In 1984 at the De Soto County courthouse in Hernando, Grisham witnessed the testimony of a 12-year-old girl who was raped. In his spare time, Grisham began work on his first novel, which explored what would have happened if the girl's father had murdered her attackers. He spent three years on "A Time to Kill" and finished it in 1987. The book was bought by Wynwood Press, which published it in June 1988.