Dervla McTiernan is known for her twisty, complex plots and her superb characterisation, and her latest crime novel THREE REASONS FOR REVENGE (Harper Collins 2026) once again gives readers a curious and intoxicating crime to unravel using the clues and hints she provides along the way, while avoiding the red herrings and false motivations.
The book’s opening is intriguing and worrying in equal measure: a young woman, Alexis Turner, walks into a police station to report a sexual assault. Detective Sergeant Judith Lee (experienced, clever, flawed) has a chilling feeling of de je vu when she meets Alexis, a feeling that is compounded by the fact that by the end of the day, Alexis Turner has disappeared.
In the hours and days after this meeting, three very different people receive surprise and unwelcome gifts delivered anonymously to their homes, all wrapped in a similarly gothic and particular style. One is sent to a distinguished and well-known psychologist, the second to a wealthy socialite, and the third gift is delivered to the run-down granny flat of a single dad. Each gift box contains an ambiguous note in beautiful calligraphy, and nestled in each box are three very different ‘gifts’, which immediately cause concern and consternation for the recipients.
DS Lee is drawn into a fast and furious game of cat and mouse as she realises that the person behind the malevolent packages is targeting these three people for specific and dangerous reasons. Someone understands each person’s vulnerabilities and what would hurt them most. And Judith Lee knows in her bones that somehow these attacks are connected to Alexis Turner, still missing, and seemingly vanished entirely without even a digital footprint.
As DS Lee races to find a connection, and to discover what’s happened to Alexis, she realises that not only is she charged with solving these crimes, but it appears she’s being deliberately targeted herself into being forced to play the ‘game’, which has become a bit too personal.
This novel is fast-paced, twisty, complex and full of layered and complicated intersections. The characters are compelling and their backstories – gradually uncovered – are authentic, eerie and haunting. The dialogue is spot-on. McTiernan has a gift for storytelling and for creating real and relatable characters who will stay with you long after the last page is turned.
The details of procedure for police, forensics, investigating officers and other agencies such as child protection departments are realistic and well-researched. You will fall into the pages of this crime and its ripple effects and come up drowning, not waving, until the final satisfying resolution.
McTiernan’s background as a lawyer ensures that she considers and expresses not only the legal practicalities of her stories (and the co-operation or otherwise between departments), but the very real emotional, victim/survivor centred aspects to her novels. Page-turning and engaging, THREE REASONS FOR REVENGE will keep readers engrossed from beginning to end.