Review: The Quiet Grave by Dervla Tiernan, dependable but unremarkable

I picked up The Quiet Grave during a busy patch in July when work and life were pulling me in all directions. More specifically job applications, interviews, and all the noise that goes with them. I was struggling to choose a book and then struggling to stick with it. In those times, cosy detective novels or crime procedurals are my fallback because they keep me reading without demanding too much mental energy.

The Quiet Grave continues Dervla McTiernan’s series, following Detective Cormac Reilly and his colleagues as another case unfolds. The story digs into a decades-old disappearance, and as usual for these novels, it's the kind of cold case that threatens to unearth more than anyone wants revealed. As usual, there’s the mix of procedural detail, personal drama, and the push-and-pull between police politics and real justice.

I’ve found myself enjoying this series more with each instalment, (see my review of The Scholar (2) and The Good Turn (3)) so I came into The Quiet Grave with some optimism. But this one didn’t land for me in the same way. The pacing reminded me of the first novel in the series. The resolution to the crime arrives so abruptly that it left me unsatisfied. I’ve also grown to appreciate Peter Fisher as a character, thinking he might take on a stronger role moving forward, but the events surrounding him in The Quiet Grave felt out of character and unlikely. I want to be immersed in the story but the way in which his story came to end took me out of the story and reminded me that I was just reading something that someone had made up. 

That said, McTiernan still delivers a reliable, standard sort of crime novel of the type that is good to have on hand when I just want to keep the pages turning without taxing my mind too much. I’ll keep reading the series when I need that kind of book, but this one reminded me that they’re not particularly special, even if they are dependable.