Steve Cavanagh, a former Belfast solicitor turned crime writer, has released his tenth novel featuring conman-turned-lawyer Eddie Flynn, having now sold more than five million books worldwide and reached the Sunday Times bestseller list. He says the idea began while cross-examining a witness in court, when he realised that con artists and trial lawyers rely on the same tools of misdirection, persuasion and manipulation, a insight that shaped his central character.

Cavanagh, who grew up on Palestine Street in south Belfast and started writing in his mid-30s after his mother's death, was rejected by more than 50 agents before landing a book deal, and wrote under his mother's maiden name as a tribute to her. His debut, The Defence, sold modestly, and its publication day saw him sign copies in Bangor police custody suite after a client's case; it was his breakout novel Thirteen that transformed his career, prompting him to leave law for full-time writing in 2019.