The Widow by John Grisham 5

"The grinding machinery of American justice was often slow to start, but once the disparate elements finally came together at one time and in one place---the courtroom---there was no stopping the train wreck."

      -from the novel
 

I am a fan of John Grisham; I've enjoyed many of his novels so it's not surprising that I found this book a page turner. 

While many of Grisham's legal thrillers involve a lawyer serving a client, this one features a struggling small-town attorney, Simon Latch, who is charged with murder in the death of his client, 85-year-old widow Eleanor Barnett. She had come to him to make a new will and indicated she had millions in stocks and no family unless you could consider two no-good stepsons, and she did not want them to be heirs to the fortune.

With the help of his well-known defense attorney, a former girlfriend who happens to be an FBI agent and a quirky denizen of the dark web, Simon must prove his innocence. This reader had a lot of empathy for Simon. He is not only facing the possibility of a long prison sentence but also a ruined reputation and great emotional damage to his family. The Widow is very suspenseful, and I am rating it a 5.