Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh

Witness 8 is the eighth book in Steve Cavanagh’s always enjoyable Eddie Flynn Series. The series centres around con-man turned lawyer Eddie Flynn. And while there is plenty of backstory from the previous volumes, Cavanagh makes it easy for readers to jump in here. Once again he delivers a fast paced, twisty thriller centred around a court case in which nothing is quite what it seems and where sometimes the con-artist skills are more important than the lawyering.

Among the many things Cavanagh does well in the Eddie Flynn books is the hook, or in the case of Witness 8, two hooks. The first is the main case – a murder in which one person knows who did it but she is intent on framing someone else. And the second, just to drive up the tension, is a contract put out on Eddie by a cabal of corrupt policemen. In doing driving up the tension, Cavanagh ranges across a few points of view including in this book both the woman pulling the strings – Ruby Johnson – and Mr Christmas – one of the hit men sent after Eddie who comes straight out of the Tarantino school of killers.

But despite the number of characters thrown into the mix, none of them come across as two dimensional. All of the characters have rich (if twisted) inner lives and backstories which drive their actions and behaviour. And as a con-man, Eddie works his knowledge of these to his advantage. Flynn remains the beating heart of this series, and the pleasure is the delicious tension that is built up while watching all of the pieces fall into place for him.

There is also a serious side to all of this. The defendant in this trial has been set up and falsely accused. The DA pursued them as the most obvious culprit not necessarily the right one. This gives Cavanagh, through Flynn, the opportunity to reflect on the very real personal consequences of someone being falsely accused and dragged through the justice system.

But seriousness aside, this is another page-turning, high octane thrill ride from Cavanagh. And while there are as always plenty of contrivances, the central hook for Witness 8 (that someone on the inside can manipulate a prosecution) is a little more grounded than some (the killer is on the jury, the killer is the DA etc) and makes the whole narrative more compelling. Making Witness 8 one of the better instalments in a series in which every entry is already five star.

Witness 8 by StevevCavanagh

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9.0/10