By Way of Sorrow, Hardcover/Robyn Gigl

"Emotionally resonant...Gigl is too astute and compassionate a writer to create cartoon villainy out of anti-trans attitudes...quietly groundbreaking." --The New York Times Book Review In a fresh and riveting thriller debut, Robyn Gigl introduces Erin McCabe, a New Jersey criminal defense attorney doing her best to live a quiet life in the wake of profound personal change--until a newsworthy case puts both her career and safety in jeopardy . . . Erin McCabe has been referred the biggest case of her career. Four months ago, William E. Townsend, Jr., 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 prostitute, is in custody, and given the evidence against her, there seems little doubt of a guilty verdict. Erin knows that defending Sharise will blow her own private life wide open, and doubtless deepen her estrangement from her family. Yet as a trans woman, she feels uniquely qualified to help Sharise, and duty-bound to protect her from the possibility of a death sentence. Sharise claims she killed the senator's son in self-defense. As Erin assembles the case with her partner, former FBI agent Duane Swisher, the circumstances hint at a more complex and chilling story with ties to other brutal murders. Senator Townsend is using the full force of his prestige and connections to publicly discredit everyone involved in defending Sharise. Behind the scenes, his tactics are even more dangerous. His son had secrets that could destroy the senator's political aspirations--secrets worth killing for. And as leads begin mysteriously disappearing, it's not just the life of Erin's client at stake, but her own . . . About author(s): Robyn Gigl , the author of BY WAY OF SORROW, is an attorney, speaker and activist who has been honored by the ACLU-NJ and the NJ Pride Network for her work on behalf of the LGBTQ community. Appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court to the Court's Committee on Diversity Inclusion and Community Engagement, she's practiced law for more than 40 years, representing clients in state and federal courts. She also is active in the New Jersey State Bar Association where she is a member of the Diversity Committee, the Women in the Profession Section and a Past Chair of the Bar's LGBT Rights Section. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of Garden State Equality, NJ's largest LGBTQ Civil Rights Organization. A frequent lecturer on diversity issues, she lives in New Jersey and can be found online at RobynGigl.com or on Twitter @RobynGigl.