Dervla McTiernan’s debut, The Ruin, is an atmospheric first novel with an engaging mystery and a refreshing protagonist for the genre. The writing is concise and straightforward while still maintaining an eloquent tone, and the setting is a grimly resilient Ireland, perpetually wet and foreboding.

As much as it is a police procedural, the tale is a social commentary that explores the history and culture of a country steeped in the abusive grip of Catholicism. For this is a story that is very much about abuse—physical abuse in a domestic setting as well as the abuse of power within corrupt police forces and the church—and McTiernan does not shy away from the gritty realities. Though the pace lags in places and the tale begins slowly, the author’s finely woven story kept me reading. Patience is required when unraveling a mystery, and my patience with the story was rewarded in the end. Though the culprit was no surprise, I found the knowledge added to the tension.

The strength of the story lies in the protagonist, Cormac Reilly, a detective who has given up his career with an elite anti-terrorism force in Dublin to follow his romantic partner back to Galway. As his partner pursues an advancement in her career, he is an untrusted, unwelcome outcast in his new workplace. Reilly is a refreshing protagonist to come across in a genre that all too often relies on hardboiled, jaded, alcoholic central characters. Reilly is none of these. He is honorable, intelligent, dedicated, and haunted by his first case twenty years ago as an apparent suicide brings the cold case to light once more.

The author’s word play with the title caught my eye. The entwining mystery that unfolds throughout the story begins in the crumbling ruins of a dower house in the early 1990s. But “rúin” is also the Irish word for “secrets,” and a dark, furtive pall of betrayal permeates the story.

Poignant and somber, The Ruin is a police procedural at its finest. The characters are authentic and engaging, the mystery unfolds with the dogged determination of the protagonist, and the author showcases a talent that will certainly grow with subsequent novels. I will be looking forward to what is in store next for Cormac Reilly.

Highly recommended for those who enjoy crime novels set in Ireland, police procedurals, and mysteries.