Sparring Partners by John Grisham

 Sparring Partners by John Grisham is a collection of three novellas being published at the end of May. In “Homecoming,” Grisham takes fans back to Ford County, Mississippi,  the setting of many of his earlier books. The familiar character Jake Brigance is featured in this story about a fellow lawyer named Mack Stafford who three years ago left his family and disappeared to some foreign country, supposedly with a fortune. Mack has had a change of heart, and  he calls on Jake to help him return to the United States. He wants to make it up to his ex-wife, who is dying of cancer, and give his daughters a home. What are the chances? Slim to none, according to the family. Yet, a headstrong daughter has another opinion.

“Strawberry Moon”  introduces the reader to Cody Wallace,  who is sitting on Death Row three hours away from his execution. He and his brother never had a chance, born to a prostitute who did not want them. Both escape foster care, living off the land, looting houses, pawning the items for cash. One fateful night, something went deadly wrong. Even though he wasn’t even armed, Cody was sentenced to death, and now all avenues have been exhausted. Cody has one final request. It is simple, costs nothing, but it would break the rules. Will a prison guard jeopardize his job for a Death Row inmate and allow Cody his request?

Kirk and Rusty Malloy, two brothers as well as practicing lawyers who took over the family law firm from their father who was sent to jail for killing his wife are the “Sparring Partners.” The brothers have long been on opposing sides, speaking only when absolutely necessary. The firm is going into the toilet unless Diantha Bradshaw, the managing partner in the practice and the only person at the firm the partners trust, can save the practice. Worse, their father is almost assured a get out of jail free card with a $2 million bribe to the governor of Missouri. Can the partners outbid their father to keep him in jail so they can tap into the fortune he hid before being arrested for murder? Not wanting any part of their bribery scheme, Diantha must find a way to save the firm.

John Grisham, a lawyer, started his writing career in 1988 with A Time to Kill, in which he introduced Jake Brigance. Several of his books have been adapted for movies. Born in Arkansas, he and his wife split their time among their homes in Charlottesville, Virginia; Destin, Florida, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.