Sparring Partners

Sparring Partners (2022) is the first collection of novellas published by American author John Grisham. Grisham has written 47 consecutive number one bestsellers, and his novels have been translated into 50 languages. Many of his novels have also been adapted into major motion pictures. Grisham is known for legal thrillers and crime fiction, and his works often feature aspects of Southern Gothic literature, such as dark events traumatizing small towns.

The first novella in the collection, “Homecoming,” features Grisham’s popular hero Jake Brigance, who first appeared in Grisham’s debut novel, A Time to Kill (1992). The other two novellas feature new characters, but deal with topics Grisham often explores, such as the death penalty and political corruption.

This summary is based on the 2022 Doubleday edition of the collection.

Plot Summary

“Homecoming” features Grisham’s popular hero Jake Brigance, a 38-year-old lawyer practicing in the small town of Clanton, Mississippi. Jake suddenly hears from his old friend J. McKinley “Mack” Stafford after a years-long disappearance. Mack was a lawyer and family man in Clanton before suddenly divorcing his wife, filing for bankruptcy, and disappearing. Now living in exile in Costa Rica, Mack asks Jake’s help to return to the United States and make amends to his two young daughters and his ex-wife Lisa, who is dying of cancer. Alongside Harry Rex Vonner, another favorite Grisham character, Jake looks into the local and federal investigations surrounding Mack’s crimes, which include stealing money from clients and committing bankruptcy fraud. Mack’s ex-wife’s family hires a private investigator to determine whether Mack lied about his finances in his divorce proceedings. Despite growing law enforcement attention, Mack returns to Clanton and, with Jake’s help, reconnects with his oldest daughter Margot. When Mack is indicted, Harry Rex encourages him to turn himself in to the authorities, while Jake encourages him to leave the country again. Mack leaves without sharing his plans with his friends. That night, he crosses the Mexican border with $40,000 in cash and four passports.

“Strawberry Moon” tells the story of Cody Wallace, a 29-year-old incarcerated man facing the death penalty for the murder of an older couple, Earl and Dorothy Baker. Cody is an avid reader and activist; he has filed a number of lawsuits to secure access to books, television, food, and outdoor time for himself and the other incarcerated men on death row. As Cody prepares for his execution, a series of conversations with his lawyer, the prison’s warden, and a guard named Marvin reveal the truth: Cody is innocent, and it was his brother Brian who killed the Bakers. Abandoned by their parents, Cody and his brother Brian were forced to live in the woods and sell stolen goods to support themselves. The brothers broke into the Bakers’ home expecting it to be empty; when Earl Baker confronted them with a gun, Brian fired back, and a gunfight ensued. Cody, who was 14 and the only survivor, was convicted and sentenced to death. In the moments before his execution, Cody reconsiders his views about the afterlife.

“Sparring Partners” describes the disintegration of the St. Louis law firm of Malloy & Malloy. The firm was established by Bolton Malloy and is run by his sons, Rusty and Kirk, who took leadership after their father was convicted of manslaughter in the death of their mother and permanently disbarred. Assisting the brothers is Diantha Bradshaw, the firm’s unofficial third partner. Following a string of unsuccessful court cases and facing financial stress, the Malloy brothers decide to steal tobacco settlement money that their father has illegally deposited in offshore accounts and tax havens. When they learn that Bolton has made plans to buy a gubernatorial pardon, the brothers offer the governor a counter-bribe to keep Bolton in jail, so that he can’t interfere with their plans to steal the tobacco money. Frustrated by the brothers’ incompetence and the firm’s corruption, Diantha demands to be made a full partner. She also decides to share evidence of the pardon-buying scheme with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Ultimately, Rusty, Kirk, and Bolton are indicted for conspiring to bribe a public official, making Diantha the only remaining partner in Malloy & Malloy. She and her family move from St. Louis to Zurich, where she establishes new offices near the Swiss bank holding the tobacco money, which is now hers.