Kindle County

Scott Turow created Kindle County as a fictional jurisdiction to explore legal and moral dilemmas without being bound by real-world cases. He drew on his experience as an assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, and the county is widely seen as a stand-in for Cook County, Illinois.¹ Turow has stated that the name "Kindle" was chosen arbitrarily, but it has become synonymous with his literary universe.

Kindle County is located in northeastern Illinois, with its seat in the fictional city of Kindle. The county includes a mix of urban and suburban areas, and its legal system is central to the plots. Key institutions include the Kindle County Courthouse, the State's Attorney's Office, and the Kindle County Bar Association.² The county's demographics and political dynamics often mirror those of real urban counties.

Many of Turow's novels feature recurring characters who live and work in Kindle County, such as prosecutor and judge Rusty Sabich, defense attorney Sandy Stern, and lawyer Alejandro "Sandy" Stern. The county serves as a microcosm for exploring themes of justice, corruption, and personal integrity.³ The novels often interweave legal proceedings with the characters' personal lives.

Beyond the novels, Kindle County appears in Turow's short story "The Trouble with the Truth" and in the television adaptation of Presumed Innocent (1990). The county is also referenced in Turow's non-fiction works, such as One L, though not as a setting. Some readers have noted that the county's name predates the Kindle e-reader, leading to occasional confusion.⁴ Turow has never provided a detailed map, leaving the county's layout to the reader's imagination.

Rusty Sabich

Protagonist of Presumed Innocent and Innocent, a prosecutor and later judge in Kindle County.

Sandy Stern

A defense attorney in Turow's novels, known for his meticulous legal strategy.