| REVIEW 16 OF 17 |  |
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A hearty mix of family drama and courtroom nail-biter, this first novel from the grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien will probably surprise readers.
Not because the fortysomething younger Tolkien, a barrister in London, has taken pen to paper, but because the story is full of twists and
turns, a classic suspense story in which one is never sure of the villain until the very end. Fifteen-year-old Thomas watches in horror as
his mother, Lady Anne, is slain in the family home. He becomes convinced that the murder was done at the behest of his father's new wife.
His father, however, believes young Thomas is jealous, lying and conniving in an effort to convict the new Lady Greta. Like a skillful cook,
Tolkien tosses in a few extra ingredients - the faithful family retainer, a cursed family heirloom and a Hitchcockian scarred hit man - to make a tasty and satisfying meal of a mystery.