This is my first Dervla McTiernan novel and holy smokes, she just bulldozed her way onto my must-read list. Three Reasons for Revenge was tailor made for readers who love morally messy thrillers packed with psychological games, buried secrets, and characters making one disastrous decision after another. Over the span of ten years, two women come forward with eerily similar accusations against the same man, Robert Walker, but this time the story takes a deadly turn. Walker ends up murdered, other bodies begin piling up, and Detective Judith Lee suddenly finds herself tangled in a case where every answer opens the door to three more questions. The tension in this book is deliciously sharp and McTiernan knows exactly how to keep tightening the screws.
This is absolutely a slow burn, but every chapter adds another layer of suspicion, connection, and quiet dread until the entire thing feels ready to explode. Judith Lee is the kind of investigator I immediately wanted more time with because she is smart, persistent, and constantly balancing the pressure from the case with the growing risk to her own career. And the villain? Terrific. (how is it possible to enjoy a bad guy – I did) Calculated, patient, and playing a game that had me second guessing everybody. McTiernan carefully unravels the truth piece by piece with the confidence of a writer who knows exactly where she is taking you, even while you are busy convincing yourself you have figured it out. I already have my fingers crossed that Judith Lee becomes the center of a long running series because I would gladly sign up for every single book.
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Purchase Three Reasons For Revenge
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Barrington Books
Chapter 2 Books
Murder By The Book
Once Upon A Crime
The Book Dragon
The Poisoned Pen
