The Murder Rule by Dervla McTiernan begins with a series of emails in which Hannah Rokeby secures herself a place in the Innocence Project at the University of Virginia Law School. From the tone of the emails, it is clear she will use whatever means she has available to obtain entry.
The Innocence Project is a real organisation, devoted to freeing innocent prisoners, including those on death row, through reassessment of evidence and trial material. Hannah has her sights set on a particular case under investigation by the project. She wants to prevent the release of a convicted murderer.
Her reasons lie in her mother’s history. Dervla McTiernan presents the mother’s story in the form of a diary which Hannah discovered and read as a teenager. The details of what happened to her mother are revealed progressively through the novel. Diary entries alternate with chapters of close third-person narration about Hannah’s activities.
Hannah and her mother are both compelling characters. In many ways they appear as products of their time. For example, Hannah uses technology with ease in contrast to Laura’s descriptive writing style in her pre-internet diary. The combination of styles only adds to the rising tension of the plot and the clever twist at the end.
The Innocence Project, in which the author herself worked as a student intern before her 12-year legal career, provides a fine setting for a tension-filled psychological thriller. Revenge is what propels Hannah to right the wrongs of the past, but at the heart of the book is a complex relationship between mother and daughter.
Dervla McTiernan’s first three crime novels, The Rúin, The Scholar and The Good Turn, all excellent reads, were set in McTiernan’s native Ireland. The Murder Rule is a departure with its American setting and characters. I can hardly wait for a possible future mystery set in Australia, the author’s place of residence since she left Ireland and the law and became a crime writer.
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Thank you for the recommendation. I found it an excellent read. In my view McTiernan writes well which is an added bonus to a gripping page-turner!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Di. See you soon at the book group.