As we begin a new year, I wanted to check in with a few updates from my office here in Virigina. The Widow arrived in bookstores in October, and I enjoyed time in New York doing the usual publicity routine with CBS This Morning, The View, and Morning Joe—my favorite visits. I'm still thankful to the friends there who invite me each year and support books and reading. After so many books, and so many launches (as well as lunches) in New York, the trips there are still invigorating. I love the city, but for two nights only. I live on a farm in Central Virginia and I'm spoiled by greenery and open spaces. Years ago Renee and I finally confessed that, at heart, we are really bumpkins.

As usual, I did a few stops on a short tour—New York, Atlanta, and Minneapolis - St. Paul. I still appreciate the wonderful people who show up with great enthusiasm. In Atlanta, I shared the stage with Karin Slaughter, an engaging host and talented writer, and my visit to St. Paul was especially memorable because the venue was the Fitzgerald Theatre, named in honor of F. Scott, the native son, and also where "Prairie Home Companion" ran for over forty years. Like everyone else, I am alarmed and saddened by what is going on there.

About The Widow. Until now, I have not written a pure mystery, but as a reader I've always enjoyed them. As a kid I loved the Perry Mason series on television and I devoured the Erle Stanley Gardner books it was based on. Perry (Raymond Burr) was unbeatable in the courtroom, but he was also a sleuth who had to solve the crime and absolve his client. Perry didn't convince me to go to law school or write novels, but I still enjoy the old re-runs.

I was inspired by such great mystery writers as Raymond Chandler, John D. MacDonald, Ross Thomas, Walter Mosley, and James Lee Burke. One book in particular prompted me to stop dallying and finish my first novel. In 1987, Scott Turow published Presumed Innocent. It was an instant bestseller and catapulted Scott into the upper tier of popular authors, where he still hangs out. The book became famous and was adapted to a fine film starring Harrison Ford. In the story, a lawyer, one Rusty Sabich, is accused of killing his lover. Did he do it? The reader is kept guessing until the very end. The courtroom drama, dialogue, and maneuverings are classic. For years I've had the idea of writing a mystery in which the tables are turned on the lawyer and he is put on trial. Hence, The Widow.


Current Writing Project:

I'm researching and writing the fascinating true story of a Texas death row inmate named Robert Roberson. In 2024, Robert came within 90 minutes of being executed. A last minute miracle stay saved his life. This past October, he came within seven days of the same fate, only to be rescued again by the courts. As of today, he has no execution scheduled, though his legal situation is far from settled. So he sits on death row, where he's been for 22 years, as his lawyers fight to get back into court with clear medical and scientific evidence that he is innocent.

Non-fiction is challenging because the research is voluminous. It is even more difficult when writing about current events and people who are still alive. I hope the story will end with Robert's freedom.

As always, I'm working on another novel, one I'll finish in the spring and publish this October.


Current Reading Project:

About ten years ago I discovered the novels of Mick Herron, a British writer who is gaining quite a following. His work is gritty, often hilarious, and never dull. His most popular novels revolve around a London outpost known as Slough House, which is sort of a last stop for British spies who screw up big time. The misfits are known as "Slow Horses" in the trade, and it's easy to see why their careers went off the rails. Their boss is an irascible, unforgettable, though at times likable, drunk named Jackson Lamb. The books have been adapted to television, and Slow Horses is a great series. Gary Oldman plays Lamb, and does so with perfection. Kristin Scott Thomas runs MIS and wants Lamb to simply go away. Their confrontations are ongoing and memorable.

Mick Herron published Clown Town, his latest Slow Horses novel, in the fall, and it is excellent. It gives hope that the series—books and television—will continue.


That's the update. I'll check in before too long with more gossip. Thanks for reading the books. I wouldn't be writing if you were not reading.


John Grisham
January 2026