Classic Legal Thrillers

Try these books if you’re looking for:

• Authors similar to Leo Tolstoy or Fyodor Dostoyevsky
• Books published more than 10 years ago
• Classics
• Legal Thrillers
• Books available in a variety of formats

The Siege 
Helen Dunmore
F DUNMORE
Set against the turbulent backdrop of Leningrad in 1941, a novel of love and war follows the Levin family--twenty-two year-old Anna, her young brother Kilya, and their father, Mikhail--as they struggle to survive during the German siege. Published in 2002, 293 pgs. Available only in regular print. 

The Heart of Danger
Gerald Seymour
LP F SEYMOUR
Despite government promises that war criminals in the former Yugoaslvia will be punished, no action is taken when Englishwoman Dorrie Mowat is brutally murdered in Croatia, and P.I. Bill Penn goes behind enemy lines to seek justice. Published in 1996, 542 pgs. Available only in large print. 

The Stranger
Albert Camus
F CAMUS
When a young Algerian named Meursault kills a man, his subsequent imprisonment and trial are puzzling and absurd. The apparently amoral Meursault--who puts little stock in ideas like love and God--seems to be on trial less for his murderous actions, and more for what the authorities believe is his deficient character. Published in 1989, 123 pgs. Available only in regular print.

Fathers and Sons 
Ivan Turgenev
F TURGENEV
When Arkady Petrovich returns home from college, his father finds his naïve son fallen under the powerful influence of the ardent young Bazarov, a self-proclaimed nihilist. Published in 1862, 219 pgs. Available in regular print, eBook, and downloadable audiobook. 

Madame Bovary
Gustave Flaubert
F FLAUBERT
Emma Bovary, the bored wife of a French provincial doctor, scans her solitude with desperate eyes, like a shipwrecked sailor searching for a white sail on the distant horizon. And when Emma's ship finally comes in, it carries with it vast and tragic consequences upon which her own life and the lives of those around her are wrecked. Published in 1856, 403 pgs. Available in regular print, book on CD, eBook, and downloadable audiobook.

The Count of Monte Cristo 
Alexandre Dumas
F DUMAS
Imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, Edmond Dantès spends fourteen bitter years in a dungeon. When his daring escape plan works he uses all he has learnt during his incarceration to mastermind an elaborate plan of revenge against those he holds responsible for his fate. No longer the naïve sailor who disappeared into the dark fortress all those years ago, he reinvents himself as the charming, mysterious and powerful Count of Monte Cristo.  Published in 1845, 1462 pgs. Available in regular print, book on CD, eBook, and downloadable audiobook.

Contemporary Thrillers

Try these books if you're looking for:

• contemporary books
• thrillers/legal thrillers/adventure books
• a focus on characters and relationships
• a focus on story and action
• read like Ann Cleeves and Gillian Flynn

In the Woods 
Tana French
MYSTERY FRENCH Dublin M #1
French writes with a similar tone to Gillian Flynn. In the Woods is the first in a moody, police psychological series where things do not always end up as one would expect. Detective Rob Ryan must investigate a chilling murder which brings back 20 year old memories of the violent murder of 2 companions.

A Share In Death 
Deborah Crombie
MYSTERY CROMBIE Duncan #1
Both Cleeves and Crombie write suspenseful, intricately plotted police novels. A Share in Death is the first in a series. Inspector Kincaid is vacationing incognito until a new acquaintance is found murdered in the hotel. This requires him to resume his true identity.

Still Life 
Louise Penny
MYSTERY PENNY Three #1
Penny like Cleeves writes intricately plotted police procedural novels. In the novel, Still Life (first in a series), a much loved member of a community is found murdered in the woods. Will Inspector Gamache be able to find enough small clues to locate the murderer?

Dark Tide 
Elizabeth Haynes
MYSTERY HAYNES
Haynes writes thrillers with suspenseful plots that are similar to the writing style of Flynn. Genevieve is starting a new life living on a houseboat far away from her secret past. She is horrified when a body washes up by the boat and she recognizes it as someone linked to her life she left behind.

Legal Thrillers

Try these books if you're looking for:

• Legal thrillers, similar to those by John Grisham

Absolute Power
By David Baldacci
F BALDACCI
Although David Baldacci does not write legal thrillers, his books have intricate plots that deal with conspiracy and corruption. He offers sympathetic protagonists, multiple plot twists and ethical dilemmas similar to John Grisham. In Absolute Power a likable professional cat burglar is on his last case when he witnesses the murder of the president’s mistress and becomes the one piece the subsequent cover-up can’t seem to eliminate or control.

Compelling Evidence
By Steve Martini
F MARTINI
In a courtroom drama, Talia Porter, indicted for the murder of her judge husband, turns to Paul Madriani—her husband’s ex-law partner—to defend her. This is book one in the Paul Madriani series.

Dead Even
By Brad Meltzer
F MELTZER
Legal skullduggery abounds as husband and wife face each other in court, forced into this situation by blackmail and politics. How they extricate themselves from the threats of their powerful foes and effect justice makes exciting, satisfying storytelling.

Everywhere That Mary Went
By Lisa Scottoline
F SCOTTOLI
While trying to become a partner at the cutthroat Philadelphia law firm where she works, Mary DiNunzio receives threatening phone calls from a dangerous stalker. This is the first title in the Rosato and Associates series.

And Then You Die
By Iris Johansen
MYSTERY JOHANSEN
When Bess Brady gets the assignment to photograph the small Mexican village of Tenajo for a travel magazine she expects it to be a nice, easy job. She even takes her sister along with her and is planning to make a vacation of it. The “vacation” is cut short when she arrives in Tenajo to find everyone has been killed by a new form of Anthrax.