So this is his latest and though I really haven't particularly cared for the novels Grisham has produced over the last couple of years, I still could not resist this one when I saw on sale in a Florida discount shop. Well, it is better than the last ones, though it is not really a courtroom novel and not the plot-driven novel he is famous for. The title is somewhat misleading. What Grisham is really interested in is the depiction of a small southern town in the early 70s and how it was affected by the social changes that had taken place elsewhere and now are creeping into this very stable southern little town - civil rights movement, the effect of the Vietnam War, the draft and avoiding it. There is a murder that takes place and someone is sentenced but that is a mere backdrop to the tale Grisham really wants to tell. His best friend becomes an elderly black lady with 8 children, 7 of whom earn a Ph.D. degree and, of course, move elsewhere. Then there are a couple of murders in the end but even Grisham does not seem to care very much about them. In-between we have the social changes in this little town and this where the author's heart lies. So in a way he is back on the turf that he started exploring with "The Farm", a novel which I frankly thought was a terrible bore - i.e. describing small-town America with all its merits and pitfalls. Compared to "The Farm" Grisham does a whole better this time but he is no Flaubert or Balzac. For that he is just too simplistic in both language and thinking. But maybe that is asking too much anyway. All in all, I still enjoyed the novel and would recommend reading it if you want to know more small-town America, but not if you are looking for a thrilling courtroom novel.