The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan: for Reading Ireland Month

Title: The Good Turn
Author: Dervla McTiernan
Publication: Blackstone Publishing, trade paperback, 2021
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Setting: Present-day Ireland

Description: Three separate storylines are deftly brought together in the most recent book by Dervla McTiernan, an Irish writer who now lives in Australia. The story begins with Anna and her suddenly mute 9-year-old, clearly in trouble. There is also Detective Inspector Cormac Reilly, who relocated to Galway from Dublin where he has been ostracized by his coworkers, although he doesn’t really understand why as he is talented and dedicated to his job. He has begun to suspect malfeasance by his Superintendent and cronies but has no proof. Peter Fisher, part of the Galway team who reports to Cormac, gets the call on his day off to investigate a report of a kidnapped child. When everything goes wrong, Cormac is suspended and Peter is banished to a small town police station where he is expected to rubber stamp any task he is given and issue speeding tickets as needed.

My Impression: Lately, I have been enjoying McTiernan’s books far more than those of her better-known countrywoman, Tana French, and have been recommending them to anyone who likes crime fiction. Part of the appeal is her protagonist, Cormac Reilly, a complicated detective who can never catch a break. He is disliked by most of his police colleagues, seems to have had a troubled relationship with his girlfriend ever since they met on a case, and certainly makes mistakes. This book is also told from the perspective of Peter Fisher, a member of the police force who did not make a good impression on me in the previous book, but this time around refuses to accept that his temporary disgrace should prevent him from doing his job. Ironically, although Peter has mixed feelings about his erstwhile boss, Cormac, he is somewhat tainted by association. Peter’s unpleasant father tries to warn him:

“Cormac Reilly,” Des said. “I’ve never met him, but I know the type.”

“What do you mean, the type?”

“I’ve heard the stories. Two years ago, he shot a garda, a fellow officer.” He held up a hand to forestall Peter’s objection. “I know what you’re about to say. I know all about the circumstances. But the shooting, that’s just an indication of the kind of man he is. He’s an outsider and he’s a troublemaker.”

Peter shook his head. “You’ve got him wrong.”

“He’s lost the run of himself, Peter. He builds bridges only to burn them down. Look, I grant you, he’s been effective in the past. He’s smart; when he’s pushed to it, he can get things done. But men like that only last for so long. And he’s on his way out.”

Peter felt sick. The words were horribly close to what he’d thrown at Reilly in their last argument.

No one wants to read that office politics prevent the police from doing their job, especially when it comes to a missing child but, as with Armand Gamache, the hunt for proof of police corruption is fascinating and frightening. I was worried about Cormac’s survival and, knowing that the author has a standalone coming, was afraid she might jettison this moody and very interesting character. Being told to stop rocking the boat brings out the best in them: Cormac feels he has nothing to lose and even Peter shows greater character than previously. I was not enamored of Roundstone, the village where Peter’s father is chief of police, where much of the story takes place as I find the Galway setting more interesting. As in the two earlier books, part of McTiernan’s skill is weaving the plot threads together, so even the coincidences seem plausible.

This is my seventh book for the 2022 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge. I recommend McTiernan’s books but suggest you start with book 1, The Ruin.  I also chose this for Reading Ireland 2022 Month with 746 Books.

Thank you to Nancy Pearl and Marianne Bechet for recommending this author! But I did have some unanswered questions -  what was the good turn in the title? Was it Peter’s agreeing to check out the child abduction on his day off? And should I have remembered that Peter is sharing a flat with Aisling from The Ruin or did that happen offstage?

Source: Library.  It is a pity Penguin is no longer publishing her books in the US because those paperbacks were more flexible (which is something I have never had to say about a book before) and easier to hold.