Bestselling crime writer Steve Cavanagh has used his outrage at the growing number of mega-rich individuals who seem exempt from ordinary laws as the central theme of his latest Eddie Flynn thriller, One Of Us Is Guilty. The novel, the 10th in the series about a con-artist turned defence lawyer, draws inspiration from Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl and the hit TV drama Succession, exploring the new wave of tech and media billionaires with wealth and power comparable to small nations.
Plot and Inspiration
The book, out on July 30, follows Patrick, heir to a vast media empire and son of one of the world's most powerful men, and his wife Vanessa. The story opens on a night when Patrick discovers his mistress has been lying to him, while Vanessa learns of his affair. The next morning, the mistress is found dead, and both were in her apartment that night. One is charged with murder, and Eddie Flynn must defend them while grappling with his own conscience, unsure if he is representing the guilty party.
Cavanagh explains: “The book opens on one night when Patrick realises his mistress has been keeping things from him, and lying to him. And that is the same night that Vanessa finds out Patrick has been having an affair. It’s the following morning that the mistress is found dead, and they were both in her apartment that night. So you know one of them has killed her, but you don’t know which one. And that is our jumping off point for the book.”
Themes of Power and Lawlessness
Cavanagh, a former lawyer and human rights advocate from Belfast, says the novel explores how the ultra-wealthy operate above the law. He notes: “The thing we are seeing that is totally out in the open now, no one is bothering to hide it anymore, is that everyone is talking about AI, but it is an industry built on piracy. It is the largest intellectual property theft in history and no government has yet said, ‘wait a minute, you can’t do that’. It’s being left to the individual to do this.”
He adds: “We live in a world where the powerful have more power than ever before. We have individual people that have the wealth and power of nation states, so it is very turbulent times. That is why Eddie Flynn is fun to write because he does not really play by the rules, he knows the system is biased and he tries to bend the rules to even up the scales of justice and make everything a lot more fair.”
Character Origins and Series Success
Cavanagh conceived Eddie Flynn while cross-examining a witness in a case. “I was cross-examining someone, and I tricked them into revealing they were lying. It hit me that con artists have the exact same skills as good trial lawyers: distraction, misdirection, persuasion, all of that. So that was the basic idea for Eddie, and then I gave him a few characteristics of my own.”
The first three books in the series did not sell well, but the fourth, Thirteen, won the prestigious Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award (for which the Express is media partner) and became a bestseller. Cavanagh says it is a privilege to still write about the character.
Upcoming Festival and Adaptations
Cavanagh is set to appear at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate from July 23-26, where this year's award winners will be announced. He says: “I’m very much looking forward to it. Hopefully we’ll have good weather and it’s always a joy going to Harrogate as I get to see people I have known for years, and you chat with readers and writers. The events themselves are brilliant, and it’s very collegiate. It’s the start of a two-week book tour for me around the UK and Ireland, so I can’t wait.”
A TV or film adaptation of the Eddie Flynn series has been in development for two years, but Cavanagh remains tight-lipped. He is also working on a standalone thriller. Reflecting on his protagonist, he jokes: “Sometimes I think I shouldn’t have created a character who is so smart - it would have been much easier (to write) if he was dumber!”
One Of Us Is Guilty by Steve Cavanagh (Headline, £16.99) is published on July 30. For festival information, visit harrogateinternationalfestivals.com.
