This may seem like a strange to say about a book, but Grisham's latest novel is actually a lot of fun. Not sure when was the last time I enjoyed a story more. I went into it with little expections, since he has been a hit or miss author for me. But this one had me delaying meals and reading into the night.

Lawyer Simon Latch, practicing in small town Virginia, meets with a wealthy widow to create her will and trust. Although he has slight reservations about the wealth she claims, there is no reason to doubt her, so he proceeds. The high fees he would earn by representing such a client would go a long way toward paying off his debts and making his life easier. What could go wrong? Turns out, quite a lot. Buckle in for the ride!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an early e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent book!

For anyone who thinks that this author has moved away from his typical writing roots, this book is for you! The setting is a small town in Virginia, the main character is a lawyer with a barely surviving legal practice in that small town, dealing mostly with simple wills. When a new client walks through the door, Simon begins to see a better future in front of him....if he only knew!!

Very well-crafted mystery, the story moves along like lightning. As a reader I became very invested in Simon's future and desperately wanted him to prevail. Raymond is a stereotypical small town defense attorney, and Matilda is someone out of a novel from the 50's. Highly recommend!

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

Here’s the tea: this one totally flips the usual legal thriller script with a fresh whodunit vibe that keeps you guessing. You follow this small-town lawyer who suddenly gets way more than he bargained for when a mysterious widow with a secret fortune walks into his life. The whole vibe is a slow-burn suspense that builds up to a courtroom showdown, and honestly, the twists caught me off guard in the best way.

Full disclosure — there are moments where the story kinda lingers on the lawyer’s messy personal life and gambling habits, which felt like a bit of a drag. But once the trial kicks off and the real mystery unfolds? Oh, honey, it’s game on. The characters aren’t exactly your typical heroes, which makes it all feel more real and messy in a good way.

If you’re into legal drama mixed with a dash of mystery and a sprinkle of “who’s the real villain here?” energy, this is definitely one to add to your TBR. Just maybe skip some of the extra personal drama if you want to keep the pace snappy.

Big thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Simon Latch is a struggling small town lawyer, used to handling by-the-numbers wills and bankruptcies. When an elderly widow comes to him to draw up a new will because she's dissatisfied with a prior one a competing lawyer made for her, Simon thinks he's hit the jackpot. Driven by greed at the prospect of her supposedly wealthy estate, he befriends her and writes her new will, hiding the fact that he will benefit greatly from it, just slightly less blatantly than the previous one. But when an accident puts the widow in the hospital, Simon's dreams come crumbling down as truths come to light and he finds himself the prime suspect in a murder case.
Right from the start the book is pure Grisham with his flowing story-telling prowess. Though the plot seems on the light side, and at times a bit repetitive and drawn out, the real whammy of the story takes place about mid-way through, and from there is a roller-coaster ride squealing away on the rails right to the end. Patience through the lengthy set up is heavily rewarded with Grisham's first "whodunnit" novel in the latter half, bringing a four-star rating up to a solid 4.5. On a personal note,I was especially tickled by the inclusion of Virginia Beach, where I reside, Scranton, where I'm originally from, and a laudable character named Alan, spelled the correct way.

John Grisham at it again! Another twisty legal thriller from the man who does them best. This one had me captivated from page one till the very end. With a twist I personally didn’t see coming!

I am a big fan of John Grisham’s older stuff, but this book wasn’t for me. The main character is terrible and it was really hard to get past all of his sexiest behavior right out of the gate. There was nothing redeeming about him and frankly, all of the characters are awful and behave in ways that are kind of hard to believe. I’d much rather reread The Firm or The Pelican Brief.
*Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.*

In John Grisham's latest gripping tale, we meet 85-year-old Eleanor Barnett, a widow whose life takes an unexpected turn when she seeks the assistance of small-town lawyer Simon Latch. Eleanor asks Simon to prepare an updated will, revealing the considerable wealth her late husband accumulated before his passing. Despite her considerable inheritance, Eleanor leads a frugal life, driving an old car and having no family to speak of.
As Simon drafts her will, he suggests several nonprofit charities where she might leave a portion of her fortune. Throughout the process, a friendship blossoms between Simon and Eleanor, often marked by their lunch outings—always funded by Simon. However, he begins to suspect that Eleanor's financial reality may not be as robust as she claims.
The narrative shifts dramatically when Eleanor is hospitalized following a serious car accident that she caused. Simon finds himself in the difficult position of making medical decisions on her behalf, all while uncovering unexpected circumstances that complicate the situation. What unfolds is a series of shocking twists that lead to Simon facing a murder charge, despite the circumstantial evidence suggesting his innocence.
There are many twists and turns and shocking revelations that kept me turning the pages to the end. John Grisham is a master storyteller of gripping stories that capture the attention of the reader from the very beginning, until the last page is turned.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All comments and opinions are my own.

I have watched more John Grisham movies than read the actual book. For my first one, The Widow makes me wonder why I haven’t read any books before. The book puts you right there with all the action. You see the ins and outs of being a lawyer and convictions as well as a personal conviction within. Some characters made me mad and then some made me want to know them in real life :-). Any free time I had, I was reading this book! Its been one of my favorites this year! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC #JohnGrisham #TheWidow #NetGalley

With The Widow John Grisham has written a clever “who done it” with an entertaining main character who exhibits just the right amount of existential angst after being wrongly accused of a murder.

Simon Latch a married lawyer living in a medium-sized town in Virginia, makes a meager amount of money by writing wills and doing bankruptcies. He likes to gamble. One day a widow who claims her dead husband left her large amounts of Coke and Walmart stock. She doesn’t want the money to go to her greedy stepsons. Simon suggests trust, managed by him, which will give the money to charity. Such an arrangement gives him visions of accumulating large dollar fees for his work. But something is not quite right. The woman has a car accident and while seeming to recover in the hospital suddenly dies. Surprise, surprise her death was by an obscure poison and the beleaguered Siman is arrested for her murder.
Grisham includes some vivid courtroom scenes in which the reader feels as if they are a spectator. The book moves at a fast pace.

This book is not great literature but it sure is fun to read.

Grisham needs to stop. He needs to rest on the laurels of the fantastic books that he's written until now. I did not like the sequel to The Firm and I really, really didn't love The Widow. What's the point of putting this trash into the world? Do all authors do this? It's certainly reminiscent of how Stuart Woods' (may he RIP) Stone Barrington and Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum jumped the shark later in the series (although The Widow is a standalone, the comparison is warranted). If you love Grisham, skip The Widow. Reread The Firm or the Pelican Brief or A Time to Kill or really any of his earlier novels instead.

Besides the hole-riddled plot, the misogyny and fat-shaming are really beneath an author of such acclaim as John Grisham. He's better than that, or was.

Twisty and tense, The Widow delivers Grisham’s signature small-town secrets and legal drama, where one wrong move can cost everything. Fans of his legal thrillers will find familiar intrigue here.

I was excited to get into The Widow. I've been in the mode for mysteries and thrillers, and I figured John Grisham was a no-brainer. I've read a few of his earlier books and enjoyed them quite a bit.

I did end up liking The Widow, but it took a long time to get there. The first 40% or so, I kept waiting for something exciting to happen. And waiting. And then I waited some more. It finally started picking up around the halfway mark. I struggled to get to that point. I understand the need to lay the foundation of the story, to introduce the characters and how they fit together, but it didn't need to go on that long. Nine months of book time went by before anything of note really happened. If I didn't have my NetGalley ratio to think about, I would have dropped the book like a hot potato well before 50%.

All that said, the second half was very enjoyable. I thought I knew who did it more than once and was wrong every time. I enjoyed seeing some character growth from Simon and the people he worked with to solve the crime were interesting.

So was it worth the initial slog? I don't know. Maybe? If you don't mind a slow journey, then yes. If you're looking for a face-paced who-dun-it, then probably not.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ebook!

Not What I Expected From A John Grisham Novel

I was excited to have the opportunity to receive and review this John Grisham novel from NetGalley. My excitement soon turned to boredom, however, as I slugged through the pages. There was nothing that interested me. The characters were unlikable, the slow pace was unbearable, and the ending underwhelming. I’m not usually inclined to put down a book, but I was tempted with this one because there was nothing to keep me entertained. I can’t honestly recommend this book to anyone, but that being said I’m sure there are many readers who will thoroughly enjoy this novel.

I think I have to break up with John Grisham. I have been a fan since his very first novel. However, I have not been a fan of his last few, and this one was no exception.

It is incredibly slow and filled with information dumps that add nothing to the story. His gambling addiction is talked about ad nauseam, and doesn’t contribute to the overall storyline at all. While his lunches with Netty do provide some background, we don’t need a play by play of every menu item ordered. It just gets bogged down with details that aren’t important and kills the pacing.

This book could have been shortened by 100 pages. The mystery part of it was intriguing, but after stringing us along with unnecessary storylines for 80% of the book, the conclusion is so abrupt and feels unfinished.

I haven’t read a John Grisham book in quite some time and was excited to read this. This is nothing like his previous legal thrillers I’ve read , and that’s not to say it’s a bad thing, just different. I was pulled in by the story immediately and with so much going on, at some point I thought I was at fifty or sixty percent of the book, only to find out I was at thirty percent. It’s a long ride with Simon Latch, however, while there was some closure to the main story line, the ending felt abrupt. I still have questions about some of the side story lines and characters, but either way, i was entertained and would recommend this book for a weekend read.

All writers, like everybody else who choose to mature will go through stages and be different than they were before. Their outlook changes, as does their views and what they prioritize. This is true for John Grishan but is also reflective of the times in which we live.

When Grisham began writing in the early 1980s, the narratives were simply and more straightforward. Jake Brigance of “A Time to Kill” made sense back then, but he doesn't make sense today. Today, we live in a messy world of greater and greater ambiguity. We seek to do good, but most often end up losing battles against insurmountable odds. We give up and declare that no one can win in a world so desperately broken.

Into that world, the hopeful David v. Goliath optimism of John Grisham enters and does battle. But it's an optimism worn down by the aforementioned societal drift of tension and fighting and exposing everyone's flaws all the time. I mention all this because if you are looking for the same type of characters as Grisham crafted lo those many years ago, I'd recommend you re-read a favorite title from his collection, as this story is more for modern audiences.

SPOILER ALERT - Spoilers will abound.

The protagonist, Simon, is a down-on-his-luck, fair-to-middling lawyer with a growing gambling problem whose marriage is falling apart, and he doesn't really seem to care about it. I know this all exists as a pretext to get him to fall for the ruse of the “rich” old lady who wants a new will, but I have to be honest about it, if it weren't a Grisham novel, I would have put it down as I didn’t really care about the main character until he was on trial. Simon reads more like the slightly shady characters the main characters from his earlier books would align with to solve the case. Simon sees that his almost as bad as the shark in lawyer skin Wally who wrote the widow’s first will. It is a great example of how we lie most often to ourselves, as the only clear difference (to me at least) is that Wally is just more up-front about his intentions.
The court case (and “extracurricular” investigation) is good, but it would have been nice if the suspect was killing old, seemingly rich people rather than just randomly killing old people and Simon has been caught up in the madness by accident. Also, the ending made the whole story pointless. He was falsely accused and wrongly convicted of a crime and put through the wringer, but all he has in, in the end, his freedom. There is no money. His wife is gone. His rekindled relationship with his college girlfriend might stick last but who knows. If this story is aimed at demonstrating to people that the wrongly convicted fight like made to regain their freedom but what they have in the end is only a small percentage of what they had before, then it hits the nail on the head. But a Grisham story of old used to have some element of riding off into the sunset. Maybe we don’t tell that story anymore because it is not realistic and we want realism over fantasy.

Apparently a vague dis-ease of the unpredictability of life is what defines reality and fiction these days, which is a sad development if you ask me.

I've probably read and loved half a dozen John Grisham books, mostly his earlier work, so I was very excited when given the opportunity to read this new one. Unfortunately, that excitement quickly turned to disappointment the more I read.
While I found the initial premise to be very interesting, I found the pacing to be slow, the characters to be unlikable (and not in an interesting/entertaining way), and the ending to be anticlimactic. The setup was very long and drawn out, and most of it had no payoff. There were so many breadcrumbs and potential sideplots that never went anywhere, only for the ending to be, in my opinion, random and anything but what was promised. I was actually surprised when I went to turn the page only to find there were no more pages. It just kind of ended.
I dont know if I would feel any better about it if I didn't have such high expectations of a John Grisham novel, but I was very upset by the time I finished. I ended up skimming the last 100 or so pages just to be done with it.
If you are reading this book hoping for the experience you might have had reading The Firm or The Client, you're going to be very disappointed. This book is not at the same level of his other work, and I would not recommend it, especially as someone's introduction to John Grisham.

I love John Grisham's legal thrillers. The Client is one of my top 5 favorite books of my lifetime.

I think he's a great human.

He's at the point in his career where he can write whatever the hell he wants, and people will buy it.

I love that for him, he's certainly earned it.

However, this particular shift away from a fast-paced legal thriller to a small-town mystery filled with unlikeable characters was not it for me.

It takes a lot for me to abandon a book (I'm looking at you, Long Island Compromise, ugh), so I slogged through this one until the end.

It's fine. It's not a bad book. If it were a debut novel by some no-name author, perhaps I would have judged it more kindly.

However, I was a bit disappointed in this one. Maybe you'll like it! You should still give it a chance!!

Thank you to #netgalley for this ARC of #thewidow

Considering the author this book fell very flat and was a little boring at times. The main storyline was dragged out and then when it got interesting it was rushed and the ending was very abrupt. The whole thing was quite disappointing.

The Widow is John Grisham at his finest, taut, thoughtful, and masterfully paced with just the right blend of courtroom drama, small-town secrets, and emotional depth. From the very first page, I was pulled into the haunting stillness of grief, betrayal, and injustice as only Grisham can deliver.

The story follows a woman whose life is upended after the shocking death of her husband, a man who wasn’t just a beloved small-town figure, but one with carefully buried secrets. As the layers peel back, what begins as a story of loss slowly morphs into a smart, suspenseful legal thriller filled with shocking revelations, moral ambiguity, and the kind of characters you’ll be thinking about long after the last page.

Grisham doesn't just give us a compelling mystery; he gives us a woman with real agency, intelligent, strong, and flawed. Her pursuit of the truth is not only captivating, it's emotionally resonant. You’ll ache for her, cheer for her, and question everything right alongside her.

The pacing is pitch-perfect, never rushed, but always propelling you forward. Just when you think you know where it’s going, Grisham shifts the narrative with one of his signature twists that lands like a gavel strike.

I devoured this in just two sittings and didn’t want it to end. Whether you're a long-time Grisham fan or new to his work, The Widow is a knockout, a bold evolution of his storytelling that stays true to the legal tension and human insight that made him a household name.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. This is easily one of my top reads of the year!