The Whistler
John Grisham, 2016
★ 3.98 from 158.6k ratings on Goodreads
A tip about a corrupt Florida judge sends two judicial investigators into a case with higher powers behind it. Grisham's patient procedural suspense and a wry, road-trip partnership. The pace is patient and the voice wry, with quiet office stretches and a partnership that carries the procedural unease.
Feels like serenity, tenderness and unease. About love, memory and power.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy patient legal investigations and a wry, road-trip partnership. Many readers found the middle slow, the storytelling flat, and the character connections weak.
Why read it
It offers a close look at how judicial corruption is investigated, with Grisham's legal background and a dry, companionable duo at the center.
A page from the book
What happens when the watchmen are nearly extinct.
Lacy enjoyed the quiet. She handled most of her cases alone, as did her colleagues. Deeper cuts had decimated the office, and the BJC was down to its last six investigators. Seven, in a state of twenty million people, with a thousand judges sitting in six hundred courtrooms and processing a half a million cases a year. Lacy was forever grateful that almost all judges were honest, hardworking people committed to justice and equality. Otherwise, she would have left long ago. The small number of bad apples kept her busy fifty hours a week. What readers say
Readers are split: some found the legal investigation engaging and fast-paced, while many others were bored by slow, flat, predictable storytelling and weak character connection.
John Grisham.John Grisham practiced law for nearly a decade in Mississippi and wrote his first novel, A Time to Kill, before dawn while still working as a lawyer.
Books that feel like this
More by John Grisham
The Rainmaker
John Grisham, 1995
A broke law student sues an insurance company for a family it refused to help, and finds out what a lawsuit really costs.
The Pelican Brief
John Grisham, 1992
A law student's hunch about two murdered Supreme Court justices makes her the target of a hunt she never asked for.
The Street Lawyer
John Grisham, 1985
A young associate witnesses a terrifying heist in a high-stakes law firm, forcing him to confront the true power structures that lie beneath the veneer of corporate justice.
Where to get it
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Questions readers ask
- Is The Whistler for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy patient legal investigations and a wry, road-trip partnership. Many readers found the middle slow, the storytelling flat, and the character connections weak.
- What is The Whistler like?
- The pace is patient and the voice wry, with quiet office stretches and a partnership that carries the procedural unease. Feels like serenity, tenderness and unease. About love, memory and power.
- What should I read after The Whistler?
- If you liked The Whistler, try The Woman in Cabin 10 (Ruth Ware), The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks) and The Midnight Library (Matt Haig).
A taste of the feed
The moment you decide you refuse to let fear choose who you become.
Was this what it was going to be like? Was I turning into someone who had panic attacks about walking home from the tube or staying the night alone in the house without their boyfriend? No, fuck that. I would not be that person.
The Woman in Cabin 10 · Ruth Ware
The case for a small life, made by a man who has lived one.
I am nothing special; of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts, and I’ve led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I’ve loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough.
The Notebook · Nicholas Sparks
The gap between a mother's corrections and a stranger's kindness.
It was hard not to compare Mrs Elm to her mother, who treated Nora like a mistake in need of correction. For instance, when she was a baby her mother had been so worried Nora’s left ear stuck out more than her right that she’d used sticky tape to address the situation, then disguised it beneath a woollen bonnet.
The Midnight Library · Matt Haig
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