The Murder Rule

This standalone novel, a break from McTiernan’s Cormac Reilly series, is proof of the extraordinary depth and breadth she possesses as a writer. Hannah, a third year law student at the University of Maine, manages to bulldoze her way into spending a semester at the University of Virginia School of Law’s Innocence Project, a true-to-life initiative that seeks exoneration for wrongfully convicted people in Virginia. She leaves behind her mother—a fragile alcoholic—as she attempts to thwart one of the Project’s high profile cases: the release of Michael Dandridge, who’s serving life imprisonment for rape and murder. Why does Hannah care? The secret lies in her mother’s 1994 diary, passages of which are interspersed throughout the present-day narrative. Hannah’s efforts to sabotage the case—and the shocking facts she unearths in the process—are the stuff of a classic thriller. But the emotional connections forged throughout the book give it added meaning. For a writer who has seemingly never lived in the United States, the locations, diction, and class signifiers are flawless. This novel can appeal to a wide range of readers, from suspense seekers to fans of legal thrillers to those who just want, as the British say, a cracking great read.