By Way of Sorrow

Erin McCabe is a New Jersey criminal defense attorney doing her best to live a quiet life in the wake of a profound personal change — until a newsworthy case puts both her career and her safety in jeopardy...

Erin McCabe has been referred the biggest case of her career. Four months ago, the son of a New Jersey state senator was found fatally stabbed in a rundown motel near Atlantic City. Sharise Barnes, a nineteen-year-old transgender sex worker, is in custody, and there seems little doubt of a guilty verdict. Because Sharise admits she killed the senator's son — in self-defense.

As a trans woman herself, Erin knows that defending Sharise will blow her own private life wide open and doubtless deepen her estrangement from her family. Yet she feels uniquely qualified to help Sharise and duty-bound to protect her from the possibility of a death sentence.

While Erin works with her law partner, former FBI agent Duane Swisher, to build a case, the distraught senator begins using the full force of his influence to publicly discredit everyone involved in defending Sharise. And behind the scenes, his tactics are even more dangerous. For his son had secrets that could destroy his own political aspirations — secrets worth killing for...

'An emotionally resonant debut...Welcome — and quietly groundbreaking' — NYT Book Review

'A compulsively riveting page-turner with a complex heroine, a captivating plot, and no easy answers... One of the best thrillers of the year' — Mystery Scene

'An intelligent and resourceful protagonist with an unusual backstory...Erin's ability to navigate the intricacies of the law is just as fascinating as the subsequent perils she encounters' — Publishers Weekly

'Gigl's accomplishment here is to parse the serious flaws with the legal system by way of subtle characterization and seamless plotting...We get engrossing originality — and a brilliant point in a larger argument for the benefits of greater representation in our beloved genre' — Lambda Literary

'Gigl provides provocative insights into the legal system and the challenges of gender identity' — Booklist