Steve Cavanagh on his new book 'One of us is guilty'
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Pat Kenny Show. With Timber Living Log Cabins. Saturday and Sunday from 10am. On Newstalk. Conversation that counts. For fans of Eddie Flynn, the conman turned lawyer, hero of nine novels, I have a treat for you. He's back. One of Us is Guilty sees Eddie embroiled in a new case with so many twists and turns that it'll keep you turning the page. And the author of the series, Steve Kavanagh, joins me now. Steve, good morning and welcome. Good morning, Pat. Thanks so much for having me back on the show.
What is the premise of One of Us Is Guilty and who is Eddie Flynn?
Well, I'm delighted to have you back because it does mark the arrival of a new Eddie Flynn. And I'm sure by now you're probably writing number 11.
Well, I'm actually having a little break from Eddie Flynn next year. There'll be a standalone next year. But I'm delighted to be talking to people about this book. One of us is guilty. It's great to see fans are enjoying Eddie Flynn.
Now, you might as well tell us a little bit about the plot. As I say, it's full of twists and turns, so we can't give too much away, but we can set the scene.
We can indeed. So this book focuses on a particularly toxic power couple in New York, Patrick and Vanessa. Patrick is the son to a father who is a media mogul who's in no way based on Rupert Murdoch. I have to say that for legal reasons. But Patrick is running for governor of New York. But being one of these rich and powerful people who think they can get away with anything, he's having an affair. And the book opens with a discovery. He makes one night in his mistress's apartment. He finds out she's been lying to him from the very beginning and could ruin him. On that very same night, Patrick's wife, Vanessa, who has her own agenda, discovers that her husband has been having an affair. We know they've both been in the apartment that night, and we know in the morning the mistress is found murdered.
One of them is guilty. Which one?
And that's Eddie's job. Now, Eddie, he's a con man, which means that he's a bit of a chancer, a bit of a deceiver, I suppose. That's the nature of what he was. But yet, as a lawyer, he will not defend anyone that he suspects might actually be guilty.
Correct. He has this ironclad moral code because he believes that the justice system is biased and heavily weighted in favor of the state. And he will exert all of his skills and wily cunning to help defend the innocent people who become trapped by it.
Now, one of the things you told me last time is when you set your books in New York, you don't have to waste time as a writer in describing New York because everybody creates their own New York in their mind's eye based on either being there on a visit or living there or indeed just seeing New York on telly again and again.
Exactly. It's a great city to set a high concept thriller because anything can happen there. And I give a really good sense of the city and its politics and its people and its architecture and the pace of that city as well. But I don't have to spend an awful long time doing it in the books because everyone, as you say, has a very good sense of that city anyway. So it allows me to get the plot and the characters moving and get more action in there.
Now, your characters. There's one character missing this time around, and we know why from the last book, and that's Kate Brooks. Too principled, really, to continue with Eddie.
She was a very straight-laced, proper lawyer, a young idealistic lawyer. And I think the way Eddie practices law brushed up against her and caused some conflict. Her father was a former police officer. So she still has this romantic idea that rules apply and you should try and stick to the rules. So there was some conflict there.
Now, when I look at your cast of characters, I'm asking myself, why isn't the Eddie Flynn series on telly?
Yes, I ask myself that regularly.
And what's the answer? I mean, I'm sure your agent is offering Eddie Flynn to all sorts of producers. I mean, I could see it being snapped up by Netflix or by Amazon Prime or Prime Video, as they now call it. It's just made for television.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:35
2
What is the premise of One of Us Is Guilty and who is Eddie Flynn?
0:35–4:54
3
How does the book open and what is the central murder mystery?
4:54–9:11
4
What moral code drives Eddie Flynn as a con-man-turned-lawyer?
9:11–11:09
5
Why does Steve Cavanagh set his thrillers in New York and how does it shape the story?
11:09–11:18