Merlot Publishing, RRP $32.99
With a sour taste in her mouth after a client’s acquittal,
feisty attorney Sasha Stace grabs the offer of a coveted judgeship. But the
baby girl she adopted thirty years ago unexpectedly enters her life, pleading
for help to defend Sasha’s ex-lover, accused of a brutal murder. The trial pits
her against a deceitful and grudge-holding prosecutor while Sasha’s
investigator, a man she yearns for, is convinced her ex is guilty.
In a trial of twists and setbacks in and out of the
courtroom, achieving justice requires Sasha to be dogged in her determination
to uncover others’ dark secrets, but this will leave her exposed to paying a
terrible price.
Presumed Guilty has been longlisted for the 2017 Ngaio Marsh
award for best New Zealand crime fiction.
‘A captivating and superbly plotted courtroom drama.’
About the author:
Christchurch human resources consultant, Mark McGinn, is the
author of three previous novels, Deceit, Trust No One and Best Served Cold. His
latest novel, Presumed Guilty, is a contemporary NZ story (set in a time where
Treaty settlements were being debated) with the editor of a newspaper accused
of the murder of his wife, who was an editor of an investigative magazine.
‘With this novel, I’d remembered being fascinated with how
the principle of editorial independence worked in practice, how a media
organisation dependent on private sector funding could, if it saw fit, publicly
call to account one of its big advertisers. It was only a short step from that
to have an editor accuse the police and local prosecutor of incompetence which
set the foundation for the investigation of the editor and his subsequent
trial.’
McGinn says he worked in the court system for many years
before becoming a recruitment consultant and his intimate knowledge of criminal
jury trials together with his knowledge of psychological assessments have
informed his writing. ‘The trick is not to become too engrossed with technical
detail in legal thrillers. You need to demonstrate to readers you know what
you’re writing about, but keep the plot moving and build the characters, not
bore them witless with details that don’t advance the plot.”
With crime writing burgeoning in New Zealand, McGinn wanted
to have a point of difference. ‘Not many are writing legal thrillers in this
part of the world. Another difference is that I wanted to have a strong female
character (Sasha Stace QC) as a protagonist as this genre has largely been dominated
by male characters in the past.’
Mark McGinn lives in Christchurch, NZ with his family.
During a lengthy career in the New Zealand court system, Mark had the privilege
of seeing some of the finest lawyers and judges in action in many notable criminal
jury trials. That experience and his subsequent background in psychological
assessment has enriched and driven his crime writing. More information at: www.mcginncrime.com
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