# Recommend a good non-Grisham legal novel **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 29, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357 "2006-03-29T04:18:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/1 "2006-03-29T04:18:08Z")
Self-explanatory title. I like Grisham, and read Turow. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/2 "2006-03-29T04:54:16Z")
Damn. I opened this thread to recommend Presumed Innocent. I don’t read many legal/courtroom books, but I’ve recently enjoyed a couple by William Lashner – Hostile Witness and Veritas. If you don’t mind going back a hundred years, The Trial of Elizabeth Cree by Peter Ackroyd was great fun. Part of the story involved London musical theater, and some of the actual recordings of songs mentioned in the book are on-line, performed by the artist in the book. Talk about interactive! ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/3 "2006-03-29T06:08:43Z")
I enjoy all of Lisa Scottoline’s books. She used to be a legal ethics professor, and her novels often feature assorted ethical dilemmas for the lawyers. Another enjoyable hundred year old choice would be _Orley Farm_, by Anthony Trollope. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/4 "2006-03-29T06:10:05Z")
_The Merchant of Venice_…? Though the writing can be a bit dense. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/5 "2006-03-29T07:24:09Z")
People at our library seem to love the legal thrillers by Brad Meltzer (_The Zero Game_, etc.). I’ve heard he’s a better writer than Grisham and Turow, and I’m a little familiar from his forays into comic book writing (DC Comics’ _Identity Crisis_, a superhero murder mystery). ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/6 "2006-03-29T07:35:01Z")
Charles Dickens, _[Bleak House](http://www.fidnet.com/~dap1955/dickens/bleakhouse.html)_. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/7 "2006-03-29T15:08:30Z")
Steve Martini can be fun.Also, for laughs, try Paul Levine’s “Solomon vs. Lord”. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/8 "2006-03-30T23:16:15Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Charles Dickens, _[Bleak House](http://www.fidnet.com/~dap1955/dickens/bleakhouse.html)_. Really? I’m only about a third of the way into the book. The legal case drives the story, but it’s mostly in the background, and we don’t get much in the way of legal maneuvers, tactics, courtroom drama, etc. Not so far, anyway. Does that kind of stuff happen later in the book? I’d like to see what those Chancery lawyers are doing to earn their money. 🙂 I’m curious about the case and how it got so complicated, but Dickens isn’t giving out many details, and I’m not sure he’s going to. ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/9 "2006-03-30T23:35:26Z")
Haven’t read much Grisham or Turow (seen some movies), but I have read a few books by Richard North Patterson that, I think, may be what you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/10 "2006-03-30T23:41:39Z")
Wow, somebody recommended _Bleak House_? I’m impressed. Could never finish that one… I came in to recommend Lisa Scottoline, and also Perri O’Shaughnessy (which is two sisters writing under that name). Marianne Wesson, _Render Up the Body_. Baine Kerr, _Harmful Intent_. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/11 "2006-03-31T01:06:39Z")
I have enjoyed books by Alafair Burke (yes, she’s James Lee Burke’s daughter, but can write in her own right) and Michelle Martinez. They are both in the “gutsy female prosecutor” mode, and very fast paced, like Grisham. Linda Fairstein is another option who many people adore. I have given up on them as not-for-me, though. She creates good NYC atmosphere, but I find the pace a little slow and the tributes to her protagonist’s wonderful family life a bit \. ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/12 "2006-03-31T02:56:04Z")
I’ve been very much enjoying **John Hemry** ’s books: _A Just Determination_, _Burden of Proof_, _Rule of Evidence_ and _Against All Enemies_. Naval law, set in the future (so it’s the US _space_ navy), but well-written and with a superb grasp of military law. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/13 "2006-03-31T03:08:35Z")
Pick up The Lincoln Lawyer, by Michael Connelly. You will not be disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/First_Amongst_Daves)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/14 "2006-03-31T12:48:47Z")
Non-fiction - _The Justice Game_ by pre-eminent barrister Geoffrey Robertson QC. Compelling reading. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/15 "2006-03-31T13:40:20Z")
Sheldon Siegel’s books are awsome. The first in the series is [Special Circumstances](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0553581929/qid=1143812174/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/103-9499238-1891853?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) > [@Sheldon Siegel](#): > > The novel begins with the distinctive voice of Siegel’s ex-priest hero: “After my five years as an underproductive partner in our white-collar criminal defense department, our executive committee asked me to leave. I was, in short, fired. On Monday I’ll open the law offices of Michael J. Daley, criminal-defense attorney, in a subleased office in a walk-up building in the not-so-trendy part of San Francisco’s South of Market area. Welcome to the modern practice of law…” > > But on his final day of work, a senior partner turns up dead. A close colleague of Daley’s is the most likely suspect, and Daley–in his new walk-up practice–takes the case. In a series of brilliantly executed twists and turns, he uncovers one layer of deception and intrigue after another to get to the root truth of the case. Meanwhile, Siegel–a San Francisco attorney himself–continues to pepper his first-person narrative with Daley’s dead-on jabs at the world of courtroom warfare. Of the new San Francisco DA, for example, Daley comments: “As an attorney, he’s careless, lazy and unimaginative. As a human being, he’s greedy, condescending and an unapologetic philanderer. As a politician, however, he’s the real deal.” How can you not love a description like that of the DA? ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/16 "2006-03-31T13:43:13Z")
Actually the quote in my post above was quoting the [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) editorial review :wally\<-me :smack: ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/17 "2006-03-31T13:54:53Z")
> [@DfrntBreign](#): > > Haven’t read much Grisham or Turow (seen some movies), but I have read a few books by Richard North Patterson that, I think, may be what you’re looking for. Specifically, _Silent Witness_. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/18 "2006-03-31T14:56:56Z")
I like the Horace Rumpole books by John Mortimer, novelizations of the BBC television series _Rumpole of the Bailey_ starring Leo McKern. They’re smart and funny, and Rumpole is one of the best characters around. There’s an article about the series and the stories [here](http://www.thrillingdetective.com/eyes/rumpole.html). ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/19 "2006-03-31T15:13:18Z")
One of the classics in the genre is **Anatomy of a Murder** - which was turned into a great movie, too… ---
**Author:** ![gommsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@gommsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gommsn)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357/20 "2006-03-31T18:21:17Z")
I stumbled upon this author a few years ago in a used book store and after one read, became a huge fan. **John Lescroart**. From The Washington Post, " Surpasses anything Grisham ever wrote and bears comparison with Turow" I’ve read half a dozen of his books and have never been disappointed. **The Second Chair** **The First Law** **The Mercy Rule** **The Motive** to name just a few. Really, give him a try if courtroom drama is your thing. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-grisham-legal-novel/350357.md?page=2)