The Widow - John Grisham

The Widow

By John Grisham

  • Release Date: 2025-10-21
  • Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Score: 4
4
From 4,165 Ratings
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Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • John Grisham is the acclaimed master of the legal thriller. Now, he’s back with his first-ever whodunit, even more suspenseful than his courtroom dramas, as a small-time lawyer accused of murder races to find the real killer to clear his name.

“A classic, compulsive, taut and thrilling novel from one of the great storytellers of our time. The Widow is John Grisham at his irresistible, unforgettable best.”—Chris Whitaker, author of All the Colors of the Dark

Simon Latch is a lawyer in rural Virginia, making just enough to pay his bills while his marriage slowly falls apart. Then into his office walks Eleanor Barnett, an elderly widow in need of a new will. Apparently, her husband left her a small fortune, and no one knows about it.

Once he hooks the richest client of his career, Simon works quietly to keep her wealth under the radar. But soon her story begins to crack. When she is hospitalized after a car accident, Simon realizes that nothing is as it seems, and he finds himself on trial for a crime he swears he didn’t commit: murder.

Simon knows he’s innocent. But he also knows the circumstantial evidence is against him, and he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. To save himself, he must find the real killer….

Reviews

  • Slow start but killer ending

    5
    By Hoyt Adam
    It took me awhile to get through the first half of this book, and even thought about not finishing it and looking at other books. The lack of good stuff out now kept me reading and mannnnnnnn- it’s currently almost 2:00am and I have to be up at 6, all due to me reading the last third of the book. Probably one of the best books I’ve read of his now that I’ve finished it.

  • The Widow

    5
    By BL craig
    Fantastic story about a shocking case and a legal system so corrupted that it took unscrupulous characters to uncover the truth with the help of the accused and sentenced who had nothing to lose. Will read and absorb it again.

  • Kind of slow

    2
    By MinRay
    I liked it, but it’s pretty tedious at times. If I had to read about one more lunch between the lawyer and widow, I was going to give it up. It’s also a challenge in any novel when the protagonist is an unmitigated jerk without any redeeming qualities.

  • Surprise

    5
    By Guillermofigarigold
    Un poco molesto, pues pensé que desde el principio yo tenía al verdadero culpable; sin embargo, lo que más me agrada del autor es como cambia las cosas. Es formidable!

  • A wonderful story

    5
    By vivianfar
    A superb storyline with a likeable protagonist and a great twisty plot!

  • Another great courtroom novel.

    5
    By Yellowsnow1950
    Grisham takes us through greed, love and exoneration all in a few pages! Another great courtroom drama.

  • Kylady

    4
    By Ky Mother
    I enjoyed the book, even though in the middle it really became slow.

  • Take the money and run

    1
    By de coche
    Until Mr. GRISHAM can get his mojo back, he needs to rest on his royalties. This was bordering on a non-readable book, sorry to say.

  • One of Grisham’s best

    5
    By EconCurmudgeon
    This is Grisham’s best book since his early work, and maybe his best ever.

  • Really, really good !!

    4
    By Luft Waffe
    While I agree with many others that the ending could have been better, I absolutely loved this book. My hope is that there will be a follow-up, because the ending does leave you wanting a bit more.

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