Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh

Today I’m thrilled to be sharing my no spoiler review for the latest book by Steve Cavanagh, published on 3rd September 2020 and now a Richard and Judy BookClub pick. Thank you to Orion Publishing for a digital review copy via NetGalley – my thoughts are my own and not influenced by the gift.

Synopsis:

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?

Alexandra Avellino has just found her father’s mutilated body, and needs the police right away. She believes her sister killed him, and that she is still in the house with a knife. 

Sofia Avellino has just found her father’s mutilated body and needs the police right away. She believes her sister, Alexandra did it, and that she is still in the house, locked in the bathroom. 

Both women are to go on trial at the same time. A joint trial in front of one jury. 

But one of these women is lying. One of them is a murderer. Sitting in a jail cell, about to go on trial with her sister for murder, you might think that this is the last place she expected to be. 

You’d be wrong.

My thoughts:

So I’m starting this review with a couple of confessions. Firstly, I hadn’t heard of Steve Cavanagh or the Eddie Flynn series until I started reading the digital proof copy. I also hadn’t requested the digital proof copy, but had shared a post about it to fellow book bloggers, and then had a copy sent to me via NetGalley.

However, I started seeing great reviews, so decided to put my blog tour books to one side and travel to New York to find out more. As a British Law graduate, I’m always fascinated by how different our legal system is to that in the USA. Twenty plus years ago I enjoyed reading John Grisham books, now I’ve discovered the storytelling of Steve Cavanagh.

I will now need to go back to read the earlier Eddie Flynn novels, but was able to catch up quickly on the story and read this without having read the previous books. Eddie is a great character, a lawyer with lots of contacts in unusual places, who wants to stop innocent people going to prison.

The story kept me guessing until the end, would it be Sofia or Alexandra (or both) who killed their father. Alongside this rollercoaster ride, we also have a sexism in the workplace storyline.

With an excellent storyline and superb storytelling, this is one of my 5 star reads of 2020.

Author Bio:

Steve Cavanagh is a critically acclaimed, best-selling, award-winning author of the Eddie Flynn series. His third novel, The Liar, won the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the year 2018. He is also one half of the Two Crime Writers and a Microphone podcast. His latest novel, Twisted, is out now and is a Sunday Times Bestseller. 

The Eddie Flynn series can be read in any order, but the list in full in order of publication is as follows: 
The Defence
The Cross (ebook exclusive novella)
The Plea
The Liar
Thirteen

Standalone books – Twisted. 

Find out more at http://www.stevecavanagh.com or follow Steve on Twitter @SSCav