From Amazon:

One summer night, two men break into an isolated manor house and kill Lady Anne Robinson. Her teenage son, Thomas, convinces the police that Greta Grahame, his father’s beautiful personal assistant, sent the killers, but Thomas is known for his overactive imagination, and he has reasons to lie. Thomas’s father, Sir Peter Robinson, the British minister of defense, refuses to believe his son. Instead, he marries Greta and is prepared to testify for the defense at her trial. He will be the final witness. Who is telling the truth–the new wife or the bereaved son? What will Sir Peter reveal in court?

My Thoughts:

Most mysteries are written from the point of view of the detective or other person investigating a crime, usually murder. The reader guesses who did it by process of elimination, although many authors put a good twist at the end. This book is written from the different points of view of all the characters, each of whom is trying to put himself in the best possible light. It's a lot trickier to figure out who is guilty, who is innocent, who is lying, who is mentally unbalanced. The suspense builds up with the minutes counting down to the final witness, after whose testimony no new evidence can be introduced. The lawyers and police are in the background. The case centers on the family members, who are not exactly likable people. The story begins with a terrifying incident and builds to a frightening climax. I think Mr. Tolkien...who, by the way is the grandson of legendary J.R.R. Tolkien, has done an excellent job with this first novel and I will look for more. ( )

A legal thriller by the grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien. Lots of drama and excitement! ( )

Starting with fairytales, from the youngest ages chldren do almost not hear anything nice about stepmothers.
At first, I did not get the title: in the beginning of the book Thomas was still living with both his parents. Nevertheless I liked the book, very much so, because of the shifting perspectives. So I decided to read on.
I found the long elaborations about the sittings in court quite boring, but otherwise it was a good book. Instinctively I liked Thomas, but during the course of the story my loyalties did fluctuate with the twists and turns of the plot. ( )

This is a well written book, I enjoyed reading it. Interesting story until the end.
Even when they were no Hobbits around :-) ( )

I picked this book up for the reason, I believe, most people would. Simon Tolkien's grandfather is JRR Tolkien of the Lord of the Rings fame. Couple that with the fact that murder mystery is my favourite genre, and this book was a must pickup by me.

In the book, Lady Robinson is murdered by two men who break into her house, The house of the four winds, while her son hiding views it all. Through the evidence supplied through Thomas, the son, Greta Grahame his step mother is indicted on the crime. However to many, including his dad, Thomas's evidence seems fabricated to get back at Greta Grahame. This leads the book to it's main premise the courtcase of Greta Grahame. While this is going on, we cut to narratives of different people around the event, building up a linear story of what went on.

I wasn't expecting this book to be as good as it was. It really drew me in, and I found it really hard to put it down. The pace of this book is brilliant, and Tolkien keeps you second guessing yourself on who to believe. All in all a brilliant piece of narrative. I will be picking up anything more Simon Tolkien releases. ( )

Thomas' mother is killed. He's hiding behind a secret door when she's shot dead. From what he overhears he claims that it's his father's new wife who organised it. She claims innocence. She also claims that it's jealousy motivating him. Who can his father believe. Who does his father want to believe.

The story flips between past and present, between the court case and events that led up to the murder. It shows the complications rife in the story. Powerful and compelling it makes you think about motives and families. ( )

This book was published originally in the USunder the tital of 'Final Witness'. In his first novel, author Simon Tolkien (that Tolkien's grandson) successfully combines legal suspense and psychological tension in this sharply etched portrait of four people whose lives are changed by a murder. Alternating between the trial in London’s Central Criminal Court and private moments among the characters, Tolkien expertly describes the art of the trial, the clash between Britain’s social classes, and, most notably, the complexity of family relations. ( )