Author Talk: Trial and Error with Lisa Denig

If you are a fan of twisty legal drama intertwined with complicated family dynamics, join Lisa Denig in a discussion of her debut novel, Trial and Error.

Katie Richter is a divorced mom of two teenage girls, working full time during the day and attending law school at night, all while fighting to keep her younger daughter from spiraling into a life of partying and drug use. When Katie finally graduates from law school and begins working as an Assistant District Attorney, one of her daughters is murdered. She is forced to reckon with her guilt over this tragedy as well as the ethical dilemma she faces when she realizes her surviving daughter might commit perjury to secure the killer’s conviction. Trial and Error is reminiscent of William Landay’s Defending Jacob but evokes the tone and style of Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere, with a focus on the fraught relationships that often evolve between a driven single mother and her coming-of-age daughters.

Lisa Denig currently serves as Commissioner of Human Resources for Westchester County, NY and is an adjunct professor at the Elizabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. Prior to this Ms. Denig was legal counsel to the Chief Judge of the State of New York, Bureau Chief of Special Litigation in the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, law clerk to the Honorable Lisa Margaret Smith, and Chief of Staff to the Putnam County Executive; she also taught Criminal Law at Westchester Community College and Monroe College In 2020, Ms. Denig was named Attorney Innovator of the Year by the New York Law Journal and was presented with the Pioneer Award from the NY County Lawyers Association in 2021. 

Ms. Denig is the proud parent of two grown daughters and four lovable, but poorly trained, rescue dogs. Trial and Error is a Finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.