Book Review: Last Witness

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

Last Witness     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Jilliane P. Hoffman
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Woman Main Character   Thriller   Legal Setting   Serial Killer
Series: C.J. Townsend and Dominick Falconetti
GP Putnam 2005

Florida State's Attorney C J Townsend returns for a second set of perils, after Hoffman's successful RETRIBUTION of a few years ago. The serial rapist who was the principal baddie in the earlier book is still on the scene, and the legal niceties which led to his prosecution and death sentence still haunt C J and still motivate him to gain revenge.

One by one Miami cops are found dead in their squad cars, brutally knifed in a style called the "Columbian necktie." C J gradually realizes that all the cops were involved in the earlier prosecution of the rapist, and that she is still unable to share with anyone the whole truth of that case.

Hoffman has dished up a fast, tense read. Chapters for the most part are only 3-4 pages long, and the action jumps from scene to scene, from legal conference to conference, to courtroom action and back again. C J continues to struggle with her personal relationships, her insomnia, her dependence on tobacco.

LAST WITNESS provides plenty of nail biting suspense, however in many respects it is a rehash of Hoffman's first novel in this series, and a troubling continuation of an "end justifies the means" scenario. Based on the last chapter, it looks like there is more to come. It will be interesting to see if Hoffman can come up with a different sequence of events next time.

Woodstock - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Woodstock - RAM