Last Witness
One murder, three families destroyed
And a detective guilty of a crime of her own
When 18-year-old Ben Renshaw is found dead in city woodland, DCI Robin Lyons is plunged into one of Birmingham’s most controversial cases.
Months earlier, Ben and his best friend gave testimony that sent a former classmate, Alistair Heywood, to prison for a vicious sexual assault. Before the trial, the boys and their families endured months of brutal witness intimidation, for which the Heywoods, a privileged and influential local family, faced no legal repercussions. Instead, they vowed revenge.
Is Ben’s murder the fulfilment of that vow, the beginning of a bloody new chapter that will go on claim lives on all sides? Or is the truth – as the Heywoods claim – something entirely different?
To solve the case, Robin has to negotiate the city’s networks of power while walking a dangerous line: her own daughter, Lennie, has a secret that could threaten her liberty – and, if it comes out, Robin’s, too. Before long, Robin comes to question whether she knows what justice is at all.
Book page: https://www.orionbooks.co.uk/titles/lucie-whitehouse/last-witness/9781398709270/
My Review:
This is the last stop in the #TeamLyons blog tour that reviews all the books in this series.
This is a book you can read as a stand-alone, but reading them in order will make you appreciate the evolution of Robin, a single mother and homicide investigator who moved from London to Birmingham, and of the main characters in this series.
The author deals with some very sensitive issues like sexual abuse, entitlement, misogyny. It brings you to dark places and into the centre of human darkness.
I started it while I was travelling and I was so engrossed that only the name of the stations made me realize time was passing.
Robin’s life is as complex as usual: she’s a woman who is part of a complex family, she’s attracted to her boss who’s married and is a former lover. Her daughter is a teenager who is involved in the trial of her uncle and is not very happy.
This is the behind-the-scenes look at a complex and highly political investigation. There are twists, red herrings, and a possible culprit related to the victim‘s social activity.
The author is an excellent storyteller, and I was kept turning pages and guessing.
Loved it, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the author, Orion and Compulsive Readers for this ARC; all opinions are mine.
Lucie Whitehouse is the author of seven novels, including the Birmingham-set Robin Lyons crime series of which Last Witness is the third. Her novels of psychological suspense include Before We Met, which was a Richard & Judy Summer Book Club and ITV Crime Thriller Book Club selection, and The Bed I Made, which was a Channel 4/TV Book Club pick. The previous Robin Lyons novel, Risk Of Harm, was a Sunday Times Crime Novel of the Month. Lucie grew up in Warwickshire, studied Classics at Oxford and worked in publishing in London before moving to Brooklyn where she now lives with her husband and daughter.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lucie-Whitehouse…
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/885506.Lucie_Whitehouse
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LWhitehouse5
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