The Last Juror: A Novel [Hardcover]

In 1970, one of Mississippi's more colorful weekly newspapers,The Ford County Times, went bankrupt. To the surprise and dismay of many, ownership was assumed by a 23 year-old college dropout, named Willie Traynor. The future of the paper looked grim until a young mother was brutally raped and murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Willie Traynor reported all the gruesome details, and his newspaper began to prosper.

The murderer, Danny Padgitt, was tried before a packed courthouse in Clanton, Mississippi. The trial came to a startling and dramatic end when the defendant threatened revenge against the jurors if they convicted him. Nevertheless, they found him guilty, and he was sentenced to life in prison.

But in Mississippi in 1970, "life" didn't necessarily mean "life," and nine years later Danny Padgitt managed to get himself paroled. He returned to Ford County, and the retribution began.“Never let it be said this man doesn’t know how to spin a good yarn.” —Entertainment Weekly

“John Grisham is about as good a storyteller as we’ve got in the United States these days.” —New York Times Book Review

“John Grisham may well be the best American storyteller writing today.” —Philadelphia Inquirer

JOHN GRISHAM is the author of seventeen novels. THE LAST JUROR is his first novel since A TIME TO KILL to be set in Ford County, Mississippi.

CHAPTER 2

Rhoda Kassellaw lived in the Beech Hill community, twelve miles north of Clanton, in a modest gray brick house on a narrow, paved country road. The flower beds along the front of the house were weedless and received daily care, and between them and the road the long wide lawn was thick and well cut. The driveway was crushed white rock. Scattered down both sides of it was a collection of scooters and balls and bikes. Her two small children were always outdolC%