Customer Reviews

Independent Witness

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I stumbled upon this book quite be accident and boy, am I glad I did. This takes you through the events following a collision between a car and a motorcycle. It records the event as seen from the point of view of eight different witnesses, all who may or may not have seen what they think they saw. This may not sound like it would make for fascinating reading, but trust me on this, it really does! The writing is superb, the plot speeds along (no pun intended), and the characterizations are often hilarious. Suffice to say that this is not your ordinary mystery. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up!

You can get the whole book by reading the first chapter and the last, but if you do that then you'll miss the oddity of the book. The humor is excellent. I caught myself laughing on the metro a few times. Every person should read Henry's books because they help you learn the legal procedures not only of UK but also of the US. What does it mean to be a witness to an accident? How do you know if what you saw was really what happened? Through the legal proceedings you will learn to ignore some faults you may have in the way you may present your very case as well (if you should end up in the court room for any reason). The ending will surprise you.

I read this book because of a great review in the NY Times. I agree with the 2 other reviews, so won't repeat their comments. I have to say that the book is laugh-out-loud funny. I consider it to be a farce, which is normally not the kind of book I'd seek out. But Henry Cecil was so clever & witty in defining his characters & situations, that it was irresistible. It didn't matter where I was when I read it: restaurant, hair dresser, etc. No matter how hard I might have tried, I couldn't keep from laughing aloud. I wouldn't try, even if I could; why keep all that delight to myself?

This is a humorous legal British mystery first published in 1963. A car and a motorcycle collide and after a brief pause, the car driver leaves the scene of the accident. Many folks at a nearby pub are on hand to help the injured motorcyclist and to speak to the police about what they saw. None of them has any connection to the men involved in the accident (i.e., they are independent witnesses) and all claim the car driver ran the halt sign. An M.P. confesses to being the driver but insists he stopped at the sign, albeit briefly. He claims he left the scene because he had just had a panic-inducing call from his sick wife.

Much of the book consists of the courtroom examination and cross-examination of the independent witnesses. Some of them are quite eccentric, and their testimony is a hoot. The only sour note is struck when the author briefly goes off a tangent that minimizes the plight of domestic violence victims. I grimaced but kept reading. As Cecil was a judge, I especially wish his views were more enlightened. Yet the passage could very well be somewhat *less* offensive than a typical judge's view of domestic violence four decades ago. That bit aside, this was a quick, fun, and amusing read.