by John Grisham
Part of The Whistler
First published 2016
A judge sits behind the bench for his first murder trial in a small town where everyone knows everyone. The stakes could not be higher. The defense attorney struggles with a case beyond his experience. The prosecutor wants blood and glory above all else. The defendant may be innocent of the crime that brought him here. Somewhere in the courtroom sits the real killer, who believes he has committed the perfect crime. As testimony unfolds and evidence mounts, each person in this courthouse carries secrets that could destroy them. The judge must navigate his inexperience while lives hang in the balance. Truth and justice collide in a trial where nothing is certain except that someone will pay the ultimate price.
Genres: fiction, drama, mystery, thriller, legal-thriller
Vibes: dark, gritty, suspenseful, tense, thought-provoking
Tropes: hidden-killer, moral-ambiguity, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Small Town, Courthouse
23 pages · Kindle Edition · Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Content warnings: murder, violence