Who doesn’t enjoy a good story (told via either book or film) that is set in the verdant and meandering environs of Ireland? A land of hearty warmth (in terms of emotion) and cold climes, where history abounds and people are some of the best natured folk around. Alas, there is also crime (as there is in existence in all countries and societies in this world), but that just adds to the allure of the story, doesn’t it?

Irish crime writer, Dervla McTiernan’s, latest thriller, The Unquiet Grave (the fourth novel in the Cormac Reilly series), is given an extra dose of ‘joie de vivre’ for we readers by being predominantly set in Ireland (and in small part in Paris). A country that many yearn to visit. A country where (fictional) Detective Sergeant Cormac Reilly is on the case. Whatever that case may entail.

The Unquiet Grave begins in a miserably cold and rain-soaked November in 2017 in Galway, where “it seemed that when (the rain) wasn’t lashing, it was drizzling or spitting or threatening, or there was hail or mizzle or sleet…..”

It is at this time that a German girl, Leonie Muller, and her parents, Walter and Ilse, come across a human body that is embedded in the bog (muddy ground) whilst they are walking across the sodden ground near ” the house that Walter Muller had inherited from his father”, a decrepit dwelling at that.

Detective Sergeant Cormac Reilly is soon on the ghoulish scene, along with Detective Peter Fisher. The murder investigation (the body is found to be a murder victim due to the nature of the injuries) segues to a link between the body found and the disappearance two years previously of local high school principal, Thaddeus Grey. A very unpopular high school principal it transpires. Grey had been a tenant in the Muller’s house.

When police pathologist, Yvonne Connolly, and her people make a confirmation that the body does definitely belong to Grey and that it has been “mutilated” in a manner in which historical bog bodies have been damaged, Cormac and Peter’s investigation starts to gather momentum. 

Around this time, Cormac’s former girlfriend, Emma Sweeney, who is now married and heavily pregnant, comes to Cormac for help. It seems her husband, Finn, who has been working for three days a week in Paris, has gone missing. Finn, who was working for a “technology company” after having been a “security specialist. Networks, computers” for the army in Ireland for fifteen years (and had only left the army six months ago), was due to fly to Ireland, but never made his flight. 

Cormac of course agrees to help Emma any way he can, but options are limited. The French police say they can’t do anything to look for Finn, as there is no evidence that he is in danger. And there is nothing the Irish police (gardai) can do either.

Meanwhile, two more bodies are soon found. Two bodies that are found in bogs with similar mutilations to Grey’s body.

Is there a serial killer on the loose in Ireland? Is there a copycat killer or killers lurking in the shadows?

Who are the additional two murder victims and is there a link between them and Grey?

Who had a reason for wanting our victims dead? Can Cormac and Peter stop the killings happening?

What of the forlorn family, the MacNairs, who lived next door to Grey? What have they seen and heard?

Who are Carl and David, and what do they have to do with Cormac’s case?

Will Cormac (who has things in his past that he’d rather forget) take up the offer from Kevin Matheson (the ‘top cop’ in the Irish police force) to head up Internal Affairs?

Will Peter apply for and take up an offer to movie to Western Australia to join the police force there (with better pay and conditions) and will his partner, Olivia (a nurse), go with him? As Peter expresses to Olivia at one stage, “The money’s good. The weather’s good. There’ll be opportunities we can’t find here…….I want to have some adventures…”.

Has Cormac truly moved on from Emma? Can he help her find Finn without getting involved with Emma again?

Who are the heroes in the story and who are our villains? Who can be trusted and who should we be wary of?

Dervla has written a first-rate crime novel that shows a razor-sharp intellect, great wisdom and fiercely accurate insights and observations into the human psyche and condition.

Themes of loyalty, grief, family and friendship bonds, and greed. are all encompassed in this stellar read.

Bravo Dervla! This book has it all. A story that hooks you in from page one (and won’t let you go). A brilliantly written plethora of characters (all with their own failings in one way or another). One superb twist after another. And a country and culture that exudes class, even while a small minority display the worst of human nature.

This was a five star read for me. I have read all of Dervla’s books to date, and her crime novels never disappoint. I’ve loved them all. I met Dervla last year when she gave a library talk near me to promote her previous book, What Happened to Nina?, and I can report that as well as being the wonderful writer she is, she is a lovely person.

I will be lining up to read all Dervla’s future books. Perhaps one will be set in Australia (where Dervla now lives with her family)? That would be grand, as the Irish say.