Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh: Review

Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh

 

Former lawyer turned author Steve Cavanagh is back with the next instalment in his Eddie Flynn series, Fifty Fifty. This novel can easily be read as a standalone or as part of the series. In 2018, his novel The Liar won the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger for crime novel of the year. In 2019 Thirteen won the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the year 2019.

 

Synopsis

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.

 

But one of these women is lying.

 

When Eddie Flynn is called in to represent one of two sisters accused of murdering their father, he’s convinced that he’s representing an innocent woman. Her sister may be the much-loved socialite and she might be black sheep of the family, but that’s all the more reason she needs his help.

 

As the trial begins, people close to the case start to disappear or die. Soon Eddie finds himself working with Kate, the woman representing the other sister accused of the murder instead of against her. They both took on the case believing that their clients were innocent, but one of them was wrong and all of them are in danger.

 

Review

This is the second novel in the Eddie Flynn series I’ve read and it’s good to know that you can read them separately as each novel contains a different case. Fifty Fifty focuses on the death of a multi-millionaire and two sisters suspected of his murder. One of them appears to be the classic ‘good girl’ and the other suffers from mental health problems and has a history of drugs. But which wanted to see her father dead and her sister in prison?

 

I honestly couldn’t tell who was guilty throughout this book. Even when I stopped at the halfway point to think it through, I still couldn’t decide. Steve Cavanagh drops so many hints along the way but even the parts written from the perspective of the murderer didn’t make it clear.

 

The second half of the novel is based in the courtroom and this is the part that really grabbed me. Reading about how a defence team has to think on its feet and always be one step ahead is riveting. Even more so when you know the author has real-life experience.

 

Fast, thorough and fascinating; if you’re looking for gripping courtroom drama, Fifty Fifty will keep you up way past your bedtime and guessing until the very end.

 

If you liked Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh, you’d love Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan.