ohn Grisham’s latest book, The Innocent Man: Murder and Justice in a Small Town is further proof that Grisham is getting bored with the legal-thriller formula, as recent novels A Painted House and Skipping Christmas show. Grisham has been a sure thing for publisher Doubleday, with a slew of best-selling fiction books and numerous Hollywood film adaptations to his credit. For his first non-fiction project, Grisham tells the story about the brutal rape and murder of Debbie Carter in the small town of Ada , Oklahoma in 1982.

If you think a non-fiction account of the subsequent investigation and trial will be boring, you’d better think again. Grisham is in his prime, as he weaves a dark tale of two detective’s incompetence and the dysfunctional Oklahoma court system. The story is as much about the investigator’s obvious mismanagement of evidence, witnesses and suspects as it is about Ron Williamson, who is the prime suspect in the rape and murder. The one-time pride and joy of Ada , Ron was drafted out of high school to the Oakland A’s pro baseball team. As the manipulative son of Juanita and Roy Williamson, things take a turn for the worse when Ron is cut from the minor leagues after suffering an injury. Ron becomes depressed, and turns to alcohol and drugs. He eventually develops severe mood swings accompanied by serious bouts of depression.

Even though another man, Glen Gore, was seen arguing with Debbie the last time she was seen alive, the police never collected fingerprints from Gore, even though they collected some sixty odd samples. Williamson is their man, “…they had no evidence, just gut feelings,” Grisham says. With absolutely no evidence to convict Williamson, the detectives base their case on a shaky confession obtained nearly five years after the murder.

Grisham’s stinging sarcasm and sense of humor helps to avoid weighing the book down. Grisham’s trying to win you over, and he does so by pointing out the defenses’ blunder of challenging Ron’s mental status, bringing up another man’s confession to the murder, as well as the prison staff medicating Ron when it was to their advantage. In a small, Bible-worshiping town like Ada , “innocent until proven guilty” is more a formality than a guideline for investigating murders. His court-appointed attorney is a blind man, whom Grisham seems to especially relish in - it’s a metaphor for how blind justice is for Ron Williamson.

Grisham’s book is also a story about death row. Oklahoma has an even worse record than Texas when it comes to executing prisoners. More troubling, a man from a modest background has the odds stacked against him when it comes time for an appeal.

After a guilty decision is delivered, Ron sits in despair in death row, where many inmates prefer death to the harsh living conditions.

There’s also two other boys sent to prison for a crime they didn’t commit, as well as Ron’s accomplice, Dennis Fritz, who also proclaims his innocence, along with countless other characters; jailhouse snitches, friends and family of Ron, who give the story depth, but a bit of confusion at times. It’s hard not to feel for these detectives, whose hearts were obviously in the right place, but were so desperate to solve a crime and felt so much pressure from the town they neglected to be partial in their investigation and grossly overlooked key witness, statements and evidence. 1982 wasn’t that long ago, and even with improved technology that can compare fingerprints, hair and fluid samples, detectives too often are focused on arrests rather than examining evidence. Grisham tells us that the Oklahoma State Investigation Bureau was understaffed and overworked. It’s not difficult to see why they tried to pin the murders on Ron, who was a man with two prior rape charges and was prone to physical violence once he started drinking.

From the beginning, Grisham has you hooked. Although utterly baffled at how the state managed to convict Ron, he still has great respect for the court system. It just doesn’t always work, he seems to say, and this could happen to you. And the thing about death row is once you send somebody there, you better be darn sure it’s the right person. I won’t tell you how the story ends (you’ll probably figure it out before you finish reading it), but Grisham has a good track record of happy endings. Even though he’s shaking things up, with 18 plus books, Grisham shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. He still has the ability to keep you on your toes and turning pages. ■