Meet Sasha Stace: a sharp, relentless courtroom lawyer driven by justice and haunted by her past. This gripping crime thriller series plunges deep into a world of betrayal, secrets, and deadly consequences.
Fiercely dedicated to uncovering the truth no matter the cost, Sasha is known for her sharp cross-examination skills. While a determined advocate in the courtroom, behind her legal expertise lies a woman struggling with the complexities of family, trust, and personal sacrifice.
In Best Served Cold, Sasha confronts her mother’s declining health, oversees a search for the son of a man wrongly executed forty years ago, while prosecuting a ruthless businessman for murder. She practices law as a barrister in Christchurch and reluctantly accepts becoming a Queen’s Counsel at the urging of her beloved mentor Mac, also a QC.
In Trust No One Sasha recovers from the trauma of her prosecution case in Christchurch. Feeling shamed, her recovery leads her to seek a fresh start in Sydney. But even in a new city, the weight of her past continues to haunt her. As she fights for justice in what she knows is an unpopular defence of an insurance company, Sasha also fights to know who she can trust and what she might yet lose.
In Presumed Guilty, the loss of Sasha’s mother leads her to return to Christchurch, ready to give up her legal practice to be appointed to the High Court bench. But her world is further shaken when her long-lost daughter reappears, seeking help to defend Sasha’s ex-lover accused of murder. Along the way, Sasha’s sense of justice is tested as she grapples with the ghosts of her past, including a teenage pregnancy she never reconciled with.
They were once on a jury together, forty years ago, when a man was executed for killing his wife. Now three of the four are dead, amid personal vendettas and accusations of dealing in pornography, and the last man standing is arrested for the murders.
It’s up to Sasha Stace QC to secure his conviction. But the case is circumstantial, the trial senLots of really interesting characters. The story reminded me of the “Underbelly” series. A nice balance of court room drama and conflict outside the courtroom. Great to see Christchurch, New Zealand as the setting.sational, and nothing is as it seems. In her fight for justice, Sasha embarks on a course that imperils her life and endangers those she loves.
Best Served Cold is a fast-moving and gripping legal thriller with more twists than the rope that strangles its victims. Be warned.
You would trust a rest/care home – wouldn’t you?
Elderly Sydney Resthome residents die mysteriously in the middle of the night: natural causes or suffocation?
The home’s chairman falls to his death from his clifftop in Watsons Bay: accident, suicide or murder?
In defending the insurance company, who refuses to believe it was an accident and won’t pay out to his widow, feisty Q.C. Sasha Stace takes on much more than an unpopular case.
Surrounded by unknown enemies, not knowing who to believe, she fights for justice and an increasingly frightening and uncertain situation that threatens both her and her family.
Trust no one is a taught thriller full of excitement and rich in surprising twists that will keep you turning the pages light into the night. Who will you trust?
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 out 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.
Here’s what, Craig Sisterson, founder and former judge of the NZ Ngaio Marsh crime writing awards had to say:
While the New Zealand criminal justice system might be simpler on the surface, with less room for graft and corruption to fester, McGinn shows that there can still be plenty of drama. Presumed Guilty is a very good read that drew me in early, and I thoroughly enjoyed throughout. The combination of interesting, flawed characters, and an intriguing storyline both in and out of the courtroom, had me kicking myself for not getting to McGinn’s Sasha Stace books earlier (this is the third in the series).
Sasha Stace is a middle-aged woman with a great reputation as a criminal lawyer. She’s a QC, or Queen’s Counsel, which is a high-ranking honour awarded to only the most eminent lawyers. But in Presumed Guilty, she’s ready to throw it all away after she successfully defends a sleazy politician on a sex charge. Questioning herself professionally and personally, she’s tempted by a new opportunity to become a judge (note: judges are appointed based on experience and merit in New Zealand, like elsewhere in the Commonwealth, rather than being elected by locals as they are in some places in the United States, or a career track you specifically study for like some places in continental Europe).
But then one last case crops up. One Sasha Stace isn’t sure she wants to take. Her ex, a journalist who’s often called politicians and police to account for their actions, is accused of murdering his wife. A fellow journalist who he left Sasha for, years before. While Sasha wants to believe the man she knew would never do anything like that, she also knows that he’s capable of obscuring the truth.
Can she trust him? Should she defend him? And if she does, how can she possibly save him when the police and politicians are bringing everything to bear to convict him. Justice, or payback?
Throw in the sudden reappearance of the daughter Sasha adopted out decades ago, and the failing health of her father-like mentor, and Sasha is tip-toeing through an emotional and legal minefield.
I really liked this book. It was a great page-turner, where McGinn drew me in well and made sure I really wanted to know how the legal case would turn out (had Sasha’s ex done it or not? where would the verdict fall, regardless?). But there is also more to Presumed Guilty. The character of Sasha Stace is a fascinating one. She’s a top lawyer, but very human – she makes mistakes, has doubts, is affected by her past and needs to work through her own issues while trying to help others. She’s strong without being rigid or superhuman – a character that is easy to follow and empathise with.
I also enjoyed the cast around Stace, who had layers and weren’t just moving pieces. There was a real sense of believability with many of the relationships, professional and personal, and even if events were dramatic (as you want in good fiction), they felt organic and ‘fitted’ the world McGinn has created, rather than feeling forced by the author for plot reasons. Some nice shades of grey among the ‘heroes’ and antagonists. People clash not just because they’re good/bad, but because they’re people.
Overall I found Presumed Guilty to be a really engaging read that was a pleasant surprise: a top quality Kiwi legal thriller. I’ll definitely be going back to read the other Sasha Stace books.
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