Sycamore Row by John Grisham

I really needed a change of pace after the last few books I've read and Jackie recommended John Grisham's latest.  Good call.  It takes you to three years after the end of his first book, A Time To Kill, and dives into another plot involving race, twists in emotions and flow, lots of lawyers and another trial as memorable as the first one.

In this instance, a rich man kills himself to end the pain of cancer right after making a new will that removes his heirs from any inheritance.  To make matters more difficult in this rural Mississippi town, he left most of it to his black house keeper of 3 years. That his family contests the new will is a no-brainer.  Jake Brigance is the one picked by the deceased, even though the two never met.  The central question of why would the deceased do such a thing is the focus of the trial.

The plot is an excellent follow-up to A Time To Kill and satisfies on a number of levels, from a host of interesting characters, a number of dirty tricks, and an ending believable enough to be satisfying.  If you liked ATTK, you'll like this as well.