I loved this book from the minute the widow walked into Simon Latch's office. She has a vast fortune because of timely stock choices her late husband made and is looking for someone to help her manage it. This is chum in the water for a lawyer who charges $250 to write wills for people. The mystery was beautifully revealed and I loved the characters and their motives. I highly recommend this one!
I obtained this book through Net Galley and have left an honest review.

“Legal intrigue and lawyers behaving badly”
As a fan of John Grisham since A Time to Kill, I was delighted to hear that he has written a new thriller for me to enjoy. Grisham has built his reputation and fan base on courtroom dramas, though, and this book was proclaimed to be his first whodunit. Uh oh! If you have the same reaction, relax.
The Widow may be Grisham’s first whodunit, but it is classic John Grisham. The protagonist is small-town lawyer Simon Latch, and a significant part of the book takes place in a courtroom. The big difference is that Latch is the defendant, charged with murdering his wealthy client, widow Eleanor Barnett, after setting up papers that give him significant control over her assets after her death.
The writing was as good as ever, and I was enjoying it, but since this was purported to be a whodunit, I wondered when the murder would occur. Readers have plenty of time to get to know the characters and possible suspects, because the murder does not occur until almost halfway through the book.
As usual for Grisham, the best parts of the book take place after Latch goes to trial, and it was fun to work along with him to try to figure out who murdered the apparently wealthy widow. The answer was clever, but I was disappointed. I do not believe readers will be able to solve the mystery, which to me means it is not a whodunit.
If you approach The Widow with the expectation of reading a legal thriller, there is a lot to enjoy in The Widow. If you want a book that gives the reader a chance to solve the mystery, then save this book for another day.
I received an advance review copy of The Widow from Doubleday and Netgalley.

John Grisham does it again. The Widow is a masterclass in legal suspense, laced with the kind of sharp plotting and character depth that keeps you flipping pages long after you meant to stop.

Grisham’s signature style is on full display—tight courtroom drama, moral ambiguity, and a protagonist who walks the line between justice and self-preservation. As an advance reader, I felt lucky to dive into this one early, and let me just say: this isn’t just another Grisham novel, it’s one of his most emotionally resonant to date.

Whether you’re a longtime fan or dipping into his work for the first time, The Widow offers a compelling ride that doesn’t disappoint. Highly recommended.

Thank you, NetGalley!

I ended up liking this book but it took a long time to get me interested, almost the first half, a lot of it was repetitive and didn't seem necessary to the story, ie could have shortened all the gambling sections, the family sections, the many lunches etc with the widow and made it more compelling, i almost gave up but then around 50% i was involved and liked the fight for justice and finding the real kiiller

Believe it or not, this was my first John Grisham novel! I’ve seen several movie adaptions of his work, but never actually picked up one of his books - until now. I can confidently say it won’t be my last!

From the very first page, I was hooked. The characters felt real and relatable, the plot was tightly woven believable, and the pacing kept me turning pages late into the night. The story centers around Simon, an attorney with a troubled personal life - he is facing divorce, drowning in debt, and battling a gambling addiction. When he is hired by 85 year old Eleanor to rewrite her will, he sees a way out.. Eleanor claims to be worth millions but refuses to show proof, living modestly and trusting no one.

Then Eleanor dies - and Simon is charged with her murder!

What follows is a tense, twist-filled race against time as Simon fights to prove his innocence. Grisham masterfully introduces a cast of potential suspects, keeping the mystery alive until the very end. I love a good whodunit that doesn’t give itself away too early, and this one delivered in spades!

If you enjoy legal thrillers with smart plotting and morally complex characters, this book is a must-read. I’m already looking forward to diving into my next Grisham novel! Don’t forget to look for this one in your local bookstores this coming Fall!

It has been a very long time since I have read a book by John Grisham. I was excited to have been given an ARC of this to get back into the stories of an author that I had enjoyed reading from. While not as thrilling as I remembered some of his long-ago published works to be, The Widow was an interesting read. While some of the story fell flat, other parts kept my interest and pushed me to keep going. This was a subtle legal thriller compared to his previous books.

An interesting court/lawyer drama. There is a lot of material to cover regarding a small town lawyer, fed up with his work and life, offered the will of a lifetime with future chances of huge payouts. It all goes south when she dies and he is the prime suspect.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’ve read and enjoyed many of Mr. Grisham’s books, especially the early years – Time To Kill, The Firm (I live in the Memphis area and knew someone that had a walk-on part in the Peabody Hotel), The Client, etc., which were also made into excellent movies. I read the work of so many authors that I hadn’t realized I’ve missed a few and happy to read this new work.

When I started reading, I didn’t seem to like ANY of the characters – so much greed, criminal activity, disregard for others, etc. It was interesting to meet Ms. Barnett when she wanted Simon Latch to generate a new will. There’s a lot of things going on with Simon, his family, Ms. Barnett and others but seemed slow to progress, especially regarding his gambling activities. I’m not sure that was needed for the story except for the fact that Chub was involved later. Then things started to pick up when Simon is accused of murder.

I could just feel his despair of being in jail, under so much scrutiny, money issues such as bail and attorney fees, etc., which are very expensive. Plus, he and his wife were in the middle of a divorce, three children to consider, so it seemed like Simon had hit rock bottom and nowhere to go.

The story seemed so real and scared me a bit as once the police and prosecutor decided Simon was guilty, nothing was done to look for anyone else. I can’t even imagine being innocent but moving like a freight train through a trial. Plus, the difficulties his family faced living in a small town and his wife and children moved to get away from the media.

When Simon starts his own investigation, the story picks up speed and it is interesting how many people were able to help, no matter if legal activities or not. I hadn’t initially figured out the guilty party with so many potential suspects.

I wasn’t as thrilled with the story at the beginning but know that Mr. Grisham takes his time leading up to various details, character building, actions and plenty of twists and turns. The last 50+ pages, was almost at breakneck speed, trying to beat his sentencing date and find the killer. I could not put my Kindle down! I wasn’t expecting that plot twist for the killer but an interesting one. A satisfying conclusion but when I read the last page, I felt like I wanted more – what about this and that?

A bit slow to start but excellent story and look forward to reading more from Mr. Grisham. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this new work.

3.75 Stars
When 85-year-old Eleanor Barnett, a self-proclaimed wealthy widow, hires Attorney Simon Latch to draft her last will and testament, the universe steps in waving red flags. Mortgaged to the hilt with a penchant for gambling, and a doomed marriage, Simon anticipates a hefty windfall and seizes the opportunity to assign himself the executor, despite a sense of foreboding.

Suspects abound when Eleanor mysteriously dies soon after her admission to the hospital following a car accident. Following an autopsy at the behest of an anonymous caller, the coroner lists the cause of death as homicide by poisoning.

The authorities assume Simon has the most to gain, and armed with other circumstantial evidence, they arrest him for murder. Convicted, with a life sentence hanging in the balance, Simon races against the clock to find the real killer before the judge tosses him in the clink for good.

While Grisham is indisputably a gifted storyteller, I most enjoy mysteries by those exceptionally skilled writers who, despite introducing the villain in the early chapters with frequent appearances throughout, keep their readers guessing until the very end. Sorry to say, I found the clues sparse, the big reveal rather disappointing. I highly recommend all of the author’s previously celebrated novels and look forward to his next one. Much appreciation to John Grisham, Doubleday, and NetGalley for the ARC.

John Grisham’s latest novel, “The Widow,” boasts an intriguing premise that I was excited to delve into. However, the story’s sluggish pace for the first half of the book had me struggling to remain engaged. The pace did eventually pick up, but it still wasn’t the suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat legal thriller that I was anticipating. Overall, it is still a decent read, but it did fall short of my expectations.

this was an interesting read. The MMC is kind of deplorable and hard to read about. I liked the dynamic of him and Eleanor. I saw the murder coming. It made sense. I felt like pieces of the story weren't needed and seemed to be a bit too long. However it ended with a nice bow. John Grisham is one of my favorite authors and I enjoyed the book.

I found John Grisham's latest legal thriller less than thrilling. It was definitely not a page-turner. After a very slow start, the story picked up steam about half way through and then came to a screeching halt. This was definitely not the caliber of "The Firm".

It's been years since I've read a John Grisham book. I'm not sure if I've matured in my reading, or he powered this one out too quickly, but this was not his best, IMHO. Somewhat repetitive and predictable, only a pageturner because I wanted to get to something happening. Fine, but not vreat.

This is my first Grisham read. It was lackluster. I’ve read that his books are usually much better. The first half was boring and repetitive. I finished it as I needed closure and I agreed to read it via NetGalley. Simon Latch, the main protagonist, had his moral compass sidelined in his quest for greed. Not a bad ending! Thank you NetGalley and Double Day Books for the opportunity to read and review this book in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own. #The Widow.

Grisham tries to return to the glory days but the last two books have been struggles. It took over 40 percent of this book before something actually happened. The first half is very repetitive with lunches and client over and over with The Widow. Finally the book gets going in the second half when the trial begins...... but I am not sure if the second half is strong enough to make up for the dull first half. If you are a Grisham fan I would recommend.... if you are new to Grisham I would not start with this book. It doesn't do him justice of what he is capable of. All in all it was just okay..... Come on John you can do better., we know it!

I loved this book and couldn't put it down! It's one of my favorite Grisham books (and I've read them all). Grisham certainly isn't spitting out cookie cutter books; this one is completely original. I was fascinated by this look at the legal profession from struggling one-person, small-town law offices to ultra-successful firms getting tens of millions in fees. Both can be challenged ethically, which made the book quite thought-provoking. It was frustrating to see how law enforcement can sometimes rush to close a case when they have a likely suspect. This book had many surprising twists and turns, and it went in a completely different direction than I expected at the beginning of the story. I can't wait for the book to be published so I can recommend it to others. Very highly recommended!

Not a bad story of a lawyer getting caught up in an elderly widow's dispositions of her assests in her will. She has no dependents, when she suddenly has a car accident then dies. Her lawyer is accused of murdering her. But he didn't, and who did is for him to find out. A little light on real legality.

Classic Grisham with excellent courtroom scenes as expected. Added bonus of a murder mystery who dunnit. Kept me guessing the whole time!

I really surprised myself by reading an October ARC all the way in late June/early July but I was really excited and honored to be approved for this one and dive in! I enjoyed the plot and it kept me entertained, although definitely much more of a slow burn whodunit than a typical Grisham courtroom thriller I grew up reading and could not ever put down. As a criminal lawyer myself, I always appreciate legal fiction being written mostly accurate to real-life (with room for a little entertainment value embellishment) which Grisham is good at. I’d read lots more about Simon Latch and his legal adventures.

Thank you so much to John, PRH, NetGalley, and the John Grisham Street Team for the e-galley!

This is not up to par on the writing of any Grisham book I have ever read. It is repetitive, written with basic sentence structure, and not very engaging or creative. I couldn’t stand any of the characters, and with nothing else to stand on, that seems important. Simon is a smallish town lawyer with a gambling habit and a rich old widow comes into his office to usurp a will she made with a different lawyer.