The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Grisham, John. The Boys from Biloxi, Doubleday, October 18, 2022. Kindle.

In the legal thriller, The Boys from Biloxi by John Grisham, Jesse Rudy dedicated his life to cleaning up the prostitution and illegal gambling in his hometown of Biloxi, Mississippi. As a result of Jesse’s crusade against the Dixie Mafia, he was murdered by a bomb blast in the office where he served as district attorney. Jesse’s son, Keith, took his father’s place as district attorney and swore to get justice for his father’s murder. Keith’s desire for revenge, however, was complicated by the fact that his best friend from childhood, Hugh Malco, was the man convicted for ordering Jesse’s murder.

As children, Keith and Hugh were best friends. They played on the same baseball team together. Their strengths as players brought the team close to participating in the Little League World Series. As the years passed, however, the two boys drifted away from each other. Keith became interested in his father’s law business. When Jesse ran for district attorney with the intention of cleaning up the illegal prostitution and gambling on the Gulf Coast, Keith supported him wholeheartedly. Hugh, meanwhile, began working in his father’s businesses, clubs that offered illicit prostitution and gambling. Hugh quit school sports and began boxing.

When Jesse put Hugh’s father, Lance Malco, in jail for prostitution, Hugh arranged with Nevin Noll, Lance’s right-hand man, to have Jesse killed. Using Nevin’s connections, Hugh hired Henry Taylor to detonate a bomb inside Jesse’s office in the courthouse. The bomb killed Jesse. Taylor was injured in the blast, giving FBI agents a chance to collect information about him before he left town.

Taylor returned to his home in Union City. He believed that he had escaped being a suspecct. FBI agents set him up when they sent an undercover private investigator to tempt Taylor to provide another bomb by offering him a good deal of money in exchange for the project. Taylor led the FBI to Nevin when Taylor called Nevin to ask for more explosives.

Taylor and Nevin pleaded guilty to charges associated with Jesse’s death. Nevin managed to escape from jail and was never located. Hugh’s case went to trial, and he was sentenced to death.

Meanwhile, Keith had been elected to the position of the state’s attorney general. In this position, he had the power to push through Hugh’s execution. Additionally, the governor met with Keith and gave him the decision to grant clemency. He explained to Keith that murder was believed to be illegal. For that reason, the governor did not understand how the state could so easily put a man to death.

To help make the decision, Keith visited Hugh on death row the night Hugh’s execution was scheduled to take place. Keith had been thinking about the fun times he and Hugh had as children. Keith sat in front of Hugh and admitted he was trying to decide if Hugh deserved clemency. Hugh indicated that Keith was in the position of God.

As Hugh remembered the time he spent with Keith as a child, he asked Keith not to grant clemency. Hugh told Keith that he would rather be dead than left to live the rest of his life in jail. As the two parted ways, Hugh claimed to Keith that he had not wanted Jesse killed, just injured. Keith chose to believe him.