The Widow, John Grisham, author; Michael Beck, narrator
Well, this novel started out a bit slow, but as the pages turned, Grisham hit it out of the park. It went in so many different directions, that the ending was pretty much a complete surprise. The court case, as usual, was riveting. The only shortcoming was the occasional extraneous dialogue, but once it got down to brass tacks, it nailed it.
Diving deeply into the legal system, this book exposes the greed that infects it, the tragic flaw that is its Achilles Heel. It exposes the warts and foibles of the lawyers, the tragic flaws that cause their downfall. It illustrates the cracks in the very justice system that is supposed to punish the guilty, but often is guilty itself, guilty of sending the innocent to prison while leaving the guilty free to commit crimes for another day. It exposes the arrogance and rush to judgment of the investigating detectives and police who seem to be simply searching for a reasonable suspect to arrest so they can close a case. It opens a window into the minds of the lawyers when they are presented with the opportunity to represent a wealthy client. It illustrates the power of the courtroom as the agenda of both the prosecutor and defense attorney is revealed. Justice is not always the goal, winning is, at all costs. The guilt or innocence of the accused takes a backseat sometimes.
Simon Latch is a forty something, not very successful lawyer in Braxton, VA. His life is in somewhat of a turmoil. He has gambling debts, his marriage is ending, and he has never really become the successful lawyer he thought he would be. He spends his days filing bankruptcies. When Eleanor Barnett, a wealthy eighty-five-year-old widow enters his office and asks him to represent her with a will and a retainer, he is floored. It seems, though, that she has already hired the lawyer across the street to draw up a will, but she no longer trusts him. Simon decides to steal the client from the other lawyer, Walter Thackerman, and will not let him know until after she has passed. This is his first rich client. He will draw up a new will for her. She seems to be his “get out of jail” card, his ticket to freedom from a career going nowhere and a marriage he could not afford to terminate, though both he and his wife Paula have agreed their relationship was over. He courts Eleanor. He takes her from restaurant to restaurant, wines and dines her in an effort to pin her down as to the assets she has. She resists providing information, seeming to wonder why he needs it, because everyone involved seems to want a piece of her fortune, including her stepsons whom she refuses to leave a nickel. The problem is that no one can discover if there really is a fortune in Eleanor’s world.
Then she is involved in a serious automobile accident, driving drunk as well, she begs Simon to come and help her and to promise her she won’t go to jail. Detective Barr wants to arrest her, the hospital wants to know if she has appropriate documents prepared, and Eleanor wants him to represent her because she has no one else and trusts him. To satisfy the hospital, he prepares a living will, a DNR, and also her final wishes to be cremated. She asks for his advice on all of the documents and he gives it freely, but does not coerce her. He absolutely refuses, however, to make the final decision on her life or death when it becomes necessary. When suddenly she does take a turn for the worse, although her injuries were not life threatening, he is forced to be present when the doctors decide to pull the plug. He notifies the funeral home, and then his life explodes. Someone notifies the police that she may have been murdered and did not die of pneumonia. The cremation is stopped. An investigation ensues, and it is discovered that the cookies he sent to her were poisoned.
His secretary had delivered them to the hospital. She was not a suspect. Her stepsons, Clyde and Jerry, one of whom had attacked the other lawyer, Walter Thackerman, were not suspects. Simon was the chief suspect. Soon, he is indicted and is arrested for Eleanor’s murder. His wife and children are forced to leave town to avoid humiliation and bullying. He discovers he has few friends supporting him. They all eventually abandon him, except for Yolanda, an old flame from college who now works for the FBI and is involved in an investigation of Chub, the guy with whom he placed his bets. He warns Chub. and Chub is now indebted to him.
Suddenly, his gambling worries are the least of it, however. He decides to hire the best criminal lawyer, Raymond Lassiter, who agrees to take his case pro bono because it is a case with so much notoriety and Simon is broke. Simon promises to pay him later, anyway. Then he leans on his former bookie, Chub, for help. Once he was indicted, he really needed money. He wants to help his wife leave Braxton to protect the kids, to finalize the divorce and to pay something to Raymond. Chub buys his office building. Paula sells their house and moves. His life, as he knew it, is over. The possibility of being locked up for life is facing him.
After months, to get a fair trial, the venue is changed to Virginia Beach, VA. However, after the trial in which Lassiter defended him well, in an unexpected upset that even surprised the judge, the jury finds him guilty. The verdict was probably based on his greed, because there was no evidence. At this point, throwing caution to the wind because what else could happen to him, he engages a friend of Chub’s to find someone to help him illegally hack into hospital records so he can do his own investigation and prove his innocence. The story gets more and more powerful as betrayal and secrets are revealed. There is no end to the ability of people of all stripes to be devious. He is innocent, so who committed the murder? Who could have poisoned the cookies he sent to Eleanor? Who tipped off the police about the murder? Would one of Eleanor’s sons have done it so they could contest the will? Because of a loophole, there was no inheritance tax that year. Eleanor died December 30th, so her heirs would be the benefactors of a will without estate taxes. Matilda Clark was Lawyer Latch’s secretary. She delivered the cookies. Could she have done it? Thallium was an odorless, tasteless, undetectable poison. How would someone get it? Was Cora Cook the prosecutor typical of prosecutors just looking for a conviction regardless of whether or not the accused was guilty? Did Detective Barr do an adequate investigation or just rush to judgment in an attempt to wrap up the case? There seemed to be no end to sleazy lawyers. Do you think all lawyers are like vultures waiting for prey? Does a jury often get a verdict wrong? There are so many questions and all will be answered.