Reading right now:

            “Pardon the Ravens” by Alan Hruska. While handling a huge fraud case that could make his reputation, Alec Brno falls for the estranged wife of the mob boss who is behind the fraud. Hruska writes and directs films (and plays) and has written three novels (one science fiction and two legal thrillers). “Pardon the Ravens” sounds a little heavy on the love affair, but will hopefully be an interesting addition to the legal thriller genre.

On hold right now:

            “Lethal Beauty” by Lis W. Wiehl. This is the third in the series with Seattle prosecuting attorney Mia Quinn as the main character. After a young Chinese prostitute is stabbed to death by her client, Quinn is determined to get justice for her despite jury tampering, threats to her family from the Chinese crime cabal, and the victim’s mother trying to take justice into her own hands.     

Other Mysterious Things:

If you like legal thrillers, there are several others coming out early this year:

“Fox is Framed” by Lachlan Smith. This is the third in a series featuring San Francisco attorney Leo Maxwell. Leo and his brother always thought their Father murdered their Mother. After being convicted and jailed, it looks like Leo’s Father may be innocent so when new evidence is uncovered he is granted another trial. Getting to the truth isn’t so easy as more bodies pile up and the testimony is shocking.

“Losing Faith” by Adam Mitzner. Being compared to John Grisham and Scott Turow, Mitzner’s new stand-alone novel centers around attorney Aaron Littmann being blackmailed into representing a Russian businessman arrested on terrorism charges. As the story evolves, Littmann is accused of murder and finds himself in the position of possibly losing not only his wife and family, but his life.

“The Missing Piece” by Kevin Egan. Another standalone legal thriller presents New York Judge Oliver Johnstone who is presiding over a case which centers on the ownership of a $70 million treasure. On the first day of the trial, two gunmen break into the courtroom and steal part of the treasure and kill a court officer. Three years later, Judge Linda Conover inherits the case and once more finds danger and intrigue surround the treasure which makes finding the missing part of the treasure a desperate race to bring justice. Egan’s first book “Midnight” was a terrific legal thriller so if you haven’t read it, you may want to start with his first novel.

Legal thriller writer Martin Clark’s latest “The Jezebel Remedy” comes out in June and is much anticipated. James Grippando’s 12^th book in his series with defense attorney Jack Swyteck also comes out in June (called “Crash Landing”). Allison Leona’s “A Good Killing” comes out in May and features prosecutor Anna Curtis heading home to defend her sister against a murder charge. Attica Locke’s “Pleasantville” arrives in April and brings back attorney Jay Porter from “Black Water Rising.” Peter Murphy’s amazing and unusual series takes place in England’s high courts in the 1960s. The third book “And is There Honey Still for Tea?” comes out in April.