Last Witness: The brand new 2024 crime thriller that will keep you up all night

In "Last Witness," DCI Robin Lyons investigates the murder of Ben Renshaw, who was found dead in city woodland. Months earlier, Ben and his best friend testified against a former classmate, Alistair Heywood, who was sent to prison for a sexual assault. The Heywoods vowed revenge, and Ben's murder may be the fulfillment of that vow. Robin must navigate the city's networks of power while also dealing with her own daughter's secret, which could threaten her liberty and Robin's career.

Format: Hardback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 25 April 2024
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co

Every interview crackles with tension, and LAST WITNESS serves up a final double whammy that few readers will see coming. The TIMES aptly describes it as "exactly what great crime fiction should be: smart, twisty, shocking, and compassionate." SARAH HILARY praises the novel as "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.

Weight: 606g
Dimension: 243 x 163 x 34 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781398709249