The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Grisham, John. The Whistler. Doubleday, October 25, 2016. Kindle.

A corrupt judge, theft from an Indian casino, a fatal car wreck, and disappearing witnesses converge in John Grisham’s The Whistler. Lacy Stoltz, a worker with the Board on Judicial Conduct, got more than she bargained for when she accepted the invitation to investigate what a contact called the most corrupt judge in American history. The novel explores the ease of exploiting the sovereign governments of Indian reservations as well as the way money can be used as a motivator to encourage people to participate in illegal activities.

Lacy and her partner, Hugo Hatch, went to St. Augustine to meet with Greg Myers, a man who wanted to file a formal complaint on Circuit Court Judge Claudia McDover. He and two other people, including a mole who worked with McDover, believed that McDover had gotten condos as payments for her influence in the building of a casino on Indian territory. McDover was not only given condos, she was making a good deal of money from her portion of funds stolen from the casino by Vonn Dubose, leader of a group known as the Coast Mafia.

Not far into their investigation, Lacy and Hugo are lured onto the reservation where the casino was located by a man who promised to talk to them about the corruption in the casino. Instead of getting information from an informant, Lacy and Hugo were hit head-on by a Dodge Ram, badly injuring Lacy and killing Hugo. Although tragic, it was through this wreck that the first real break in the case came when investigators were able to identify the driver of the truck that hit Lacy’s car.

With the FBI’s help, Lacy’s initial investigation leads to the discovery of a witness embedded in Dubose’s gang. Testimony breaks the case open and all five major members of Dubose’s gang as well as the dirty judge are arrested.