Lucien Wilbanks, has bursts of insight when he isn’t drowning in alcohol and together with Harry Rex, (also one who struggles with booze) they help with the progression of the story.

We are re-introduced to characters from the previous book and while nothing has changed much with respect to their personalities, Grisham manages to use them to build the main framework of the story. We must prevail.”Īnd with that, Grisham unveils the story and takes us on the journey of finding out just how much Seth is worth and why he has made this unusual bequest to Lettie Lang. Seth knows that his testamentary document is going to cause an uproar he warns Jake ahead : “ My estate is substantial – they have no idea of its size – and when this is made known they will attack. Seth and Jake have no prior association but Seth states in his letter that Jake was chosen for the task ahead because of the good work he did with the Carl Lee trial (from A Time to Kill).

This new will is put in the mail to the office of our hero from A Time to Kill, Jake Brigance. Seth also gives 10% of the estate to his church and his long lost brother, Ancil – in equal proportion. He also writes a holographic will which disinherits his children and gives the bulk of his estate to his black housekeeper. Being a meticulous planner he leaves a note which eliminates any suspicion of foul play. The body of the 70 year old is found hanging from a Sycamore tree by one of his employees. Wealthy business man, Seth Hubbard is dying of cancer and carefully orchestrates his own death. Some of the characters in the earlier story do make an appearance in Sycamore Row but the stories are markedly different. Describing Sycamore Row as a sequel to A Time to Kill is playing it quite close to the ear as the story in the former is not a continuation of the latter. Set in 1988 as a sequel to his first book –‘ A Time to Kill’ – Grisham established that he still had the capacity to spin a yarn, 2 decades later. Having read 75% of his titles, it was with great joy and anticipation that I picked up his most recent book, ‘ Sycamore Row’. The first time I picked up John Grisham’s book, the ‘ Pelican Brief’, I was thrilled by his ability to talk about the practice of law while weaving a crafty web of intricacies and stories is beautiful.

Sycamore row review