Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh

 

A pediatric brain surgeon is accused of murdering a neighbour. Adamant that he is innocent the only thing standing between John Jackson and a life behind bars is lawyer Eddie Flynn, and a scheming witness.

Fans of the Eddie Flynn series will be well aware that despite all the predicaments he ends up in Eddie uses his cunning to defeat even the toughest foe. This time around author Steve Cavanagh has set up a storyline where Eddie seems to have met his match, in more ways than one. Witness 8 has Eddie facing a number of adversaries and placed in what seems to be an unwinnable position.

When a murder takes place in a wealthy suburb of New York the murderer flees, disposing of the murder weapon nearby. Ruby Johnson, a part-time nanny and cleaner for some of the wealthy residents is the only witness. Rather than report the crime Ruby decides to retrieve the murder weapon and use it for her own ends. We begin to realise that Ruby is unpleasant, the more we read on we discover she's manipulative and constantly scheming. There are times when her behaviour is unsettling and I was convinced she was suffering from a dissociative identity disorder. What is unclear is how and why Ruby is framing one of her employers, John Jackson.

Wealthy clients hire high-end legal firms, but the lawyer hired by John Jackson knows that in order for his client to stand a chance in what appears to be an unwinnable case something, or someone, special is required. The firm turns to Eddie Flynn and his associates. Having previously been a con artist Eddie is an expert at reading people and thinking outside the box; he's not averse to playing outside the rules either and we witness this early on when he defends a client and ends up embarrassing a police officer in the process.

What Eddie doesn't realise is that the police officer involved works for a criminal gang and they are upset that Flynn has disrupted one of their financial scams. Determined that it won't happen again they put a price on Eddie's head. 

It becomes a case of cat-and-mouse as Eddie has to contend with having a target on his back while trying to solve the puzzles of who the actual murderer is and how he's going to save his client. While all of this is happening Ruby Johnson continues her scheming and a hit-man with a strange code of ethics zeros in on Eddie. I began to worry that Eddie had met his match with two such formidable opponents, particularly when a devastating event takes place. I was truly convinced that this was the end for Eddie, however, we know he's a fighter and even at his lowest ebb he refuses to give up. Author Steve Cavanagh keeps the tension going right up to the last moment and has fans nervous about the conclusion.

Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh will be published on 1st August 2024 in hardback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Headline for a review copy.

Author Details

Steve Cavanagh has sold over a million copies of his novels in the UK alone. His nine books have all been nominated for major awards and many are international bestsellers. His third novel, The Liar, won the CWA Gold Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year 2018. Thirteen won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2019. Fifty-Fifty was a Richard and Judy Book club choice and was also selected for the BBC ‘Between the Covers’ book club. Twisted, Fifty-Fifty, The Devil’s Advocate, The Accomplice and Kill For Me Kill For You were all Sunday Times Top 10 bestsellers.