Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh @SSCav @OrionBooks @Orion_Crime

Source: Review copy
Publication: 3^rd September 2020 from Orion
PP: 368
ISBN-13: 978-1409185864

My thanks to the publishers, Orion, for a review copy of this book.

Two sisters on trial for murder. They accuse each other.

Who do YOU believe?

‘911 what’s your emergency?’

‘My dad’s dead. My sister Sofia killed him. She’s still in the house. Please send help.’

‘My dad’s dead. My sister Alexandra killed him. She’s still in the house. Please send help.’

One of them is a liar and a killer.

But which one?

Do you know what? Just away and buy this book, will you? I know you won’t be sorry. It’s FANBLOODYTASTIC! Honestly, I ripped through it, loving every single minute.

I am a huge fan of the Eddie Flynn books anyway. There’s something about this conman turned lawyer that is a little bit cheeky and I love that he is never knowingly on the side of the bad guys.

But this one is a cut above even the most excellent of these books. This one is a humdinger. First we have the fantastic premise. Alexandra and Sofia Avellino are the daughters of a wealthy former New York Mayor, Frank Avellino, who now lies dead – stabbed 53 times in a house occupied by only his daughters.  Two sisters, in the same house, both have called 911 and each is claiming the other sister has murdered her father.

Neither woman likes the other. Both have had difficult lives and neither presents the best side of themselves – assuming they both have a good side. Every time Flynn thinks he’s found a weakness, it is closed up by a contrary piece of evidence from the other side.

Eddie’s biggest issue comes with having to decide which client he will take on. He likes to be convinced of their innocence from the outset, but with this one a balance of probabilities is required in the absence of any other obvious evidence.

It’s a tricky situation and in true Flynn form it’s only going to get more convoluted. Things are not helped by the fact that prosecuting this case is a man who would like nothing better than to lock up both women and throw away the key – and he wouldn’t mind at all bringing Eddie and the other sister’s Counsel down with them.

Kate Brooks is the other Counsel. For good reasons, she shafted her firm Levy, Bernard and Groff to get this case and now the firm’s senior partner is prosecuting it. Kate, too, believes in her client’s innocence – so much so that she has pitted herself against Eddie Flynn to win it.

Cavanagh sets up his scenes with so much tension and twistiness that each has you reeling from one sister to another as you hear the latest revelations. With his trusted team of former judge, Harry Ford and investigator Harper, Eddie uses all his wiles to ensure that his client gets the innocent verdict she deserves.

As we follow the case, we are also treated to the murderer’s perspective. Known only as ‘She’ we learn a little of what was going through her mind as the trial progresses. The net result is that it feels like you in a fast paced game of table tennis – only you are the ball, being batted backwards and forwards between the accused sisters.

Once again, Cavanagh nails the whole aspect of a courtroom drama and in doing so in this book he offers us more of a glimpse into the life and world of Eddie Flynn and offers the reader some serious character development opportunities that I hope to see further explored in future novels.

Verdict: Top class, twisty, engaging and completely compulsive reading. Fantastic characters and a SUPERB plot. I adored this book. Steve Cavanagh is at the top of his game and long may that continue. An absolute MUST READ. Go, buy it…NOW!

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