BAD 2024 FESTIVAL

12-14 Sept 2024, State Library of NSW

DERVLA MCTIERNAN IN CONVERSATION WITH SUZANNE LEAL

Dervla McTiernan, international bestseller and one of Australia’s best and most loved crime writers is talking about The Murder Rule, her latest book, with Suzanne Leal. Don’t miss it!

The Murder Rule is the first standalone thriller from Dervla McTiernan. Set in the US, a young and seemingly idealistic young lawyer passionate about reforming a corrupt system and saving an innocent man on death row has a dark hidden agenda.

Don Winslow (who knows a thing or two about crime fiction) describes The Murder Rule as ‘diabolically clever, highly compelling and deeply moving’, and for Adrian McKinty, New York Times bestselling author of The Chain, it is ’a heart stopping rollercoaster’. Who are we to disagree? Come and find out more.

Dervla McTiernan

Dervla McTiernan’s debut novel, The Ruin, was a critically acclaimed international bestseller. It won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction, the Davitt Award for Best Adult Fiction and the Barry Award for Best Original Paperback, as well as being was shortlisted for numerous other awards. It was on the Amazon US Best Book of the Year list in 2018 and screen rights were snapped up by Hopscotch Features. Dervla’s second book, The Scholar, debuted into the Nielsen Bookscan Top 5 on release in 2019, and her third, The Good Turn, went straight to no.1, confirming her place as one of Australia’s best crime writers. She has also written the audio novella The Sisters, an Audible Original which is a prequel to the The Ruin, set 10 years prior.

Born in County Cork, Ireland, to a family of seven, Dervla practised as a corporate lawyer for twelve years. Following the global financial crisis, she moved with her family to Western Australia, where she now lives with her husband and two children. An avid fan of crime and detective novels from childhood, Dervla is now a full-time writer.

Suzanne Leal

SUZANNE LEAL is the author of novels The Teacher’s Secret, Border Street and, most recently, The Deceptions, for which she won the Nib People’s Choice Prize and was shortlisted for the Davitt Awards and the Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award.  

A lawyer experienced in child protection, criminal law and refugee law, Suzanne is a senior member of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal and former member of the Refugee Review Tribunal. She is a regular presenter at literary events, co-presenter of the BAD All About Crime podcast and host of Thursday Book Club, a relaxed, friendly book club connecting readers online. www.suzanneleal.com Suzanne is also on the Board of BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival.

No one is innocent in this story …

 The unmissable new standalone from the no.1 bestseller of The Good Turn.

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.

‘Diabolically clever, highly compelling and deeply moving. I loved The Murder Rule and did not want it
to end.’ – Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of The Force and The Border.

Extraordinary. Haunting. An incredible thriller. I could not put this book down. Dervla McTiernan is a gifted writer with a very special way of telling a story. This is a heart stopping rollercoaster of a tale.’ – 
Adrian McKinty, New York Times bestselling author of The Chain

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