DCI Robin Lyons is back, and back with a bang! So many twists and turns making you think all sorts until finally all is revealed. So clever, compulsive reading. Highly recommend.

My thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

A welcome return for DCI Robin Lyons in the third book of the series- it can be read as a stand-alone but the first two are great and fill in a lot of context. Here she investigates the murder of teenager Ben Renshaw, who is already known to Robin as he and his best friend had given testimony leading to the conviction of a fellow student for raping a female classmate. The accused came from a rich and influential local family, the Heywards, who have been brutally intimidating the boys and their families leading up to the trial, and who have vowed to get revenge, so they are the obvious suspects when Ben is killed- but are things as straightforward as they seem? This is an intriguing and well-paced story that touches on some very topical themes- the difficulties of getting justice for rape victims, toxic sexuality and the culture in some private schools of entitlement and abuse of power amongst the wealthy. Robin is a likeable and believable character, finding this case particularly close to home as her own teenage daughter, Lenny, prepares to be a witness in the trial of Robin’s brother, who injured a police officer at a white supremacy march at which Lenny was protesting. She is also still trying to come to terms with her feelings for her boss and former lover, Samir, with whom she shares a secret that could destroy both their careers. Thoughtful and sympathetic, this is essential reading for anyone who enjoys a complex and well-written crime procedural with strong, convincing characters and absorbing back stories.

Those who enjoy reading about Lucie Whitehouse’s very human detective, DCI Robin Lyons, will be delighted that another story featuring a Birmingham crime and her personal life in equal measures has been published.
This time Robin is looking for a possible link to a rape case conviction. Alistair, youngest son of the powerful Heywood family, is serving time for a brutal sexual assault on Molly, a girl at his school. Her friends Ben and Theo testified against him and the three have set up a website encouraging others to speak out if they have been raped. When Ben is found murdered, it looks like the Heywoods must be connected one way or another. But are they?
Meanwhile, Robin is also negotiating difficult times with her teenage daughter, Lennie, who has recently been caught up in a far right demonstration. Lennie’s uncle awaits trial for his part in the fracas. Never close to Robin, it’s quite possible that he will implicate her daughter.
Robin’s boss, Samir, continues to be his usual supportive self, defending her against an impossibly short deadline in which to solve the crime. Samir’s wife wants to get to know Robin a little better; after all, the latter was her husband’s first serious girlfriend many years ago. But is this her only reason for doing so?
Lucie Whitehouse continues this series most successfully. Readers who enjoy a focus on relatable people as part of a murder mystery will appreciate ‘Last Witness’ – and the stories that come before.
My thanks to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair

This is a great crime procedure/mystery thriller read. It continues the DCI Lyons series, however, it can easily be read as a stand alone. A storyline that covers some very relevant subjects with sensitivity

I’ve read and enjoyed the previous books in the DCI Robin Lyons series so was looking forward to the third in the series.
In Last Witness, Robin is investigating the murder of 18 year old student Ben Renshaw as well as juggling her own family challenges.
Overall I enjoyed this, I liked the police procedural aspect and I was drawn into Robin’s family life ; her relationships with her daughter Lennie and her brother Luke. However it is a very slow burn thriller and it would have benefited from a more pacy narrative. I found that there were far too many characters and I did become a little confused at times. I do feel that I’m now invested in the characters especially Robin and Lennie so I will definitely continue reading this series.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital Arc
3.5 stars

I’ve read all of Lucie Whitehouse’s books - they are always gripping reads and great examples of thrillers. Last Witness is the latest instalment in the series featuring Robyn Lyons, a detective based in Birmingham.

I really enjoyed Last Witness - there is a complex crime to be solved whilst Robyn is also dealing with her personal life and the repercussions of her daughter Lennie’s actions in the last book. I enjoyed the way the book dealt with themes of privilege (private schools) and the aftermath of sexual assaults.

As I reached the end of the book I was shocked by the resolution of one of the storylines and overall found the resolution of the various crimes to be unpredictable. I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a crime and police procedural novel particularly if you like a strong female characters.

What a brilliant book. It was dark, interesting and engaging. There was a lot going in and a pot of characters and such to keep track of but once you get invested then it's pretty easy to keep up. I flew through it in a day and just couldn't wait to see what happened next. A perfect mix of thriller/ mystery and police procedural

'Last Witness' is an excellent, enthralling, dark and twisting read from Whitehouse. Something about this gripped me from the start and I devoured this book incredibly quickly. The plot is very dark but also thrilling and gripping and I was desperately reading to see what was going to happen next. There was the perfect balance between dramatic scenes and quieter, police scenes.
I really liked Whitehouse's characters, Robin in particular was a great addition and I enjoyed seeing the real side of her as well as the police side. All of the characters are strong and they all felt realistic which helped make the plot feel realistic.
This was an excellent read that I highly recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orion for an advance copy.

I did enjoy this book, though there were a lot of different things going on in the story at once. On the whole, it was an easy read that did have more than one person who you could have picked to be the murderer though in the end it was left to a choice of either or.

I thought the ending was a bit rushed with a feeling of "tie up all the loose ends". It was the first Lucie Whitehouse book that I had read and I think it might be a good idea to have met DCI Robin Lyons beforehand so that I would have known some of the previous history of the characters.

The storyline was quite appropriate to the times we live in.

A brilliant story which had my gripped from the start. I love the character of DCI Lyons and I look forward to reading more about her

Took me a while to get into but after several attempts i was sucked in. Great mystery/thriller, dark and twisty. My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy. So glad i persevered.

I've read a number of Lucie Whitehouse books in the past so was looking forward to this one
A body has been found in the woods, which links to another case
I found the characters and storyline a bit hard to keep track of in this one, and it didn't grip me the way some of the previous books have.

This was a solid police procedural, the first one I’ve read by this author but elements of the story clearly referred to previous stories which didn’t stop me enjoying it but I think it’s probably more fully enjoyed if you’ve read the previous ones. This was a great idea for a story due to the backstory of the teenage murder victim who was a witness to a rape and suffered a lot of harassment and worse prior to the trial. This had some really good characters in it from the teenagers trying to help other victims of sexual assault, to the family of the boy who was convicted of rape - in fact their story took on a brilliant twist. Then there’s the families and police staff though most especially DCI Robyn Lyons who has her own personal stresses going on. The story is well woven and there’s a surprising outcome. I’d definitely look out for the next in the series .

This is my 200th book of the year and the one which has allowed me to hit my Goodreads Reading Challenge target and boy what a way to hit that goal!

This is genuinely one of the best crime novels I have ever read and, as you can see, I read a lot of them!

This is my first book by the author and I requested this not realising it was part of an on-going series. Whilst, like most such series, you can read this as a standalone, there has clearly been some backstory and character development that I have missed out on so whilst I would recommend going back and reading the previous two (I think) novels, you definitely don't need to.

In this novel, Ben Renshaw is found dead and a murder investigation is quickly started. The list of suspects doesn't take long to fill given that Ben recently gave testimony in the rape trial of Alistair Heywood which led to his conviction. The Heywood's are a well known, successful family in the local community and are still adamant that Alistair was wrongly convicted.

However, more than giving testimony, Ben, along with his best friends Theo and Molly (who was the victim of the above rape) have set up Strength in Numbers, an online site which gives the victims of rape and sexual assault a voice. Was Ben's murder linked to the Heywood's? Or was it part of his wider Strength in Numbers work? Or was it altogether something unrelated.......?

What I love most about this book is that the story is complex however the author doesn't take anything to extremes. I often find with books nowadays that there is a feeling that a crime/thriller needs a massive twist that no-one could possibly have seen coming and often defies belief.

Here, there are twists and red herrings aplenty and the reader will be kept guessing page after page. You will suspect everyone at some point and the ending just comes together perfectly.

The characters are also so well drawn out that you care about each and every one of them and the personal storylines, along with the crime plot, work so well together. Whitehouse doesn't over sentimentalise anything but really gives a strong account of the personal/professional boundaries and conflicts that occur.

An excellent read and thanks to Netgalley and Orion publishing group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Just an OK from me I'm afraid.
I felt we spent too much time on the personal baggage of our main character.
Interesting crime, and I enjoyed finding out who/why, just felt it took too long to get there.

This mystery/thriller is definitely full of darkness, suspense and a tense atmosphere. I'd definitely recommend this book.