Survivor's Guilt (Erin McCabe Mysteries Book Two) by Robyn Gigl

 

Survivor's Guilt (Erin McCabe Book Two) by Robyn Gigl.

Published 7th December 2023 by Verve Books.

From the cover of the book: 

The death of millionaire businessman Charles Parsons seems like a straightforward suicide. There's no sign of forced entry or struggle in his lavish New Jersey mansion - just a single gunshot wound from his own weapon.

But days later, a different story emerges. Computer techs pick up a voice recording that incriminates Parsons' adoptive daughter, Ann, who duly confesses and pleads guilty.

After the case is brought to her attention by an unlikely source, Erin McCabe and her law partner, Duane Swisher, soon realise that pieces of Ann's story don't fit together. Ann clearly knows more than she's willing to share, even if it means a life sentence. Who is she protecting, and why?

As their investigation deepens, Erin and Swish find themselves caught in a web of human exploitation, unchecked greed, and murder - before learning the horrifying truth... 

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A millionaire businessman is found dead in his New Jersey home, apparently the victim of suicide. However, a seemingly open and shut case becomes much more complicated when a recording of the crime falls into the hands of the police, indicating that his adopted daughter, Ann, murdered him. When confronted with the evidence, Ann confesses to the crime, and pleads guilty at her trial.

Ann's case comes to the attention of lawyer Erin McCabe, and her legal partner Duane Swisher, through a go-between who feels parts of her story do not add up. McCabe and Swisher rapidly come to the same conclusion, and they also see an intriguing connection to one of their own cases. McCabe is convinced she can persuade Ann to trust her with the truth. Is Ann protecting someone, and if so, why?

Survivor's Guilt is the second legal thriller featuring transgender lawyer Erin McCabe, and it delves into the murky world of corporate greed, technological snooping, exploitation, and the very worst kind of abuse, to create a story that is as thought-provoking as it is compelling.

The story begins in slow burn country with leads gradually being uncovered by McCabe, Swisher and colleagues, interspersed with enjoyably melodramatic scenes from the points of view of a cast of thoroughly bad villains who are keen to protect their interests at all costs - and some nice glimpses into the hearts and minds of a select group of other characters, whose involvement is gradually revealed as the twists and turns play out. There is a lot in the early sections of the book around McCabe's personal life, which makes it difficult to pick up the threads of the investigation, but this part of the story fades into the background as the stronger crime elements come to the fore and the story takes off.

Once Gigl gets into her stride, with lashings of very nicely conceived legal thriller shenanigans, this book becomes a proper page-turner. Gigl's extensive experience as an attorney clearly feeds into the intricacies of how different law and order agencies work alongside each other, and how cases come together on both the defence and prosecution sides. The courtroom scenes are especially thrilling. Gigl excels at conveying the atmospheric highs and lows of a high profile trial, and she plays the suspense inside the court beautifully against the action scenes happening in tandem outside the courthouse walls. 

Along the way, Gigl explores some lovely themes around gender and identity, working them into McCabe's personal and professional lives. This offers some fascinating insight into the life of a trans character who has transitioned later in life, especially when it comes to the lesser explored challenges facing them in their career. Gigl also examines a wealth of themes around victimhood, surviving abuse, misplaced guilt, justice, and good old fashioned revenge, that add pleasing depth to the thriller elements. And the way she touches on surveillance techniques is chilling!

This is an interesting read, and once the story gets going it really pulls you in. On the whole, the characters are nicely filled out, and although I think the more one-dimensional villains may divide the crowd, I found their old-school badness rather entertaining - and they certainly allow Gigl to get to grips with where she wants to take this book from the start... all the way to the very satisfying epilogue, that made me smile. 

Survivor's Guilt is available to buy now in paperback and ebook.

Thank you to Verve Books for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the author:

Robyn Gigl is the author of the Erin McCabe legal thriller series and an attorney, speaker and activist who has been honored by the ACLU-NJ and the New Jersey Pride Network for her work on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community. Robyn is a partner at Gluck Walrath, LLP in Freehold, New Jersey, where she handles complex commercial and employment litigation. She has been selected as a NJ Super Lawyer since 2010 and as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in NJ in 2020 & 2021. Robyn is a member of the Board of Directors of Garden State Equality, NJ's largest LGBTQ+ Civil Rights Organization. A frequent lecturer on diversity issues, she lives in New Jersey where she continues to practice law by day, and work on her next novel by night. Fortunately, she has a very boring social life.