Sycamore Row: Jake Brigance, hero of A TIME TO KILL, is back

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Several of Grisham’s legal thrillers are set in the fictional town of Clanton, Mississippi, in the equally fictional Ford County, a northwest Mississippi town still deeply divided by racism. The first novel set in Clanton was A Time to Kill. … The stories in the collection Ford County are also set in and around Clanton. What is the plot of Sycamore Row? The characters are well-written, compelling, and realistic - behaving true to their depicted personalities. Seth has been saving money for years, and now he’s a millionaire. He leaves his fortune to Letitia Lang, who took care of him in the last few years of his life. However, Seth wrote the will just before he died; so there is going to be a debate about whether or not it’s legal. All sides decide to have a jury trial to determine if the handwritten will is legal and binding - that is, if Seth was of sound mind when he prepared the will and not unduly influenced by Lettie. If not, a previous will - which benefitted the family - would be enforced. While preparing for the trial one of the Hubbard family lawyers unearths information about Lettie's past and about Seth that he thinks will derail Lettie's claim. He cleverly (and unethically) maneuvers to hide the information from Jake until the trial is well under way.

John Grisham is a recognized virtuoso of the legal detective, skillfully guides the reader through all stages of the proceedings: from filing an application for the opening of an inheritance case to the final point - the verdict of the jury on the validity of the will. And not only to the final, but even to the Solomon's decision, which will suit all participants in the proceedings and will avoid an endless series of appeals that threaten to devour the inheritance with court costs. And what was it that Seth and his brother witnessed as children that, in his words, 'no human should ever see'?The second will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly? And what does it all have to do with a piece of land once known as Sycamore Row? I really seem to love almost all of Grisham's books. I keep waiting for one I will not like at all but it has not happened yet and somehow I think this is one author where that is not going to happen.

The story begins three years after the sensational events in the trial of Carl Lee Hailey ( A Time to Kill). An employee of wealthy recluse Seth Hubbard is instructed to meet his boss at a location by these sycamores one early Sunday afternoon. The employee finds Mr. Hubbard has hanged himself from the tree because his terminal lung cancer had become too painful. Accompanying the body are very specific funeral and burial instructions. Seth Hubbard was a wealthy white man. He was also dying of lung cancer. After months of suffering, he decided he’d had enough, so he planned his own suicide and one of his workers finds Seth hanging from a Sycamore tree, on his own property, in Clanton, Mississippi. Before his death, Seth Hubbard leaves a suicide note, with burial instructions. He also re-did his will, the day before, having researched the laws in the State of Mississippi. Seth Hubbard knew that the hand written will, drafted by his own hand, without the presence of a witness was legal and it revoked all others. If you have read A Time To Kill and enjoyed it, you will almost certainly enjoy Sycamore Row. All of the characters rerun from the first book. Jake Brigance a lawyer who at times seems to be in way over his head. Lucien his his alcoholic landlord and somewhat mentor. His pal and fellow lawyer Harry Rex, and Ozzie the sherif of Ford county. Elderly Seth Hubbard of Clanton, Mississippi - suffering from cancer - commits suicide. Just before he takes his life, however, Seth writes a handwritten will. Lettie had/has the potential to be a great character that is a beacon of light in the sea of vultures. The problem with the housekeeper is that she wasn't developed enough to surpass being a caricature. Sure, she's the lowly housemaid that was subjected to taking care of a man who was on his way out. Then she was subjected to a small towns' speculation. She was assumed to be his lover, his manipulator, and his puppet-master. A woman who deserved none of these titles yet withstood the ridicule of of so much... crap. I wish I could feel anything for her but I didn't. An orphan that garnered no sympathy from me is a miracle.The story starts to drag when it becomes apparent that there is nothing to be done besides rehash the same subjects over and over again. There is some interest in the lives of the characters affected, the housekeeper and her family, the humiliated children of the deceased and his past. But too often the legal sections get mired in the same old greedy lawyers attempting to manipulate one another. I like legal suspense stories but there is no suspense here. Inspired by this passion, Grisham created literary heaven not only for thriller lovers but also for baseball, basketball, and football fans as well.