I picked this book up because I was intrigued by the idea of reading a legal thriller by J.R.R. Tolkien's grandson. This wound up being a one night read - it's a smoothly flowing book, but I also really wanted to see how it would be resolved - so I stayed up much too late to finish it.You know from the beginning who seems to be the villain, since she's on trial. And it looks as if she did it, but it also looks as if she may get acquitted. So, the whole time I was reading this, I kept asking, "Is this too obvious? Who's lying here? Maybe it was someone else? If she did do it, is she going to get off? And how are the family dynamics going to be resolved?" (yes, I know, that's a LOT of talking to myself while I'm also trying to read).I enjoyed it. Not a profound book, but an enjoyable night's reading.
Audible borrowed CD's library outline to remind me of the storyA gripping courtroom drama combining psychological suspense and political intrigue from the pen of ex-barrister-turned-crime novelist Simon Tolkien, grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien.Sir Peter Robinson hires an assistant Greta Grahame a daughter of a factory worker from Manchester. Who's past is hidden. She did drugs and lost a baby all unknown to Peter Robinson. She marries secretly (And had divorced as well).The son Thomas, a dreamy, book
What do You think about Final Witness (2004)?
I thought it was a pretty good story. Tolkien varies his means of telling it, moving from the witness statement of the son of a murder victim to descriptions of the court case against woman accused of arranging the murder to memories of the various characters. He does a good job of keeping up the mystery of the story by using the court scenes to cast doubt on the boy's testimony and to create sympathy for the accused. The conclusion is a bit rushed and left me wanting a few more chapters to flesh out the relationship between the boy and his father, who had been duped by the accused, but I thought it was an engaging story for the most part.
—Fraser Coltman
I picked out this book because I had heard that his new book, The Inheritance, was coming out, and I was curious to see what else he had written. This book is part mystery and part court room drama. The story started a little bit slow, but picked up after awhile. It was told from the point of view of Thomas, a 16-year-old whose mother is murdered by two intruders and he believes that his father's personal assistant/second wife is behind the murder. I thought his father was a real creep for not believing in him and taking his second wife's side, but he got what was coming to him in the end.
—Carlissa
