters. An absolute treat!' (The Sunday Mirror)