15 Must-Read Legal Thrillers

A thrillingly suspenseful debut novel and a fierce howl of rage that questions the true meaning of justice. “Every person wrongfully convicted of a crime at some point dreams of getting revenge against the system. In Confessions of an Innocent Man, the dream comes true and in a spectacular way” (John Grisham).

In this “invigorating must-read” installment (Newsweek) of the New York Times bestselling series, Inspector Harry Hole investigates a serial killer targeting Oslo’s police officers.

A girl dies one late, rainy night a few feet from the back door of her home. Her adoptive parents, Delvin and Betsy Harvey — conservative, white fundamentalist Christians — are charged with her murder. Royal, a Seattle criminal attorney in the last days of his long career, takes Betsy Harvey’s case. An octogenarian without a driver’s license, he leans on his son — the novel’s narrator — as he prepares for trial. From the award-winning, bestselling author of Snow Falling on Cedars — a moving father-son story that is also a taut courtroom drama and a bold examination of privilege, power, and how to live a meaningful life.

A twisty and prescient new thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling Avery Keene series, by nationally renowned author and leader Stacey Abrams, Coded Justice follows Avery down a dark rabbit hole into the breathtaking — and dangerous — use of AI in the medical industry.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Expats. Kate Moore is back in a pulse-pounding thriller to discover that a massive terror attack across Paris is not what it seems — and that it involves her family.

Based on a true event, this novel is “a blues song cut straight from the heart … about the unjust death of an innocent Black man caught up in a corrupt system” (Walter Mosley, author of Devil in a Blue Dress). A haunting tale of miscarried justice, this book offers a chilling look at the dark corners of our humanity.

Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney for two decades. Happy at home with the loves of his life: His wife, Laurie, and their teenage son, Jacob. Then Andy’s quiet suburb is stunned by a shocking crime: A young boy is stabbed to death. And an even greater shock: The accused is Andy’s own son — shy, awkward, mysterious Jacob. It is the ultimate test for any parent: How far would you go to protect your child?

New York Times bestselling author Joseph Finder returns with an explosive new thriller about a judge and the one personal misstep that could lead to her — and her family’s — downfall.

The true story of one man so determined to take down two of the nation’s largest corporations accused of killing children from water contamination that he risks losing everything.

Inspired by recent true events, the all-original stories in Witnesses for the Dead are set in motion by the act of witnessing. The characters who populate these pages are not themselves the perpetrators of the crimes they see, but as they grapple with what to do — take action or retreat into the shadows — their lives are indelibly changed.

In his triumphant fictional debut, Stephen Carter combines a large-scale, riveting novel of suspense with the saga of a unique family. The Emperor of Ocean Park is set in two privileged worlds: The upper crust African American society of the Eastern seaboard — families who summer at Martha’s Vineyard — and the inner circle of an Ivy League law school.

Intricately plotted and relentlessly entertaining, The Legal Limit is an exploration of the judicial system’s roughest edges, as well as a gripping story of murder, family, and the difficult divide that sometimes separates genuine justice from the law.

1920s India: Perveen Mistry, Bombay’s only female lawyer, is investigating a suspicious will on behalf of three Muslim widows living in full purdah when the case takes a turn toward the murderous. The author of the Agatha and Macavity Award-winning Rei Shimura novels brings us an atmospheric new historical mystery with a captivating heroine.

One juror changed the verdict. What if she was wrong? From the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of The Imitation Game and bestselling author of The Last Days of Night.