Book Review / The Judge's List by John Grisham

In The Whistler, Lacy Stoltz investigated a corrupt judge who was taking millions in bribes from a crime syndicate. She put the criminals away, but only after being attacked and nearly killed. Three years later, and approaching forty, she is tired of her work for the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct and ready for a change.

Then she meets a mysterious woman who is so frightened she uses a number of aliases. Jeri Crosby’s father was murdered twenty years earlier in a case that remains unsolved and that has grown stone cold. But Jeri has a suspect whom she has become obsessed with and has stalked for two decades. Along the way, she has discovered other victims.

Suspicions are easy enough, but proof seems impossible. The man is brilliant, patient, and always one step ahead of law enforcement. He is the most cunning of all serial killers. He knows forensics, police procedure, and most important: he knows the law.

He is a judge, in Florida—under Lacy’s jurisdiction.

He has a list, with the names of his victims and targets, all unsuspecting people unlucky enough to have crossed his path and wronged him in some way. How can Lacy pursue him, without becoming the next name on his list.

 Published:     19th October 2021
Publisher:  Doubleday
Goodreads :  Click here
Series or Stand-Alone:  Book 2, The Whistler
Source:  Bought

MY REVIEW

This book has been on my to buy and read list for ages as knowing this was coming up.  Having read The Whister reasonably recently I was very excited to read more about the character of Lacy and find out what she is up to next.  

I would recommend that you read The Whistler before picking this up not only because it is an excellent book but also there are small spoilers in this book to what happened in the first and genuinely it does help to get a background of the characters and how the Judicial Conduct Authority works.

What I loved the most about this book was the fact that you see this story in, basically, three characters' eyes.  Firstly you have Lacy who works at the Judicial Conduct Authority and is asked to look into this matter.  Secondly, you have Jeri who comes forward suspecting a sitting Judge for not only killing her father but also a number of others.  Lastly, you have the Judge himself and what is going on in his mind at various points in the story.  Having these three perspectives gives so much more depth to the story than just having one viewpoint.  You are seeing both good and evil with a race to find out who will win. 

What I also enjoyed was the way the story ended.  I won't go into too much detail here because of spoilers but I will say that although it may not be a satisfying ending for some it felt realistic and a very good twist that I wasn't expecting.

Do  pick up The Whistler before picking this up but a great edge of your seat read you need to pick up.