Book picks similar to
The Verdict by C.J. Cooper


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Neon Dragon


John F. Dobbyn - 2007
    Amid the flash and din of Boston's raucous Chinese New Year's celebration an elderly man named Chen An-Yong is shot while watching the parade from his Tyler Street window. Anthony Bradley, the young son of an African-American judge is standing across the street at the time and is immediately arrested for the crime. Michael Knight is a young lawyer who's going places, but even he is surprised when Judge Bradley asks him to defend his son in such a high profile and politically delicate case. Luckily, Knight finds he has powerful support when a senior partner at his firm, the legendary Lex Devlin, gets involved. Once the foremost criminal defense attorney in Boston, Devlin has mysteriously withdrawn from defense work in recent years. defense, the older lawyer's passion and ability come to the fore, forcing Knight to wonder about and delve into the murky allegations that eclipsed his mentor's career. But before he can defend the young Bradley, Knight is forced to enter into the shadow world of gangland Chinatown, where Triads and Tongs rule through fear and intimidation. From the halls of Harvard to the streets of Chinatowns in Boston and Toronto, Knight doggedly pursues an investigation that involves drugs, prostitution, human trafficking and, ultimately, a corruption scandal that could bring down the most powerful people in Boston.

Unspeakable Secrets of the Aro Valley


Danyl McLauchlan - 2013
    A sleepy bohemian neighbourhood.An ancient legend from the ancient past.A brilliant but troubled young writer.A voluptuous healer.A shadowy cult and its sinister leader.A trail of riddles; a hidden artefact.An explicit sex scene, then a struggle for ultimate power.And a final, unspeakable secret.Unspeakable Secrets of the Aro Valley is a dark and hilarious odyssey through Wellington’s underbelly.

The Death Factory


Greg Iles - 2014
    A long short story featuring Penn and Tom Cage that fills in a critical period in their past, one that helps to set up the action in the coming trilogy, Natchez Burning, The Bone Tree and Unwritten Laws.

Just Deceits


Michael Schein - 2008
    Based on actual events, Just Deceits tells the story of the Trial of the Century – the 18th Century – as the remarkable defense team of wily Patrick Henry and ambitious John Marshall battled each other, their clients, family intrigue, the prosecution, and the truth itself, trying to save their clients from the gallows. In its ribald portrayal of a young legal system already driven more by spectacle than evidence, Just Deceits calls into question the feasibility — and even the desirability — of uncovering “the whole truth.” Ultimately, in the secrets revealed and the relationships celebrated, Just Deceits is as much a story of a trial of love as the trial in the courtroom.

Friends, and Other Perishables


Dale Whisman - 2004
    Still, the idea of a married man with a couple of young daughters working the mean streets of Tulsa, Oklahoma, seems hardly noir. But in Dale Whisman's debut, FRIENDS, AND OTHER PERISHABLES, PI Carl Jacobs is a bona fide member of the fraternity. Whisman spins a good story and has created a likeable, credible hero and a supporting cast with good depth and a promise of staying power that bodes well for future appearances." -Alfred Hitchock Mystery Magazine "...thrill-packed novel grabs you in the first paragraph and never lets you go. An outstanding debut." -William Bernhardt, author of the best selling Ben Kincaid series "...follows the tradition of Spencer and Marlow and other PI's of the genre—the hard-baked detective with a heart." -Charles W. Sasser, author of the best selling Detachment Delta series "...exciting private investigative tale contains a strong mystery...solid cozy starring a likable champion who handles being shot at and wounded with aplomb, but goes a bit crazy when his family comes under attack." -Harriet Klausner, The Readers Guild, rated 10 out of 10 - a recommended read "In good, solid prose Whisman guides you effortlessly through the consistently suspenseful story with a great sense of humor, and of what it means to be really tough. You will not be able to put this book down, and you can't say that about too many mysteries these days. So treasure this one for all it's worth." -Tone and Groove Music and Entertianment Ezine

The Last Insurgent (The Michael Wolfe Saga Book 2)


J.C. Fields - 2021
    

Code for Murder


Eliot Parker - 2017
    Six months later, Stacy’s first case back from medical leave involves the murder of Cleveland Browns football player Devon Baker. With little forensic evidence connecting anyone to the crime, Stacy sets out to find the killer. As Stacy comes very close to unraveling the tangled threads of the case, the killer wants her, and those close to her, to suffer for another impulsive decision she made in the line of duty. The killer just may be more familiar to Stacy than she realizes.

Mine


Kelly Florentia - 2021
    After a drunken night out, she wakes up with Teddy Fallon. But this is the least of her worries . . .The night before, a text came through claiming someone knows her secret. But what is Lucy hiding?Before Lucy has time to process everything, her ex drops a bombshell—fiancée Jasmine is pregnant, and he wants his share of the money from the flat.Then the blackmail begins. Who is after Lucy and why? Love isn’t always innocent, and Lucy is about to learn a lesson the hard way . . .A great choice for fans of authors like S.E. Lynes, Lisa Jewell, and Adele Parks.

The Rapist


Les Edgerton - 2013
    Master storyteller Les Edgerton guides us on a haunting journey inside the criminal mind to show that no matter how depraved a person appears to be, there might still exist a spark of humanity.

Wicked Beauty


Susan Lewis - 2002
    Tim is already in the Cabinet, and as they celebrate yet another election victory, they have no idea that they are on the eve of a nightmare that is going to totally devastate their lives.After a high-profile murder, Katherine Sumner has disappeared. Is she the killer? Or will the information she has on top government officials make hers the next body to turn up on the coroner's table?Certain that Katherine is alive and in hiding, acclaimed reporter Laurie Forbes joins forces with Rachel Hendon to search out the truth behind one of the World's most secretive and dangerous organisations.Forbidden love, uncontrolled passion and the ultimate exploitation of power. Wicked Beauty proves there is a crime worse than murder...

Spy's Honour


Gavin Lyall - 1993
    It never got mentioned in the newspapers […] Only later did I realise that this was because we had no Secret Service at all.”The year is 1912, and as political animosity rises and wars in South Africa and Greece rage, the dominoes of Europe feel ready to topple. The British Secret Service is beginning to form, and Captain Ranklin, a former Major, is lured into the world of reconnaissance after a demotion. Averse to the concept of espionage, Ranklin reluctantly joins the new Secret Service Bureau; exclusive, elite, but bound to secrecy and subterfuge.Paired with the rugged and morally dubious Conall O’Gilroy, Ranklin soon finds himself in over his head. A routine mission to apprehend a gold smuggler turns sour and the two are set on the trail of a notorious Irish anarchist. In pursuit, they uncover a plot that threatens to shatter the precarious state of peace in Europe, taking them to Germany, via France, and finally to Hungary in the summer of 1914. ‘A splendidly entertaining mix of early Ambler with a dash of Bulldog Drummond escapism, and are clearly the work of a writer enjoying himself.’ – The Guardian

The Life We Bury: by Allen Eskins | Chapter Compilation


John Lenen - 2016
    What was supposed to be a simple project became more than what it was supposed to be the moment Joe meets a peculiar dying elderly man named Carl Iverson who happened to be a convicted murderer and rapist. From just wanting to earn a passing grade, he ends up going out of his way to prove the innocence of the old man. Amidst his desire for justice, he is also faced with the reality of his troubled family life which involved his highly irresponsible mother and his autistic younger brother. The evidences Joe discovers along the way, unravels a darker horror of the past occurrences that led to the untimely death of an unfortunate fourteen year old girl.

Unsympathetic Victims: A Legal Thriller (Ashley Montgomery Book 1)


Laura Snider - 2021
    Following the verdict, a protest breaks out — and the hated defense attorney quickly finds her life in danger.But little does Ashley know, things are about to get worse — much worse. One of her clients turns up dead, and Ashley is arrested for his murder. As local investigators Katie Mickey and George Thomanson dive into the case, they start to suspect that Ashely is being framed — but by whom?With Ashley’s freedom at stake, Katie and George are desperate to find out the truth. And soon, they uncover a sinister plot born of corruption, greed, and misplaced loyalty that will leave the whole town reeling — and questioning their faith in the people they trusted most.

Longsword


David Pilling - 2017
    The kingdom lies in ruins after years of bitter civil war. Simon de Montfort is dead, slaughtered in battle, and his surviving followers fight on with the fury of despair. Known as the Disinherited, these landless men infest the forests and highways and prey on the common folk. Hugh Longsword, a common soldier, fights for the King against the rebels who threaten to destroy England. He is taken into the service of the Lord Edward, King Henry’s eldest son, and made to work as a spy. Edward sends him into the wild north country, home to the most dangerous rebel captains: men such as Sir John d’Eyvill and his savage cousin Nicholas, known as the Beast for his cruelty. While Hugh spies on these cut-throats, the King gathers all his forces to attack Kenilworth Castle, greatest of the rebel strongholds. Though hopelessly outnumbered, the defenders hurl defiance from the walls and refuse to surrender. One assault after another is repulsed, even as the north country slides into chaos and another band of Disinherited seize the Isle of Ely in the fens of Cambridgeshire. From their watery fastness they ride out to attack the Jews of Lincoln, burning deeds, slaughtering innocents and kidnapping the wealthiest for ransom. One of those taken captive by the rebels is Esther, a widowed Jewess. She is carried away to Ely, where the Jews are treated with inhuman cruelty. Esther is rescued by Hugh, and they are hunted through the marshes by teams of soldiers and wolfhounds. Together they must survive all the dangers of a war-torn land, where law and justice are fallen away and only the strongest can hope to prosper. Longsword is the latest historical adventure novel by David Pilling, author of Reiver, Soldier of Fortune, The Half-Hanged Man, Caesar’s Sword and many more novels and short stories.

A Question of Proof


Joseph Amiel - 1993
    A Question of Proof is a profoundly moving courtroom drama in which a lawyer struggles to defend the woman he loves against the accusation that she murdered her husband. Tough and street-smart, a principled rebel against an establishment he has always scorned, Dan Lazar has risen from the working class to become one of Philadelphia's top criminal defenders. But now divorced and badly missing his young son, disillusioned by years of representing vicious criminals, humiliated by the politically ambitious DA's charge that he bribed a witness in a brutal rape-homicide case, Dan is burned out, depressed, and ready to call it quits. On the surface he would seem to have nothing in common with Susan Boelter, the beautiful and patrician wife of Peter Boelter, who runs the city's dominant newspaper and heads one of its most powerful families. But when Peter deserts her and files for divorce, moving to seize everything that is precious to her, including custody of their thirteen-year-old daughter, Susan turns to a reluctant Dan for help. Suddenly, Peter is found dead. Susan becomes the prime suspect in his murder. Driven by his love for her and by an inner need to defend someone in whose innocence he can truly believe, Dan starts to investigate. He soon discovers a maze of conflicting evidence and of growing doubts and mystery about the woman he thought he knew and loved. And he realizes that the truth he desperately seeks - especially about Peter Boelter's death - depends on finding the answer to a question of proof. From Philadelphia's courtrooms in City Center to the mansions in its moneyed suburbs, A Question of Proof is the gripping story of one man's internal battle between love and justice and the lengths to which a wealthy family will go to hide its secrets.