The Judge’s List by John Grisham

While the FBI theorizes that most serial killers take their victims at random, The Judge’s List, the latest by master crime thriller writer John Grisham being published October 19, contains the names of all those people in his 40-some years who have wronged a judge in fictional Chavez County, Florida.

Slaying his tormentors in Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Florida, His Honor Ross Bannick meticulously uses gloves and may have altered his fingerprints, leaves no prints, hairs, fibers, or blood behind, and knows forensics, police procedure, and law.

So far, according to her sleuthing, Jeri Crosby, the daughter of one of Bannick’s victims, has theorized the man has taken eight lives over 23 years in seven Southern states, one of them being Florida. Because attorney Lacy Stoltz has successfully investigated one crooked judge in her job at the fictional Florida Board on Judicial Conduct (FBJC) as detailed in Grisham’s The Whistler, she becomes the recipient of all the documentation that Jeri has collected.

 

Once Crosby files a complaint with the FBJC, Stoltz and her team dishearteningly begin the investigation from their office in Tallahassee because theories are one thing, proof is another. The case hinges on proof, of which there is none, until the Mississippi investigation yields a partial thumb print. However, the investigators cannot subpoena a warrant to search unless they get the FBI to convince a federal magistrate to issue a search warrant. They cannot arrest Bannick until there is a match of prints or some other proof.

 

Stoltz and her team are a step ahead with knowing the identity of the killer judge, but how will they prove the case with no evidence? How will they stay off the judge’s list as they close in on him?

John Grisham first blew readers away with A Time to Kill, which began the path that would make him king of the modern legal thriller. He knows of what he writes having worked 60–70-hour weeks in a Mississippi law practice. The Judge’s List is Grisham at his finest.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting September 29, 2021.

I would like to thank Doubleday Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

The Duchess by Wendy Holden

In The Duchess by Wendy Holden, the author gives a sympathetic telling of Wallis Simpson’s life before she met the Prince of Wales up to the time of his abdication of the throne. In alternating chapters, Holden leads the reader through the pomp and circumstance of his lying-in state through his funeral. While many books give us the story of their life together, this novel bookends their life with the before the marriage and after the death of the former King.

A pitiful picture of Mrs. Simpson is fleshed out with stories of abuse and depravity at the hands of her first husband, Earl Winfield Spencer Jr. Because of the “scars” of that marriage, she never consummates her second marriage, which is to Ernest Simpson, who eventually takes a lover as his wife begins her affair with the Prince of Wales.

Furthermore, readers are revealed the nearly poor Simpsons trying to keep up with the aristocrats who finally befriend them after the prince shows favor for Wallis. In this telling, Wallis is never after the prince for herself but just taking care of him until he finds a suitable wife. She believes they can never marry as she would be twice divorced.

This story of Wallis Simpson is quite different from those that portray her as a woman with an agenda to marry a king despite her tawdry background. Even in this telling, Simpson never quite understands the negative attitude the royals, other than the Prince of Wales, display toward her.

Readers who have enjoyed such programs as the award-winning The Crown will no doubt be interested in this different telling of the life of Wallis Simpson.

Wendy Holden is a British writer who is now working on a book about the early life of Diana, Princess of Wales.

The Stolen Hours by Allen Eskens

 

Imagine a lazy Susan offering of mysteries centered in a fictional community within Hennepin County, Minnesota, in which there are recurring characters with one always being prominently featured. In the case of Allen Eskens’ latest novel, The Stolen Hours, Lila Nash is front and center dealing with the prosecution of a man who may have not only raped and attempted to murder a young woman, but who also may be tied to a series of murders that have occurred over the last half dozen years.

Gavin Spenser, a seemingly wealthy photographer, is the suspect who appears to enjoy his investigation because he has so tediously plotted his deception of the police. Once called “retarded” by his late stepfather, Spenser has left no detail exposed in covering his criminal actions, or so he thinks.

Haunted by her own victimization eight years ago, Nash is determined to trap Spenser in his web of deceit. Not only is she up against an evil defendant, but she is also thwarted in her attempts to prosecute Spenser by her new boss, a man she took down in court when she was a law student working with her teacher to solve another case a couple of years ago.

While Nash works with two police investigators to link the latest crime to prior incidents with the same modus operandi, she realizes there is a connection to her own unsolved case. When the whole prosecution of Spenser is blown up when the prime witness becomes unavailable, Nash plots a strategic but dangerous solution to bring about justice for all. Eskens’ fans will not want to miss this thriller.

I first fell for Allen Eskens’ writing with the unforgettable debut novel, The Life We Bury, which is being developed into a feature film. Eskens grew up in the hills of central Missouri. He lives with his wife in Cleveland, Minnesota, where he retired after practicing criminal law for 25 years.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting September 17, 2021.

I would like to thank Mulholland Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

 

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

 

In Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty, the Delaneys are a tennis family in Sydney, Australia. Meet Mom Joy, Dad Stan, and Amy, Logan Troy, and Brooke. But that was the past: Mom and Dad have since sold the business, and none of the children play competitively anymore. Instead, the adult children are balancing, how much do they tell the police about their parent’s relationship now that Joy has gone missing?

Adding to the mystery is a stranger named Savannah who had shown up on the Delaney’s doorstep months ago, and Joy and Stan had taken her in after hearing her domestic abuse story. But how much of her story is true? What are their parents thinking taking in this person?

When Joy is missing, Savannah cannot be found by the police for questioning. And because it’s “always the husband,” Stan finds himself having to defend himself. Whether the children tell the police all they know remains to be seen as is a surprising twist in the end.

Liane Moriarty, an Australian author, has seen two of her previous novels show up as televisions series: Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers. Her story-telling style seems to play well with major scripts and big stars like Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting September 13, 2021.

I would like to thank Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.