Legal Mystery Thriller Suspense

In An Element of Peril, the 10th Peter Sharp legal mystery, Peter faces a unique triple task: First, he must defend a domestic servant who has been charged with the chainsaw-killing of her boss; second, if he can get the servant acquitted, he must then defend the insurance company from being forced to pay a five-million-dollar life insurance policy on the boss's life by proving that she was not murdered and is still alive; and third, he must discover how the alleged corpse of the servant's boss disappeared.

Natasha is completely alone, although she's surrounded by people. Freshly arrived in England on a train full of refugees from a vicious war in mainland Europe, she's left everything behind—including her fourteen-year-old son. It's not long before she runs into trouble. Natasha finds herself in peril, surrounded in a dark London alleyway by men who wish her harm. Also in the alleyway is a man in a robe. A preacher with a most unusual skill set for a man of the cloth.

When a drive-by shooting in Holyoke, Massachusetts, claims the lives of a Puerto Rican drug dealer and a nurse at a neighborhood clinic, the police arrest a black drug dealer. With no death penalty in Massachusetts, the US attorney shifts the double homicide out of state jurisdiction into federal court so that he can pursue the death penalty.

There’s been a burglary in a luxury high rise co-op in Manhattan: an elderly woman was assaulted in her apartment, with jewelry taken. The prime suspect is Johnny Jones, who was in the building around the same time, helping his lawyer, public defender Alan Goldman, move temporarily into the apartment of his friend, corporate lawyer Tim Wilson. But another suspect soon emerges: a look-alike intruder who got into the building through a basement door with a broken lock. The victim is suing the co-op for millions, represented by her niece, litigator Cathy Collins - Tim’s ex-girlfriend.

Appearing before the Senate Select Committee on Eastern European crime, Josie Bates testifies passionately about the brutal Albanian blood feud that has sent Hannah into hiding with Billy Zuni and Archer on a quest to find them. While Senator Patriota, the man sure to be the next president of the United States, promises his patronage, Josie isn't convinced he was even listening - but someone was.

When the man who swindled Esme Castillo out of her business is murdered, she is the prime suspect. Now, her attorney, Maureen Gould, must uncover the secrets and lies behind the conspiracies that targeted Esme. Who set up Esme to take the fall. And why?

Max Parkman - autistic and whip-smart, emotionally fragile and aggressive - is perfect in his mother's eyes. Until he's accused of murder. Attorney Danielle Parkman knows her teenage son Max's behavior has been getting worse - using drugs and lashing out. But she can't accept the diagnosis she receives at a top-notch adolescent psychiatric facility that her son is deeply disturbed. Dangerous. Until she finds Max, unconscious and bloodied, beside a patient who has been brutally stabbed to death.

On the face of it, representing a widow in an accidental death case should be routine. Sergeant Maynard, a Royal Air Force policeman, died in a simple motorcycle accident. The problem is, Mrs Maynard insists her husband was murdered. Sceptical at first, Charles realises she could be right; something much more frightening is happening at the airbase.

For the attorneys at Cobb and Cobb, the pursuit of justice is about more than legal expertise; it's a family matter. Tensions run high as a simple patent case takes these lawyers face dangers they never expected in this legal drama from bestselling author Robert Whitlow. David Cobb is not a...

Mo Katz, no stranger to the twisted truths that lurk in the justice system, has his world upended when he becomes entangled in a complex terrorist plot that follows the discovery of a Congressional aide’s body floating in the Potomac River. Places that Katz once navigated with ease now become obscured by shadows as he weaves his way through political intrigue, courtroom machinations, and police skulduggery to save what’s left of the truth - and himself.

Martin Clark has been praised as "part John Grisham, part Hunter S.Thompson, and part sheer grit". Mason Hunt returns to his small Virginia hometown as the county's commonwealth attorney. Mason's brother Gates, who's currently serving a 20 year prison term, thinks Mason should have enough pull to set him free. And when Mason refuses, Gates hatches a plan to destroy his brother's life with a secret they both swore they'd take to the grave.

When a building collapses on several firemen, one is unaccounted for - was he really buried, or did he take the opportunity to flee from the problems in his life?

Moses McGuire has good reason to be concerned about his beautiful 23-year-old daughter, Brittany. She moves quickly from one boyfriend to the next, and always seems to prefer a new and mysterious stranger to a man she knows something about. But her most recent ex, Rick Jessup, isn’t willing to let her go, culminating in a terrible night when Brittany is raped. Within 24 hours, Rick Jessup is dead, Moses McGuire is the prime suspect in the investigation, and Dismas Hardy has been hired to defend his brother-in-law.

When a young woman dies in a late-night restaurant fire, the owner, Bobby Carter, is charged with arson and murder. The evidence is stacked against him, but something doesn’t add up. And his only chance for justice rests on the shoulders of small-town lawyer Leland Munroe… Leland is convinced someone’s out to frame his client. But as the trial heats up, he realizes that he's facing more than just a legal battle.

When San Francisco attorney Dismas Hardy gets a call saying his wife never picked the kids up from school, he's worried. Frannie's a great mother. Turns out there's a good explanation: She's in jail. Unbeknownst to her husband, Frannie has just appeared before a grand jury - and refused to share a crucial piece of information about her friend Ron, who's accused of killing his wife.

At the urgent request of Harry Madigan, Martha "Marty" Nickerson takes on the defense of Louisa Rawlins, a woman suspected of murdering her wealthy husband. Harry is Marty's law partner, her lover, and, coincidentally, Louisa Rawlins' ex-lover. Glamorous and charismatic, Louisa is the polar opposite of Marty. Though the evidence against Louisa is compelling, Marty's gut tells her that something doesn't quite fit. Yet, as the trial progresses, Marty begins to doubt her own judgment.

Down on his luck after a string of lost cases and a recent divorce, personal injury lawyer Matt Taylor hopes his next trial will be an easy win. But when he meets a devastatingly injured young man desperate for help, Matt finds himself embroiled in an impossible lawsuit against Salvatore Conte, a powerful lawyer with sinister connections. Despite all warnings, Matt courageously pulls out all the stops to uncover the truth and right a horrific legal wrong.

In Dark Lady, Richard North Patterson displays the mastery of setting, psychology, and story that makes him unique among writers of suspense, and one of today's most original and enthralling novelists.

Corporate lawyer Elizabeth Carlyle is under a lot of pressure. Her prestigious New York law firm is working on the most high-stakes case in company history defending a prominent bank. When Elizabeth gets the news that one of her junior associates has lost his phone - and the secret documents that were on it - she needs help. Badly. Enter ex-CIA officer Valencia Walker, a high-priced fixer who gets called in when governments, corporations, and plutocrats need their problems solved discretely. But things get complicated when the missing phone is retrieved....

“Patterson and Lupica make a great team” (Carl Hiaasen) who get “deep into the lives of strong women” (Louise Penny) and Jane Smith is their greatest creation—a badass lawyer with a year to live. “Jane Smith is the best character we’ve ever created. Bar none.” —James Patterson...