In this British mystery by the grandson of the great J.R.R. Tolkien of the famed "Lord of the Rings" series, the surname alone means tall shoes to fill. I found this book online and decided to try this novel and see if Simon Tolkien also had some writing chops. Set in England, Thomas is the teenage son of a prominent politician and a socialite. Right in the beginning Thomas witnesses his mother being murdered but not exactly by seeing it. Thomas is thrust into a hidden cabinet by his mother in the middle of a break-in in the home. Thomas hears and sees bits of the crime and begins to put all together in order to catch the killer of his beloved Mom. Thomas's father previously had taken up with a social climbing woman who became his personal assistant. Thomas half falls in love with her as her charm to insinuate herself into the family falls on the teen as well. His father begins an affair with her and Thomas's mother only tolerates her and tends to see her as the conniving person that she is. Thomas then sets out to prove that Greta the love interest and soon to become step mom is the killer. Greta is arrested for the murder but his father is in complete denial and forsakes his son's attempts to solve the crime which later destroys their relationship. This reminded me a little bit of "Curious incident of the dog" in tone but ultimately, it is a great story that stands on it's own and left me guessing to the end. Not only is this a great mystery, but a well written character study. I can picture this as a PBS or BBC mystery. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more by this brilliant and clever author.
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