Rasandi Ranasinghe
Fifty Fifty: The Mystery Behind ‘SHE’
I have come to realize that I not only enjoy reading crime thrillers, but they’re practically the only genre I have read aside from a couple of self-help books for a long time. The last time I read a romance novel was in 2022, and even that one wasn’t really about romance.
I think I finally know the reason. As I read mostly on screens rather than physical books, I get the urge to continue reading despite the severe headaches and sore eyes when I’m reading a novel about a mystery. I desperately want to know how things happened, who committed the crime, and most of all, whether I can unravel the mystery before the protagonist does.
I actually read a book before ‘Fifty Fifty’. Another murder mystery with a very unique writing style but I think I’d get canceled if I write its name here because it is very direct about the story’s contents. Anyway, on to the main point of the article, ‘Fifty Fifty.’ It is the fifth book of the Eddie Flynn series by well-known author Steve Cavanagh. I didn’t even realize it was part of a series until after I’d finished it. I knew Steve Cavanagh from his most popular book, ‘Thirteen’ which is also a part of the same series, but I gave ‘Fifty Fifty’ a shot before ‘Thirteen’.
Fifty Fifty is about two sisters, Alexandra Avellino and Sofia Avellino, who accuse each other of murdering their father, Frank Avellino. They both found their father dead in his bedroom and called 911 on each other. Both say the same thing: “My dad’s dead. My sister killed him. She’s still in the house. Please send help”. Everyone who got entangled in the case except the two sisters is in the dark. They didn’t know what the truth was. There was a literal ‘Fifty Fifty’ chance that the law would catch the real killer. The book can be called a ‘Legal Thriller’ as some people suggest because a bigger part of the story unfolds from a lawyer’s perspective and with great detail to the courtroom work relevant to a high-profile murder case. There are bits of humor, plenty of drama and a structure that keeps you guessing.
The book is definitely a good one, but it took me two weeks to get through. Although many review it as a fast-paced book my personal opinion is that the book’s pace is too slow. Even so, I liked how the story has multiple perspectives, multiple POVs, even though some reviewers didn’t like it much.
The main narrator of the story is Eddie Flynn, a defense Attorney who gets to be the lawyer representing Sofia Avellino. And there are a couple of other narrators as well. A woman called Kate Brooks, a rookie lawyer. You don’t realize why her parts are even necessary until you’re more than halfway through the book. Kate Brook’s character represents women working in the corporate world and highlight’s themes like misogyny and patriarchy both in the legal as well as other fields.
Then there’s another significant narrator called ‘SHE‘ whose name isn’t revealed till the end of the book because that’s the Killer.
As Eddie’s story was told in First person it was pretty easy to follow and get through. Kate’s story was sometimes dull in my opinion, but she had the most depth and layers in her own personal story. And about SHE, the more I read the SHE’s parts the sicker I felt, that woman is the epitome of evil. Sometimes I had to read twice to grasp what she had done because some things she does aren’t easy to even read let alone imagine if you are human.
This is the type of book where you don’t really know what to expect. You don’t know who will survive or who to trust. You don’t know if you’re rooting for the good sister or the bad one. But if you’re a seasoned thriller reader you’ll somehow figure out who the killer is. It is somewhat predictable. But again, your thoughts will sync with Eddie Flynn, and you’ll second-guess just like, “Did I guess it right?”
The book has Fifty-six interesting chapters, some short and some long and no part felt like an unnecessary filler. But still the book lacked emotional depth. The kind I’ve been looking for in every book since A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. It wasn’t there. I didn’t cry with the characters, maybe as others say it IS fast paced. So much so that it doesn’t grow on you emotionally.
In my opinion, a truly great book in this genre is one that traumatizes you, the kind that lingers in your mind and leaves you unable to think about anything else for at least a week. But I didn’t feel it in this book. Nor in any other mystery thriller I read so far in 2025.
Also, I feel like for a book released in 2020 the plot twist is a bit clichéd. It would’ve been much more interesting if the story took a wild turn as I anticipated but it didn’t. I have a feeling that his other books in the series are better than this one, but I can’t jump to any conclusion till I really read them myself.
But for now, I hope to change my usual habit of reading only ‘murder mysteries’ and try something ‘different’.
While I explore the other genres maybe you could give this one a try. Fall into a ‘Steve Kavanagh Rabbit Hole’ as some readers say, maybe you’ll like it and maybe you’ll find answers to the gripping fifty fifty chaos before anyone (for the record, I guessed it right all along but was sure only halfway through the book)
Alright, if I say any more about the novel, you’ll figure out who the killer is even before reading the book. So, I will stop here with the classic saying “Never judge a book by its Cover!” Happy Reading!
