Jake Brigance has never met Seth Hubbard, or even heard of him, until the old man's suicide note names him attorney for his estate. The will is dynamite. Seth has left ninety per cent of his vast, secret fortune to his housemaid. The vultures are circling even before the body is cold: the only subject more incendiary than money in Ford County is race, and this case has both. AS the relatives contest the will, and unscrupulous lawyers hasten to benefit, Jake searches for answers to the many questions left by Seth Hubbard's death: What made him write that last-minute will leaving everything to a poor black woman named Lettie Lang? Why did he choose to kill himself on the desolate piece of land known as Sycamore Row? And what was it that Seth and his brother witnessed as children that, in

This exciting series provides reading and language learning at five levels. As well as enjoyable stories and texts, each book provides a range of integrated activities designed to develop reading skills, consolidate vocabulary, and offer personalised project work. Each book is supported by a CD-ROM which contains additional activities and the complete audio recording.

What’s special about Penguin Active Reading?

• Beautiful illustrations, photographs, maps and diagrams help to bring the stories alive and reinforce meaning
• Integrated activities help your students think about the story/text in advance, check comprehension, learn new vocabulary and practise key grammar structures
• Outside the classroom – a bank of ideas for

Given the importance of what they do, and the controversies that often surround them, and the violent people they sometimes confront, it is remarkable that in the history of the USA only four active federal judges have been murdered. Judge Raymond Fawcett just became number five. His body was found in the small basement of a lakeside cabin he had built himself and frequently used on weekends. When he did not show up for a trial on Monday morning, his law clerks panicked, called the FBI, and in due course the agents found the crime scene. There was no forced entry, no struggle, just two dead bodies - Judge Fawcett and his young secretary. I did not know Judge Fawcett, but I know who killed him, and why. I am a lawyer, and I am in prison. It's a long story.