The Widow by John Grisham

 What if you are innocent and no one believes you? Publishing on  October 21, 2025, The Widow by John Grisham centers on Simon Latch, a small-town Virginia lawyer who must find a way to clear his name after being accused of murdering client Eleanor Barnett, an 85-year-old widow. Grisham’s longtime involvement with the Innocence Project directly informs the themes and emotional core of The Widow, even though the novel itself is a fictional “whodunit.”

Barnett comes into Latch’s office in need of a new will. Another lawyer in town gave it a try, but she is not satisfied with his work. While Latch usually charges $250 for a simple will, he sees a bigger paycheck as the widow claims to have great wealth. Greed drives him in this seemingly good fortune as he struggles to pay his bills and hold his marriage together.

Seeing a need to protect this woman’s wealth, Latch endeavors to draw up an expansive will setting up a plan for the distribution of her assets upon her death. Over a series of lunches he puts on his own tab, Latch extracts information from Barnett to create this last testament.

What Latch struggles to validate is the expanse of her wealth. He begins to wonder if she understands just how many assets she actually possesses. When it comes to the ones she can leave her fortune to, the answers to his questions make clear she has no one in her life other than two greedy stepsons with whom she has no relationship.

When the widow is involved in a car accident in which she is at fault, other legal documents become necessary, which Latch creates—at the urging of a concerned nurse--and is forced to have her sign while in the hospital where she is recovering from her injuries. Then the unthinkable happens and everything goes off the rails.

Latch’s efforts to prove himself not guilty of the widow’s murder is anguishing as he faces circumstantial evidence in the role he played in the death. Grisham uses his experience representing clients wrongly accused of crimes to illustrate how legal missteps and flawed evidence can threaten lives.

Latch finds himself on the brink of ruin as his already struggling practice nets not nearly enough to pay a highly recommended defense lawyer. Even closing his practice and selling the building will only make a dent in much needed finances. He finds it hard to believe that any jury could convict him because he is innocent of committing the murder and the evidence is only circumstantial.

The Widow, though fictional, carries forward these concerns as it portrays an innocent man racing to reclaim his reputation and prove his innocence in court. The Widow is less about who committed murder and more about how easily the wrong person can end up in the crosshairs.

Fans of Grisham’s earlier legal thrillers will find comfort in the familiar rhythm of courtroom drama, while newcomers may be surprised by the novel’s emotional resonance. Grisham is a board member of the Innocence Project, a nonprofit devoted to exonerating wrongly convicted individuals. Grisham made a name for himself with his very first  novel, A Time to Kill (1989), followed by other court procedural novels that made him king of the modern legal thriller.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting July 25, 2025.

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