John Grisham delivers one of his most suspenseful novels yet

A small legal team at work investigating judicial misconduct in the state of Florida usually has enough work to keep them busy, but nothing too exciting ever happens. 

The small size of their office indicates the general state of honesty within the ranks of the judges, who are normally committed to overseeing equitable outcomes within their courts of law. That is until they receive a phone call from someone who wants to make a claim of judicial misconduct under whistleblower legislation. 

So begins The Whistler by John Grisham.

Lacy and her work partner Hugo are allocated to investigate and begin by going out to meet the informer on his motor boat, which is docked at a marina. The informer, whose name is Randy Mix, explains that he is a go-between, and does not have direct contact with the whistleblower because the whistleblower also uses an intermediary. All the parties are in it for the money – millions of dollars which they are entitled to claim as a reward for exposing a hugely successful fraudulent operation.

The stakes are high, but so are the risks, which Lacy discovers fairly quickly when she and Hugo are lured into a late night rendezvous on land owned by the Tappacola tribe of Native American people. Lucy and Hugo are involved in a terrible car accident which results in Hugo’s death as they leave the Tappacola land, but is it possible that it is not really an accident? 

The Tappacola have legal jurisdiction over their land, and their police service is tasked with conducting the investigation. Corruption, bribery, fear and loyalty to kinsmen work against Lacy as she tries to establish whether the accident had been a murder attempt, what the Tappacola are covering up, and how this fits in with the whistleblower claims.

Meanwhile, Randy Mix goes missing. 

By this time, Lucy is already working with the FBI to try to solve this case, knowing that it is the only organisation with enough power to investigate corruption at this level. The FBI think that Randy has probably been given some swimming lessons wearing cement slippers, and don’t expect to ever see him again. If the intermediaries have been discovered, this puts the whistleblower at risk, but who is the whistleblower?

Other characters in the novel who add depth are Lucy’s brother, who becomes enmeshed in the investigation because he is desperate to protect his sister; and a certain FBI agent who would like to develop a relationship with Lucy.  

John Grisham is one of the best-known thriller writers of our time, and this novel demonstrates his prowess yet again. It’s an exciting read from start to finish, with all the loose ends neatly tied in at the conclusion of the book. I give it a ten.

The Whistler by John Grisham (published by Hachette Australia) is available now from Dymocks. Click here to learn more.