Legal Thrillers Explained: 3 Tips for Legal Thriller Writers

Legal thrillers are a fiction genre that focuses on crimes, courtroom scenes, and the legal system in general. Legal thriller authors often source their protagonists from the key players in a court of law such as a district attorney, a defense attorney, corporate litigators, personal injury lawyers, judges, and jurors.

Legal thriller novels feature all the same stakes as standard fiction—strong protagonists, rising action, conflict, riveting climaxes—while decidedly orienting themselves in the realm of the law. For decades, readers have responded to this genre and made legal thriller books continual bestsellers—particularly in the world of mass-market paperbacks.

Legal thriller books vary in length and subject matter, but they tend to feature three common elements.

1. 1. Main characters who work in the legal field: Legal thriller protagonists tend to be judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, or jurors. They can also be citizens accused of crimes or accusing others of crimes. This grounding in the world of courts and the law distinguishes legal thrillers from other genres.
2. 2. Mystery and twists: Some legal thrillers are murder mysteries, where a killer's identity is unknown for much of the novel. Others feature wrongfully accused people, and readers must delve deep into the book to discover the true perpetrators. Readers are drawn to legal thrillers containing twists and surprises, and these twists usually involve criminal activity.
3. 3. A sense of justice: Justice tends to be a prevailing theme in legal thrillers. While main characters may strive for other things as well—like romantic fulfillment and personal glory—they are often driven by an overriding need for justice. Sometimes justice takes the form of court verdicts; other times it manifests as revenge on perpetrators.

The best legal thriller books combine the courtroom drama with the real emotions and motivations that drive so much memorable fiction.

1. 1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960): The modern-day American love affair with legal thrillers can trace its roots back to Lee's 1960 classic. On its surface, it is a coming-of-age story about a young girl, Scout Finch, in a small town. Yet its endurance owes to a legal trial in which Scout's father, Atticus, defends a Black man named Tom Robinson who has been wrongly accused of sexual assault by a white woman. The book remains a mainstay of school reading curricula.
2. 2. A Time to Kill by John Grisham (1989): John Grisham has penned a number of legal bestsellers including The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Runaway Jury, and Sycamore Row. Yet many readers turn to his 1989 debut, A Time to Kill, as a touchstone of contemporary legal thrillers. In it, a Black man named Carl Lee Hailey enacts revenge on two white supremacists who raped his daughter. Carl's murder case is handled by white attorney Jake Brigance, whom Grisham modeled on himself when he was fresh out of law school.
3. 3. Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow (1987): Before John Grisham dominated the landscape of legal thrillers, Scott Turow supercharged the genre with this 1987 tale of Rožat "Rusty" Sabich, a prosecutor in fictional Kindle County, Illinois. Accused of the graphic murder of a colleague and one-time lover, Rusty must battle to clear his name and track down the real killer of his colleague.
4. 4. The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (2005): Los Angeles lawyer Mickey Haller—the half-brother of another Connelly character, LAPD detective Harry Bosch—operates his law practice out of his Lincoln Town Car. Like Atticus Finch, Haller is called upon to save a wrongly accused man, and in doing so he uncovers unspeakable criminal activity.
5. 5. Defending Jacob by William Landay (2012): This novel concerns an assistant district attorney, Andy Barber, who must contend with evidence that suggests his own son committed a grisly murder. As Barber delves into his family's tortured history, he must contend with the unthinkable. Landay has leaned heavily on his own career as a prosecutor to create accurate court scenes.
6. 6. While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams (2021): In this legal thriller and New York Times bestseller, law clerk Avery Keene gets a cryptic message from her boss, Justice Howard Wynn, right before he slips into a coma. Keene is swiftly thrust into a conspiracy at the heart of a controversial Supreme Court case. Abrams drew on her own experience as a lawyer and politician to root her fictional world in real elements of the American legal system.

Legal thrillers' enduring success in the world of new books, mass-market paperbacks, audiobooks, and film adaptations makes it an alluring genre for new writers. Keep the following tips in mind as you write a legal thriller novel of your own.

1. 1. Research the law. The American legal system encompasses federal law, state and municipal law, and even tenets of English common law. Make sure you have a clear grasp of the laws and court proceedings you choose to feature in your novel.
2. 2. Focus on story and character. The elements that drive the best legal thriller books are those that drive any good novel. Three-dimensional main characters with relatable emotions, a plot that progresses forward, and a setting that feels grounded all make for a compelling story. Details about civil procedure or criminal law add depth to legal thrillers, but avoid overwhelming the reader with legal minutia.
3. 3. Write with a plan. Legal thrillers must piece together like a puzzle, such that when a reader gets to the end, the climax feels appropriately set up by the story that preceded it. Too many red herrings or a deus ex machina ending can make for an unsatisfying reading experience. Instead, aim to craft a legal thriller like a puzzle or an architectural blueprint where every component plays a role in the final payoff.

Become a better writer with the MasterClass Annual Membership. Gain access to exclusive video lessons taught by the world’s best, including David Baldacci, David Sedaris, Amy Tan, Roxane Gay, Neil Gaiman, Walter Mosley, Margaret Atwood, Dan Brown, and more.