This is the latest in Lucie Whitehouse's superb Birmingham based crime series featuring the tenacious and flawed single mother DCI Robin Lyons, with her bright teen daughter, Lennie. An anxious Robin is handed the most controversial, incendiary, and high profile of cases by ACC Kilmartin, 18 year old Ben Renshaw's body has been discovered in woodland. Ben, and his best friend Theo Gillespie, were witnesses to the sexual assault of their friend, Molly Zajac, by someone they were at school with, Alistair Heywood. They gave testimony at the court trial, that ended with a rare conviction and prison sentence, a crime and sentence Alastair's powerful and influential local family deny and refuse to accept, promising reprisals.

Ben and Theo, along with their families, have faced a brutal and intimidation campaign, but this does not prevent them and Molly setting up StrengthInNumbers.com, a prominent site where victims of sexual assault can share their experiences. Is Ben's death, as assumed to be, part of the Heywoods exercising their malign power, or are other factors at play? As Robin stresses about her brother, Luke's sentencing, and the potential repercussions for her, Lennie, and her supportive boss, DCS Samir Jafferi, matters are exacerbated by the calls she is getting from a local journalist looking into her life, family and career. Robin and her team, that includes DS Malia Thomas, DC Varan Patel, and Tark, struggle to get viable leads on a complex case that has more death and surprising twists and turns, with its buried tentacles reaching into a painfully haunted past.

Whitehouse touches on many contemporary themes in our society, such as violence against women and the #MeToo movement, and other complicated issues, like a victim's right to be silent on crimes committed against them, and the question of justice, given Robin's secrets. There is humanity and compassion in this utterly gripping and immersive read, sensitively exploring the harrowing crimes where nothing is as it appears, the nature of friendship, with its widely disparate cast of well constructed characters, the good and the ugly, and providing a fascinating picture of Robin's personal life and family. A brilliant addition to a marvellous series that I recommend highly! Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Love the Robin Lyon’s novels. Great writing and premise. Amazing characters. Page turner. Plenty of suspense to keep me guessing..Definitely looking forward to the next offering. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it

This is my first novel by author Lucie Whitehouse and it was a good and interesting read.

We follow DCI Robin Lyons whilst she starts to investigate the death of an 18 year old young man. We learn that Ben was a witness to one of his classmates crime and he actually went to prison. Ben had been subject to harassment from the boys family and it is now Robin's job to sort this situation out and figure out who killed Ben.

Robin is thrust into the workings of the city's power players and it make for an interesting read.

Apparently this book is a series of novels but you can definetly read it as a one-off/standalone novel.

Fast paced and rather gripping with really good well rounded and likeable characters.

Thanks to Lucie Whitehouse, netgalley and the publishers.

For me this was a good read but it wasn't the best Ive read by this author.Some parts were to drawn out and parts were rushed especially the ending.The crime its self was interesting and well written and I enjoyed catching up with DCI Robin Lyons.
I look forward to reading more from this author.
Thanks to Netgalley and Orion Publishing for the ARC.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. The plot line was great but for me I just couldn’t gel with this book and found it quite long winded. Thank you to NetGalley, Orion Publishing Group and the author for the chance to review.

This is a very good crime thriller, filled with so many twists to occupy the reader. I like the character of DCI Robin Lyons, although there was quite a bit of background information on her which just slowed the read down for me. The plotting is good, but I felt the ending was a bit rushed and this spoiled it for me. It's a good read with convincing characters. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

It’s been nearly 3 years since I last encountered DCI Robin Lyon’s, and I was worried that I’d have forgotten a lot of what happened in the first two books. Whitehouse’s writing is such, however, that it took me right back to the second book and I was able to pick up on things pretty seamlessly. The last third of this book felt a little rushed, but on the whole, it was a good’un!

Last Witness is a clever, twisty read, set apart from many other crime novels by the quality of the writing. I immersed myself in the story and could never have anticipated the ending. It is often dark and intense but is lifted by the warmth of the main characters and the humorous asides of the police officers. DCI Robin Lyons is an appealing character with a complicated life of her own, especially relating to her teenage daughter Lennie, who was caught up in a far right demonstration in the previous book. I enjoyed the different storylines and there was plenty of intrigue to keep me from putting this book down. Highly recommended!

Sometimes all you want is an straightforward, well written, tense and gimmick free mystery and Lucie Whitehouse delivers on all counts. A great story with an engaging dedicated investigation team. Highly recommended, will read more

So tense so chilling a true page turner.DCI Robin Lyons is a strong character I enjoyed her throughout the series.Highly recommend.#netgalley #orion

DCI Lyons and her team are investigating the murder of a teenage boy. As the case unfolds, it's clearly far more complicated and far-reaching than a straightforward murder investigation. The story twists and turns and the conclusion is unexpected.
I had to concentrate hard to follow the many interlinked characters and this is an enjoyable read.
I haven't read any of the earlier DCI Robin Lyons books, but this book stands well enough on its own.

As a resident of South Birmingham (where much of the action is set) I really enjoy recognising the areas that Whitehouse refers to and I think she paints an accurate picture of the second city for readers who are less familiar with it than I am. I wasn't as engaged with this episode as I have been with previous stories, perhaps I just needed a bit more about Robin's dysfunctional life or a more intriguing plot...having said that the twists were excellent and I didn't guess what was coming. A solid read just not the best in the series.

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.