The Accomplice: The gripping, must-read thriller (Eddie Flynn Series)

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The Accomplice sees Flynn & Brooks take on client Carrie Miller, wife of notorious serial killer The Sandman. Carrie claims she knew nothing about her husband’s night-time pursuits but she’s being put on trial as his accomplice – as witness statements emerge of sightings of two people in the victim’s vicinity at the time of the killings. Nobody, except Eddie and his team, believes that and so the race is on to defend her from being convicted. The courtroom had no natural light. A concrete box filled with loss, hate, betrayal, murder, corruption and lies. It was the great theatre of human weakness.” But with his wife on trial the Sandman is forced to come out of hiding to save her from a life sentence. He will kill to protect her and everyone involved in the case is a target.

Gabriel Lake used to be a federal agent, before someone tried to kill him. Now, he’s an investigator with a vendetta against the Sandman. He’s the only one who can catch him, because he believes that everything the FBI knows about serial killers is wrong. Fictional legal eagles are flying high these days – just look at how successful the recent Netflix adaptation of Michael Connelly’s The Lincoln Lawyer has been. And then we have Eddie Flynn, creation of Northern Irish author Steve Cavanagh, featuring here in the seventh book of a series that’s garnered awards, high praise and oodles of sales. Eddie Flynn is approached by fellow lawyer Otto Peltier to defend Carrie Miller in her murder trial, due to start in a few days. Peltier is not a criminal defence lawyer, he specialises in estate law, commercial/property law and the odd divorce. So as well as a clever legal thriller, we get the added bonus of a serial killer. I love a good serial killer book. This killer is vicious, and takes his victims eyes as trophy’s, leaving behind sand in their place. I will never hear Mr Sandman, bring me a dream the same way again. Glad to return to the world of Steve Cavanagh and the Eddie Flynn legal thrillers, I turned to the latest instalment of the series. Cavanagh takes an interesting approach to the law and investigation in a piece that shows just how on the ball the author can be when it comes to the world of serial killers. A strong story and great characters help elevate the book and make me yearn for more as soon as possible.Eddie has been hired for the case after the original lawyer, Otto Peltier, finds himself over his head in such a serious case. Eddie’s only rule when deciding whether to take cases is that he must be convinced the defendant is innocent. But when the rest of the country is baying for his client’s blood, convinced she is as guilty as her husband, it’s clear that this is going to be an emotional case. What they NEVER could have anticipated was that the Sandman is willing to come out of hiding to save Carrie-he loves her and he never expected her to be arrested in his place! The strength of the story is founded in Cavanagh’s ability to cobble together a powerful narrative, as is usually the case. He uses this as a means of leading the reader along a path that keeps the momentum going and provides a collection of stunning revelations along the way. Great characters, whose presence make for a more entertaining read, return and provide some lighter banter at times, as the subject matter is quite intense. Plot twists and reveals help the reader remain on the edge of their seat and leave little room for mass predictability. I have always enjoyed when Steve Cavanagh writes and will eagerly await his next book, which I hope is in the works now! With his wife on trial, the Sandman is forced to come out of hiding to save her from a life sentence. He will kill to protect her and everyone involved in the case is a target. Her lawyer, Otto Peltier, is in over his head, so when he can’t cut a deal for his client, he implores Eddie’s team to take over. His partner Kate believes that Carrie is another of her husband’s Victims, and that she is innocent- and she wants the case!

Book six, The Devil’s Advocate, earned five stars on Crime Fiction Lover, where it was declared “the best Eddie Flynn book yet” – so does The Accomplice manage to reach that very high bar? I was itching to find out. The serial killer dubbed “The Sandman” is one of the most cunning and cruel murderers that the FBI has ever faced. After brutally killing his Victims, he removes their eyes for his souvenirs replacing them with sand-and takes their jewelry for Carrie.There's plenty you won't see coming (and it's all the better for it). This is easily my favourite of Steve's books The Accomplice by Steve Cavanagh will be published in Australia by Hachette in late July 2022, though is available now elsewhere.

Now this book is set in the usual Steve Cavanagh style, with chapters from the killer’s point of view interspersed amongst the trial scenes and those in which Eddie and the team try to get to the bottom of the case. This was the one thing which both did and didn’t quite work for me with this story. We knew who the killer was, even if they were missing, but with chapters told from their perspective it made me start to question whether this wasn’t just the most elaborate double bluff. But if things weren’t quite as expected, then just what was in play? I did guess the truth, the big reveal, ahead of the story, but that wasn’t an issue. Watching Eddie slowly come to the same realisations, seeing the threat impacting them all, was where the true impact of the book is felt. If anything it made them more acutely aware of what was at risk and the scenes in the courtroom played out in the usual mix of tension and entertainment. Eddie Flynn is a showman, but a skilled on. This case was no different. Okay. So if I worked with Eddie Flynn, I’d be making sure that I had a really good life insurance policy. Assuming I could even get a life insurance policy that is. It’s fair to say that where Eddie goes, trouble with follow, and if it’s not Eddie, it’s those around them who end up in the crossfire. This is definitely the case with The Accomplice where Eddie and the team come face to face (sort of) with a killer who will stop at nothing to ensure his co-defendant is found not guilty. Even if that means breaking cover to commit more murder. This was a fast paced, high stakes, full on tension kind of read – just the way I like it. The characterisation is tremendous and I really like the introduction of Gabriel Lake, ex FBI agent who joins the tightknit family team of Eddie and Co. He is a fascinating conundrum. The bond of Eddie’s team is terrific , when they’re down so are you and when they’re up you cheer with them. But The Sandman, AKA Daniel Miller, isn’t home. Instead, his wife Carrie is there alone, professing no knowledge of what her husband has been up to. Delaney is moved by the obviously shaken woman’s protestations of innocence, until the search team finds something that makes the agent see Carrie from another angle – and to immediately arrest her. Soon Carrie Miller is the most hated woman in America, and in the absence of her multi-murdering husband all eyes are trained on her forthcoming trial as an accomplice to his crimes.

While Eddie is hesitant to take the case, he’s persuaded by something deep inside him. Preparing to defend her on charges of being an accomplice to murder, Eddie knows that it will be an uphill battle, exacerbated by the fact that his client has skipped bail. Add to that The Sandman is lurking in the shadows and still killing, when he makes a bold move; kidnapping one of Eddie’s team members and promising to release her only when Carrie is exonerated. He has created an amazing character, Eddie Flynn, and his books are each one better than the other!

The courtroom is his playground again where he tries to find explanations for all the accusations she is facing and tear down the witness accounts and evidence. There is the fact that there was a little blood found on her sleeve for example. I loved Eddie’s creative mind (I don’t even care if it’s actually allowed in court) and how he can twist everything so that it all makes perfect sense and that he gets what he wants. There’s a restaurant scene which was magnificent, it killed two birds with one stone and plastered a huge smile on my face. Eddie is a creative guy, I can’t underline that enough :-). :-).I came late to the Steve Cavanagh party with ‘Fifty Fifty’ – book five in the Eddie Flynn series. I’m glad to have turned up late rather than never at all – as Eddie and his team are fantastic characters with numerous twists in their tale. I thought we’d hit peak Flynn with the last book but I've been proved wrong. And that, my friends, is where Eddie Flynn comes in. Carrie already has a high profile lawyer on the case, but Otto Peltier is used to dealing with tax havens and other such financial matters for his mega-rich clients. He’s savvy enough to realise that he’s out of his depth, and turns to Eddie and his team for help. If Carrie is innocent, can they turn the tide of hatred thats flowing around her and prove it?