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The story is set in the fictional town of Clanton, Mississippi. The name might have been deduced from the real town names of Canton and Clinton, Mississippi. The timeline of the novel is from 1970 to 1979Events January-February January 1 Sino-American relations: United States and the People's Republic of China establish diplomatic relations January 4 State of Ohio agrees to pay $675,000 to families of dead and injured in Kent State University shootings.. Clanton is also the venue for John Grisham's first novel A Time To Kill which was published in 19881988 is a leap year starting on Friday (click on link for calendar). Events January January 2 Georgia celebrates its bicentennial statehood. January 9 Connecticut celebrates its bicentennial statehood. January 26 Australia celebrates its bicentennial day.. Some of the characters appear in both novels with the same occupation and characteristics. Although A Time to Kill was published sixteen years before The Last Juror, it was set in the present, so presumably 19871987 is a common year starting on Thursday. Events January January 1 Nunavut's capital changes it name to Iqaluit from Frobisher Bay. January 3 Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. January 4 An Amtrak train or 19881988 is a leap year starting on Friday (click on link for calendar). Events January January 2 Georgia celebrates its bicentennial statehood. January 9 Connecticut celebrates its bicentennial statehood. January 26 Australia celebrates its bicentennial day.. Therefore the characters which appear in both novels e.g. Lucien Wilbanks or Harry Rex Vonner have matured. Like most John Grisham novels, it starts with a description and then introduces the main character, in this case Willie Traynor, only a couple of pages into the novel. The novel is divided into three parts of approximately equal length.
In 1970, a 23-year-old college drop-out by the name of Willie Traynor comes to Clanton, Mississippi for an internship at the local newspaper, The Ford County Times. However the editor, Wilson Caudle, drove the newspaper into bankruptcyBankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organisation to pay their creditors. A declared state of bankruptcy can be requested or initiated by the bankrupt individual or organisation, or it can be requested by through years of mismanagement. Willie Traynor decides to buy the paper spontaneously through money from his rich grandmother and becomes the editor and owner of The Ford County Times. Shortly after this, a member of the notorious and scandalous Padgitt family brutally rapes and kills a young widow by the name of Rhoda Kassellaw. The murderer, Danny Padgitt, was tried in front of a jury and was found guilty. The jury however couldn’t decide whether to send him to life in prison or to death row, so Danny was sentenced to life in prison at the Mississippi State Penitentiary , also known as Parchman. After only nine years in prison, Danny Padgitt is paroled and returns to Clanton. He avenges himself by killing two members of the jury that sentenced him nine years earlier and injuries a third. The judge of Clanton issues an arrest for Danny Padgitt who then surprisingly turns himself in. The novel comes to a startling end, when a former lover of Rhoda Kassellaw guns down Danny Padgitt in the courtroom by positioning himself on the balcony. The assassin is also a schizophrenic. After nine years of ownership Willie Traynor sells The Ford County Times.