The Widow: A Novel
#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….
“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….
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Community Reviews
https://cerebralspice.wordpress.com/2025/11/12/book-list-the-widow-by-john-grisham
John Grisham's books are always fun and easy to read, fraught with mystery and suspense. "The Widow" is no exception.
John Grisham's books are always fun and easy to read, fraught with mystery and suspense. "The Widow" is no exception.
Disappointed! I love all the Grisham books but this one was achingly slow in the beginning and boring. The best part of the book was at the end, so you might want to skip ahead some during the first parts.
Really great tale of greed overriding good judgement. Grisham has a remarkable knack for making even the most mundane of legal matters, be intriguing. In this case, an 80 year old Eleanor Barnett walks into the law office of the protagonist, Simon Latch, with what seems like a simple will. Until it’s not.
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