Final Witness, Simon Tolkien
Final Witness, Simon Tolkien
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Final Witness

Author: Simon Tolkien

Narrator: Simon Tolkien

Unabridged: 10 hr 6 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/16/2017


Synopsis

One summer night, two men break into an isolated manor house and kill Lady Anne Robinson. Her son, Thomas, convinces the police that 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 his assistant, Greta Grahame, and will be giving evidence for the defense at her trial. He will be the final witness. Author Simon Tolkien 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. Who is telling the truth—the new wife or the bereaved son? What will Sir Peter tell the court? With tantalizing ambiguity, Tolkien keeps listeners guessing about the true motivations of these characters until the final witness.

About Simon Tolkien

Simon Tolkien was born in England in 1959 and grew up in a small village outside Oxford. His grandfather was J.R.R. Tolkien, professor of philology and the author of The Lord of the Rings. Simon was educated by Benedictine monks at Downside School, and then went on to Oxford University, where he studied Modern History at Trinity College. Since 1994, he has been a successful barrister in London, specializing in criminal justice, where, according to British custom, he regularly appears on behalf of both the prosecution and the defense. His wife, Tracy, is an American who owns a vintage clothing store in Kings Road, Chelsea. They have two children and live in London.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Chris on December 15, 2007

Fairly intriguing plot and some interesting, authentic courtroom scenes (the author is a barrister). The writing, however, is weak. There are a lot of pointless flashbacks and redundant exposition. It was a bad sign that on the back of the book cover, instead of quotes of praise or a plot summary, t......more

Goodreads review by Filip on August 12, 2022

First things first: Simon Tolkien has a really weird nipple fetish. Secondly, this really wasn't a *mystery* novel per se as from the very beginning we know what happened and how and we have a pretty good idea who was behind it. It was more of a courtroom drama, but I didn't mind that. After a relati......more

Goodreads review by Mary on June 18, 2024

Very well written, didn't want to put it down!......more

Goodreads review by Iman on January 29, 2018

not amazing, not terrible; reasonably engaging......more

Goodreads review by Jean on August 03, 2017

Simon Tolkien, grandson of the better known J.R.R. Tolkien of Lord of the Rings renown, wrote this book in 2002. The story is of an ambitious English politician who neglects both his wife and son in the family country estate while he and his smart assistant spend a lot of time together in London and......more