Guilty or Not Guilty: 8 Recent Legal Thrillers

When rising attorney John Lo was put on trial for murder, it tore his family apart. Siblings Brennan and Hunter have long disagreed on whether their father really killed his mistress and employee. Thirty years later, Brennan became a lawyer like her father and Hunter became a war correspondent. But when their mother’s health takes a turn for the worst, the siblings team up to find out if their father was the murderer or find out who really was responsible. This one is for fans of split narratives, as it moves between the father’s trial and his adult children investigating the case.

After a former client nearly killed her with a gun, Josephina Jensen left the world of divorce law behind to teach. But when her half-brother asks Josephina to consider returning to help a woman get her divorce settlement from her ex-husband who is determined to not pay up, she agrees to help this one last time. This gives her something to focus on when her husband suddenly calls for a divorce and seems bound and determined to hurt her. She ends up sparring with legendary divorce lawyer Richard Diamond who has a certain appeal despite his constant use of legal machinations. On top of everything, Josephina is the target of some disturbing threats. Can Josephina help her client, navigate her divorce and find the culprit behind the threats?

For fans of historical mysteries, here’s one for you. Perveen Mistry, the first and only female lawyer in 1920s Bombay, has a lively legal practice. She’s had some challenging cases and some critical wins. Now she’s serving as counsel for Champa Films, a movie studio owned by director Subhas Ghoshal and his movie star wife Rochana, who is being sued for breach of contract. But what started as a contract dispute is now a murder case when a moviegoer dies in a special movie screening. Plus Rochana is missing. It’s the fifth book in the Perveen Mistry series.

Here’s another historical mystery. This one takes place in 1800s Manhattan, where bitter rivals Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr work together. It’s based on a real murder trial in 1800.

In 1799, Elma Sands’s body was found in the Manhattan Well. The family blames Levi Weeks, a carpenter, who is said to have seduced and murdered the woman. Burr takes on the case for the money and spotlight; Hamilton decides he wants to help defend the man. Can they work together long enough to save the man from the gallows or will their mutual hatred ruin each other?

Sometimes career breaks lead to life breaks. When Thomas Berte is appointed Deputy Attorney General, it’s a chance of a lifetime to hold this prestigious position. But the other shoe soon drops—he is there to take down Cosimo “Nino” Benedetto, the head of an international crime ring. The case becomes personal when Nino decides to compromise Tom through blackmail to prevent Tom from properly pursuing the case. Can Tom bring Nino to justice without losing his career? Or will he have to sacrifice everything, including his freedom and even life, to bring Nino down? The second book in the series, The Winter Verdict, is due out on 2/17/2026.

Best known for his award-winning Secret Identity, Alex Segura brings us this wonderful thriller in the Marvel Crime series. It’s the second book in the series; the first was Lisa Jewell’s Breaking the Dark. Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, has the case of the century: defending Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, for the murder of Kingpin. While Matt has fought both for many years, he doesn’t believe that the Punisher really was the man responsible for Kingpin’s death. Matt has to figure out how to defend a man who he has wanted to bring to justice for many years for supposedly killing another man he wanted to bring to justice. On top of everything, the loss of Kingpin has turned the criminal world upside down. Matt will have to figure out what is most important and most ethical to him when dealing with this hot case.

It feels like a story ripped from the headline: the very night that Barack Obama is elected, Hollis Montrose, a Black man and former police officer, is shot 10 times at a police traffic stop by former colleagues. He survives but he ends up in jail. When lawyer Beau Lee Cooper hears about the case, he knows that he has to help the wrongfully convicted and injured man. Beau runs a law firm with his best friend Nelson “Nellie” Rivers, and together, they work to try to bring more justice into the world. But this case is not going to be easy. Beau has to figure out what really happened the night of the shooting and get past police codes of silence.

If the author’s name is familiar, that’s because author Benjamin Crump is a leading attorney who has represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Trayvon Martin. 

It’s one of the biggest bombings in London for decades. Forty-three people are dead from explosions in a London theatre. Newly-made Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Eve Wren is on the case with a mission to convict Patrick Nye, the cult leader of The Seven. What should have been an open and shut case becomes far more complicated when Patrick pleads not guilty. Eve also finds explosive evidence that not all is as it seems. Told from different points of view, the book explores how Eve figures out how to proceed with this knotty, high profile case. The second book The Bait came out August 2025.