Final Appeal

by Joanne Fluke

Michael Hart had been convicted for killing his wife and had spent 10 years in prison. But now, he has escaped, and his lawyer is tracking down new evidence that might clear him. But then the sleepwalking begins…and one by one, the members of the jury that convicted him are being murdered.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Ebooks, Mystery Thriller

311 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1989

About the author

Like Hannah Swensen, Joanne Fluke grew up in a small town in rural Minnesota where her neighbors were friendly, the winters were fierce, and the biggest scandal was the spotting of unidentified male undergarments on a young widow's clothesline. She insists that there really are 10,000 lakes and the mosquito is NOT the state bird.

While pursuing her writing career, Joanne has worked as: a public school teacher, a psychologist, a musician, a private detective's assistant, a corporate, legal, and pharmaceutical secretary, a short order cook, a florist's assistant, a caterer and party planner, a computer consultant on a now-defunct operating system, a production assistant on a TV quiz show, half of a screenwriting team with her husband, and a mother, wife, and homemaker.

She now lives in Southern California with her husband, her kids, his kids, their three dogs, one elderly tabby, and several noisy rats in the attic.

Series:
* Hannah Swensen

Reviews

[Jenny]

Final Appeal the stand of a man who believed he is incident of the murder of his wife. Michael Hart had a complete break down when he was convicted of the killing of his wife and placed into Oakdale State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Ten years later with the help of his brother Sam escape from the hospital. Michael's escape from hospital started events that will affect him and change his life forever. The readers of Final Appeal will follow the twist and turns to find out did Micheal Hart kill his wife Carole or someone else and framed Michael.

Final Appeal was the first book I have read of Joanne Fluke, and I did enjoy reading it. However, I not sure if I would read another book by this author. I did work out who the real killer of Carole Hart early in the book. I like the way, Joanne Fluke portrayed her characters especially Michael Hart. It is well written and research by Joanne Fluke.

The readers of Final Appeal will learn about mental illness and how it can affect the suffer. Also, Final Appeal highlights the problems that greed and status have on people.

I recommend this book.

[Georgiann Hennelly]

Michael Hart killed his wife- that was the jurys verdict. So for ten years he has been locked away on the edge of insanity. Only the nightmare seems to finally be over at last. He,s escaped , holed up in a safe house. And his hot shot lawyer brother Stan , is tracking down new evidence that just might clear him. But Michael is still having the twisted dreams, and violent visions. His dreaded sleep walking has begun again, leaving his memory blank and haunted. And one by one the twelve members of the jury that convicted him are all being murdered with a savage fury.... Is Michael killing while he sleep walks or is there another murderer and he is trying to frame Michael. for these murders as well

[Jonathan]

Okay, the twist in this one got me. It was a good story & I really enjoyed it right up to the end.
my 1st Joanne Fluke Book a good Mystery Thriller

[Snow]

Không ngờ được, người thân cận nhất lại là người hãm hại ta.
Và ta nên trở nên giỏi giang, để có thể giúp được người ta yêu khi cần.

[Donna]

Wow. The killer was exactly who I thought it was. Wife cheating on her husband with his brother. Ends up pregnant. husband ends up in mental hospital. Wow. who needs a sibling.

[Amy Phelps]

It was a good story & I really enjoyed it right up to the end. I was guessing about what was going on & kept second guessing myself. There was a story line in the book that I believe was meant to be a red herring but it was really there for nothing. Other than 1 murder it was stupid to even associate it with anything else. I don’t want to say why the last 2 chapters were stupid in my opinion because I don’t want to give anything away but I believe anyone who reads this book will agree with me.

[Jennifer Hoey]

Had me on the edge of my seat!

Had me on the edge of my seat! It took me awhile to figure out who done it and I questioned my guess until the conclusion! There were a lot of twists and turns in this story!

[Agatha Donkar Lund]

Okay, the twist in this one got me.

[Arnie]

Not great. I figured out who the murderer was half way through,

[Anne Hanson]

I usually have a good idea of "who done it". This one had me changing my mind a couple of times. A good story without so many characters you get distracted.

[Le Van]

3.3*

[Tracey]

Too many unnecessary tangents and not a very deep plot.

[Jeanne]

Good read. A couple of things didn’t add up for me but I really enjoyed the book and was not surprised by the ending.

[Kathe McClure]

Not a bad read, but I had it figured out about 2/3 through. No twist for me. I may try another Fluke out of curiosity.

[Lopsided]

2.0 audio

[Bill]

Totally predictable very on Stan was the killer.

[Mary Ann Olsztyn]

Figured out who was committing the murders at the beginning of the book. The rest was sheer tedium.

[Debbie J]

Final Appeal: TMW you realize the new guy in your apartment building who you’ve been crushing on is an escaped convicted murderer. Yikes. And forget about sleepwalking, this story has sleep serial killing. Or does it...?

I thought author Joanne Fluke resolved the main mystery a little too neatly and romance novel-ish. Additionally, some of the plot points don't make sense unless you accept characters being gullible and trusting to their clear peril. Furthermore, the ebook edition I read had simple spelling and grammar errors which felt distracting.

After getting through Final Appeal, I suggest Fluke stick with her cooking-based cozies and leave the darker thrillers to other writers.

[Valerie Cline]

12/29/25 - Did rate this a 3 but changed to a 2 after thinking more about it. Michael murdered his wife and the story follows him through his journey. It was good yet there was a lot of info that really wasn't necessary to the story. I didn't have the mystery completely worked out but I had the general idea pretty early on. Some of it was also unrealistic especially how Michael handled one situation. I won't mention it so as not to give anything away.

[Jenn]

A little predictable with a fair bit of stilted conversations. But all in all, a nice little mystery with very little gore that was Fluke's first book. I have yet to read her foodie mysteries, however I'm assuming they're a little better written.

[Debbie Oxier]

Hate to say I didn't finish this one. The characters were just ho-hum, the plot rather boring. Couldn't get interested at all. Read about a third of it and shelved it. I usually really enjoy her books but this one just didn't do it for me.

[Michelle's Book]

I was given an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. This book cover is on my Pinterest board and my blog, Michelle Dragalin’s Journey.

[D Nichols]

Not a very good book - but I did finish it.

[Becky]

Much prefer her Hannah Swensen books.

[Julie Witte]

A good book! The plot moved almost too fast, I knew the "bad guy" way before I wanted to though. A bit choppy but I enjoyed enough to look forward to more from this author.

[Cindy]

One of JoAnne Fluke's early novels before the food books. Very good and different.

[Serena Shay]

Interesting idea, but difficult to read with the mid-scene POV changes.

[Terri Lynn]

It was just okay.

[Karen]

Zero stars. I've never given zero stars to a book. This is regrettably one of the worst books I have ever read. The writing was so full of minutia. The extra descriptions were so unnecessary.