The Stepmother - Tapa blanda

It's the trial - and scandal - of the decade: Greta Grahame, the beautiful young wife of Sir Peter Robinson MP, is accused of conspiring to murder her predecessor, Peter's first wife Lady Anne.

The prosecution case depends heavily on the evidence of one witness - Greta's sixteen-year-old stepson Thomas who was present on the night two hitmen broke into their ancestral home. His testimony steadfastly links Greta to the killers.

But the boy's motives are unclear. Is he so crazed by grief that he would frame his stepmother for murder? Or is he telling the truth - that this cunning young woman will stop at nothing in her pursuit of wealth and status . . . ?

Simon Tolkien is 42 and lives in Chelsea with his wife and young son. For seventeen years he has been a lawyer specialising in serious crimes. He is the grandson of JRR Tolkien and recently hit the headlines when he was ostracised from the family for supporting the film trilogy of Lord of the Rings.

See also his website at www.simontolkien.com