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The Murder Rule

Written by: Dervla McTiernan
Narrated by: Kate Orsini,Sophie Amoss,Michael Crouch
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Publisher's Summary

For fans of the compulsive psychological suspense of Ruth Ware and Tana French, a mother-daughter story—one running from a horrible truth, and the other fighting to reveal it—that twists and turns in shocking ways, from the internationally best-selling author of The Scholar and The Ruin.

First Rule: Make them like you.

Second Rule: Make them need you.

Third Rule: Make them pay.

They think I’m a young idealistic law student, that I’m passionate about reforming a corrupt and brutal system.

They think I’m working hard to impress them.

They think I’m here to save an innocent man on death row. 

They're wrong. I’m going to bury him.

©2022 Dervla McTiernan (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Featured Article: 22 of The Best Mystery Audiobooks of 2022 That Will Keep You Guessing

Are you ready to discover the most thrilling and twisty audiobooks of the year? Audible presents the best mystery audiobooks of 2022 full of twists and turns. Listen to thrilling novels that cover everything from mysterious disappearances and betrayal to exciting tales of action and adventure. Featuring work from prolific authors like Janet Evanovich (The Recovery Agent) and Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen (The Golden Couple) and newcomers like Stacy Willingham (A Flicker In The Dark), our Audible collection of the best mystery audiobooks of 2022 has enough to keep listeners entertained, intrigued, and on the edge of their seats from start to finish.

What listeners love about The Murder Rule

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great

A really interesting book with a surprising twist. really enjoyed it from start to finish.

2 people found this helpful

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Astonishing !

Having read and fully enjoyed Dervla Mctiernan's previous novels, all of which were set in Ireland, I was surprised to hear the American accent when I started The Murder Rule. It amazes me that the author could transpose her skills from one culture to another - and to have a new winner. I am full of admiration.

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Very good book !

Very Good Narators, good story , well written. Got it on sale but would worth a credit for sure. Don’t hesitate to spend your credit on this book. A movie from this book would be great !

1 person found this helpful

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Very good.

Well written with a well thought out plot and interesting characters.
Narration was mostly excellent with the exception of the male character near the end.

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Great story! Nail biter!

I really enjoyed this production and story. I thought I knew where it was going but the twists and turns were just surprising enough to keep me rushing to finish it.

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too American now

Loved her first 2 novels and engaged with her characters. This one too formulaic and reads like a popular American drama series. The twist isn't that unforeseeable and the main character and innocence project peers a cliche.

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Loved it!

I’m a new fan of the author and I love how she spins a tale. The performance was excellent as well. Very worth a listen!

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Loved it!

So captivating! Im a fan of anything murder mystery, especially loved the twists and turns in this one, and incredibly well read! Would definitely recommend.

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Great book. Well read.

Loved this latest from Dervla McTiernan. I love all her books. This one had a great story. And the narrators were really good too ,

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Great story, kept me guessing

I liked the story but found it slow to get going. Eventually though it ramped up and kept me listening. I’ve enjoyed all Dervla’s books and enjoyed having a couple more narrators in this book.

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  • Lynn
  • 2022-05-17

Disappointed

I've been a huge fan of the author's previous books. This one doesn't compare . The main characters are not likeable. The writer is capable of much better. This book has the feel of something put together for a multi part cable show. I thought the performances were uninspired - maybe because the characters didn't seem real. Frankly, the plot was preposterous.

30 people found this helpful

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2022-05-24

A disappointing departure from Cormac Reilly

I have really enjoyed Dervla McTiernan’s Cormac Reilly series and was intrigued when I saw this new standalone novel. It has a somewhat unique plot that initially drew me in, but this book ultimately fell flat for me. I question the amount of research the author did into how legal clinics at law schools actually work. Law students don’t have this much leeway and I found the plot highly unrealistic for that reason. Several plot threads were (in my view) not adequately resolved and the ending felt rushed. I didn’t have a clear understanding of why certain characters did what they did. The choice of narrators was also weak, although I did somewhat enjoy the Hannah performance. All in all, a disappointment! I hope to see Cormac Reilly back in action soon.

26 people found this helpful

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  • MGM
  • 2022-05-15

What happened Dervla?? Did you have a deadline??

What a disappointment from one of my favorite authors.

Sad because with more time spent, this could have been brilliant! Truly, it was a great story line.

I don’t want to give anything away so I will only say that it is ridiculous that a law student would get where she got so easily and figure things out ahead of the experienced folks she was working with. Seriously disappointing.

18 people found this helpful

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  • Melissa
  • 2022-05-13

Loved until ending

I’ve read all of her books and pre-ordered this one with much anticipation. It did not disappoint for most of the book. And then the ending… it was a complete eye-roll mess. One of the most implausible wrap-ups to what was otherwise a fun, twisty story that I could imagine. Truly disappointing. I struggled with how many stars to give on this one.

Loved the Hannah narration, but disliked the choice of narrators for Sean and Laura.

16 people found this helpful

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  • Colin C. Crawford
  • 2022-05-12

A “beach read”

Story line is pretty implausible but it’s a light read and while the ending is not unexpected it’s fairly obvious how things will turn out it passed the time while walking my dog. Did not require too much attention. I expect it will end up as a NetFlix series. I enjoyed her earlier books more.

12 people found this helpful

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  • Anna Noggins
  • 2022-05-13

Disappointing

I have loved this author’s other works and so looked forward to this book. But I found this book very manipulative of the reader and completely unrealistic. Yes, she writes very well & I listened to the end. But, overall, I felt this was a very shallow story that had been written in hopes of a movie deal. It was quite a letdown.

11 people found this helpful

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  • HR Ninja
  • 2022-05-13

She got me!

I pride myself on being able to figure out mysteries long before the end of the book, but this one fooled me. And that makes me happy.

I actually got this book on accident. I thought it was the next installment in the Cormac Reilly series. So when I listened to the first few minutes, I thought “Awe, man! Dang it.” But I was not disappointed for long. The story drew me in and had me guessing the whole way. I truly hope this might be the beginning of a new series

8 people found this helpful

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  • FrizzyDisaster
  • 2022-05-13

So good.

I would recommend this book who is a die-hard mystery novel reader. Dervla McTiernan has always written storylines that break my expectations but this one really broke the mold and had a very different cast of characters from her previous books. There wasn’t anything for me to dislike about this novel. It gave me chills and had such a well written characters in a fairly short story. It was efficient and so deliberate. Thanks McTiernan for another great read! I hope to get to read more of your work.

8 people found this helpful

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  • Kyle
  • 2022-05-22

Entertaining

Very different from Dervla McTiernan’s other work. I was quite entertained. The final sequence jumped the shark a bit for me, but it was still worth a listen.

7 people found this helpful

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  • Emily
  • 2022-07-27

We are no longer in Ireland

I have read all of Dervla McTiernan's book and realized that this was not in the Cormac Reilly series but it might as well be written by someone else! This book seems like a try-out for Reese Witherspoon's book club. Horrible American girl "protagonist" complete with whiny girlhood entries from her mother's diaries. It was almost unreadable as I don't like inhabiting the mind of unsympathetic characters. That said, the plot was complex and I stuck it out to find out what happened.
I hope Dervla returns to setting her books in Ireland with characters that are likeable. I think maybe she was aiming at this being a movie script like all those Gone Girl knock offs.

6 people found this helpful