Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

Part one of The Reckoning. Chapters 1-20 Spoilers welcome on this topic.
What do you think of the book so far?
If the first to post please briefly summarize to guide the discussion.

Chapter 1

1946. Pete Banning (43) awakes, knowing he must do a killing. Son Joel daughter Stella both in college. Sister- Florry, 48. Foreman- Buford ( Pete owned a cotton farm). His dog-Mac.
The Reverend- Dexter Bell for Clanton Methodist Church. This is the man Pete murders, calling him a coward. He spares the others nearby,

Chapter 2

Roy Lester- Deputy. Hop, the handyman went to get him. Deputy Red Arnet meets him. The preacher’s wife (Jackie Bell) has seen the body and is crying. Hop tells te police Pete Banning did it. Sheriff Gridley also shows up. The sheriff goes to arrest Pete. Pete gets hauled off to jail. His lawyer John Wilbanks, is waiting.

Chapter 3

The congregation was shocked and overwhelmed. Whispers and rumors started, centered around Pete’s wife.
Pete is in jail with nothing to say to the police, nothing to say to his lawyer either.

Chapter 4

The town is not sure what to make of their town war hero killing their beloved priest. The lawyer discovers that Pete transferred his land to his kids, certainly suggesting premeditation. Pette did not talk to fellow prisoners either. He had been a POW and learned this lesson.

Chapter 5

Florry starts a dairy of events. She saves the newspapers, and visits her brother, who said he did what he did for a reason. That he had no choice.

Chapter 6

Raf Oswalt-the ckt court judge. Miles Truitt – District Atty. It was arraignment day, and the town turned out, with all 8 members of the police force and everybody else that could find a reason to to the court. Pete pleads not guilty.
At the church, the process of mourning and showing begins.

Chapter 7.

Joel, the son, disobeys his father and heads for home. He talks with Florry about being informed his father was killed in the war, then learning he was really alive. Florry tells him to go back to school.

Chapter 8

Next came the grand jury, with a case that finally held some interest to the district atty. The DA has surprising trouble with the Grand Jury, who had members that knew and liked Pete, and wanted to sit it out. He did get the 2/3 he needed, but with no margin.
Florry set about improving prison conditions, providing good food and coffee for all, including the staff. Pete was named a trustee, and bonded a bit with the other prisoners, who were grateful for the things he provided.
The sheriff informed Pete he was indicted for murder one.

Chapter 9

The family of the priest moved to Georgia, taking the body with them. The wife is helped by a lawyer acquaintance, but his real interest is a lawsuit to get himself out of debt.
We hear a bit about the daughter, who is being supported by her friends at school.

Chapter 10

Pete continues to run the farm from jail. Jackie’s lawyer continues to rub his hands over the prospect of suing himself into wealth. Pete’s lawyer gets him released from jail long enough to talk fees and defense. The lawyer ells Pete he is in tough shape to win. Pete reiterates that he did what he had to do.
Pete also refuses the lawyer’s attempts to use temporary insanity, or an incident between the pastor and his secretary.

Chapter 11

The kids got together, one area of concern being a possible lawsuit,and whether the transfer of land to them was fraudulent to avoid a civil suit. They were going home for Christmas, at the invitation of their father. They all met at Florry’s house, not that Pete gave the kids anything to hang their hat on.
Jackie wonder at her future, and that of the 3 children. She never had faith in her marriage, the pastor having a roaming eye all along.

Chapter 12

The kids head off to the asylum to see mom. This is a trip they had not taken before. They were not allowed to see their mother though, Pete had blocked their access. So off they went for a break in New Orleans

Chapter 13

Ernie Dowdle wakes up and head to the court building. He attends to the building, and today the big trial starts. Ernie is black, and found it amazing that no black man had been blamed for the murder, and a prominent white man was on trial. First order of business was jury selection. Pete’s lawyer gets on record that he wanted a change in venue, and to pursue an insanity defense, but the client would not let him. Pete restates that he knew what he was doing.

Chapter 14

The jury is selected, with the belief that it will be a fast trail. The lawyer tells Pete to behave and act sympathetic.
The DA gives a strong opening statement, the defense defers til later. The widow Bell is first to testify. She tells of hearing the shots and finding her husband covered in blood. Errol McLiesh, the lawyer, watched her testify. Hop testified next and told his story.
Then came the town clerk to testify on the land transfer to the children.
Next were the police. The defense did not challnage any testimony, there was no basis for challenge.

Chapter 15

The prosecution figures it has presented a whole case. The defense has an idea on how to proceed, but the judge is skeptical. Pete’s commanding officer is called. He tells of the siege of Bataan. Pete had escaped the death march, and for years ran a crew of partisans harassing the Japanese. This is the only testimony given, Pete does not want any more.

Chapter 16

Snow was in the forecast. Both lawyer worry that it will affect the jury, though in different ways. The prosecution gives a closing arguing that Pete’s war record was not relevant tot he proceedings. The defense simply argues that nothing is gained by imposing the death sentence.
The jury is sure of guilt, but there were some holdouts on execution. The deliberations dragged on, but in the end, it was guilty with a sentence of death by electrocution.

Chapter 17

The question about town was whether they would really execute Pete. The kids are distraught and having trouble at school. The Memphis Press published the story of Pete on Bataan. Maybe Pete would not tell his story, but others would.
In a death case, an appeal is automatic. Pete does not want one, but his lawyer files. His does delay the execution. The kids eave school and find anonymous jobs. The courts uphold the death sentence.

Chapter 18

Execution was to be by electrocution I the state’s portable electric chair. Pete s taken to see his wife, who is not doing well. She asks for his forgiveness, which he does not give. She asks to see the children, which he does allow. At a final meal, his only word to the children is that Bell deserved to die.

Chapter 19

Execution day has arrived, Pee is not seemingly affected by this. The streets fill with soldiers to honor his action in WW2. The governor had a rash of letters asking for clemency for Pete. The governor offered to commute the sentence to life, Pete says he did not ask for this. His sister drops by, he tells her there are some things she needs to know.

Chapter 20

Pete asks to walk to his execution. The ‘chair’ was set up in the courthouse. Pete was strapped in. The execution was grisly, but it was an execution. Pete was buried in the family plot.

20 chapters, 180 page, I feel like the story has not even started to be told yet, just some foreshadowing of what might yet to come.

Barry wrote: "20 chapters, 180 page, I feel like the story has not even started to be told yet, just some foreshadowing of what might yet to come."

Pretty long for the story to just be starting! Thanks for the summaries, Barry, and for kicking things off.

The Dr. Watson in me says that Rev. Bell seduced Mrs. Banning. Pete Banning, still trigger-happy from the trauma of the Bataan death march, got mad, shipped his wife off to the asylum, and killed the preacher.

But the Sherlock in me suggests something deeper and darker, and possibly racial, even though all the main players are white. Time will tell.

Grisham introduces us to a lot of characters in this first part of the book--everybody from the county courthouse maintenance guy up to the governor of Mississippi. Some of it is a bit pat, but on the whole I like it. Grisham may not be a literary master but he qualifies as a good old-fashioned Southern storyteller. I get the feeling we're on the front porch listening to retired lawyer Uncle John warming up for another stemwinder!

I stood back and let it develop. My mind wandered in the same direction as yours, but seemed too simple.

I've read chapters 1-10 and it has been driving me nutty to not be able to peek into this thread and talk about the book so I am closing my eyes to the 11-20 summaries right now.
Thank you Barry for the summaries. Much appreciated.
My first thoughts are general.
The audio narration grates on my nerves. I am listening at a faster playback speed and it still seems slow. (but I am adapting to it as I usually do with an audio)

- The courtroom type scenes (Grand Jury, pretrial hearing) have caught my interest.
- The time frame of this segment and setting right after WWII is intriguing.
- There is something about the book that gently reminds me of a Greg Iles authored book (in tone and dialog) as well as previous early Grisham courtroom/ small town novels
- I need to start listening faster. I only have the book for a few more days on my loan.

Russ: I agree with all three statements! It surely is more complicated than that - and appears to be a "locked room" sort of mystery. If Pete doesn't tell anyone anything how will the mystery be solved? Intriguing.

Russ wrote: "The Dr. Watson in me says that Rev. Bell seduced Mrs. Banning. Pete Banning, still trigger-happy from the trauma of the Bataan death march, got mad, shipped his wife off to the asylum, and killed the preacher.

But the Sherlock in me suggests something deeper and darker, and possibly racial, even though all the main players are white. Time will tell.

Some of it is a bit pat, but on the whole I like it. Grisham may not be a literary master but he qualifies as a good old-fashioned Southern storyteller. I get the feeling we're on the front porch listening to retired lawyer Uncle John warming up for another stemwinder!"

Florry is a character - she is devoted to Pete; not savvy enough to keep her own counsel about Pete's preparedness that indicates premeditation and is either the loving sister who causes no trouble or is a catalyst for it (pre-murder before this timeline)
I was grateful for her acerbic comments about the shipping off of Pete's wife to an asylum and maddened to be reminded that this sort of thing was common not so many years ago.

Glad you’re reading it, Ann! Good observation about Florry. Best of luck finishing within your checkout time.

Thankz Russ! I finally finished chapter 20, ready for part two. This was a big chunk of the book but it seemed to go pretty fast. I did lose my loan but I sprang for an Audible credit so kept on listening.

Barry: I agree a lot of foreshadowing in this segment. The biggest of all was the actual execution which was grisly and horrific to listen to it described. I am generally familiar with the electric chair and the terrible things that transpire. This description was delivered with vivid detail.
The moving moment for me was the soldiers who came to support and show their respect for Pete on the execution day.