The Last Juror Willie Traynor, a five-year below average journalism grad from Syracuse, takes his first real job at the ailing (dying?) Ford County Times in Clanton, Mississippi, a short distance south of his Memphis home. It’s 1970 and race relations aren’t the greatest in this little Southern town. A young widow is brutally raped and killed in front of her young children. The accused is a member of the notorious and feared Padgitt family that has ‘ruled’ the county with a subtle but iron fist for the previous 100+ years. If they can’t buy a lawyer, judge, person or business, they just steal, torture or kill to get their way (the all-American family). Of course, they say their beloved Danny Padgitt couldn’t possibly have committed the murder. For one thing, no previous criminal record…no big surprise since the family patriarch has the lawyer and sheriff in his back pocket. Willie sees the trial as a great boon for the newspaper and a great way to make a name for himself. It’s a quick trial, Danny testifies (lies) in his own defense (much to his attorney’s dismay), and threatens the jurors as he leaves the witness stand. He gets life, but a life sentence in 1970 Mississippi isn’t what you think. Nine years later, Danny is free and the murders begin. I’ve read just about all of Grisham’s books--some are great, others just so-so. I’m afraid this book falls into the so-so category. Silly me, I was expecting a good mystery from Mr. G. The story moves slowly; it was hard to stay interested; and he had a lot of wordy subplots and side stories. Maybe they were meant to fill the pages, or give the reader a feel for pre-and post-segregation life in rural Mississippi, or just something to fill the nine years of the story. The lives of everyone in Clanton certainly changed over those nine years.
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