The plea
No romance or no physical intimacy at all.
Closed door. No anatomical or crude language.
Estimated from the blurb · 0 reader votes
Tropes
None listed yet.
Content warnings
Blurb
“The Plea is one of the most purely entertaining books you'll read this year. It's a blast.” —John Connolly, bestselling author of the Charlie Parker novels “Rip-roaring legal thriller...Twisty, bloody, and convincing.” —Ian Rankin An innocent client. A wife in jeopardy. A locked room mystery. Who will take The Plea? Billionaire David Child swears he didn’t murder his girlfriend, Clara. But the evidence overwhelmingly shows that David killed her: the security video showed no one else entering their apartment, the murder weapon was in his car, and he was covered in gunshot residue he can’t explain. The FBI believes David’s arrest and obvious guilt could help them take down a huge money laundering scheme—if they can get him to testify. Con-artist-turned-lawyer Eddie Flynn is given the job: persuade David to plead guilty and give the agents the evidence they need. If Eddie can’t get David to take a plea bargain, the FBI has incriminating files on Eddie’s wife—and will send her to jail. But David insists that he didn’t murder anyone. As the FBI pressures Eddie to secure the guilty plea, Eddie becomes increasingly convinced that David is telling the truth. With adversaries threatening, Eddie has to find a way to prove David’s innocence and find out if there’s any way he might have been framed. But the stakes are high: Eddie’s wife is in danger. And not just from the FBI... “Cavanagh's fast-paced, action-packed legal thriller is bound to grip John Grisham and Michael Connelly fans with its unexpected turns.” —Library Journal, starred review
Read it? Rate it
One Last Stop
Trades courtroom twists for a puzzle of a different kind—an impossible subway mystery—much warmer, queer and romantic instead of bloody.
Phantom
Keeps the murder, violence and morally compromised characters, but swaps legal maneuvering for an explicit, obsessive stalker romance—far darker and far spicier.
STILL ME
Also drops an outsider into the world of the superrich, but it's a warm romantic drama instead of a bloody courtroom race.
O Presente do Meu Grande Amor
A complete tonal reset: twelve gentle holiday romances instead of a locked-room killing, if you want something light between thrillers.
My True Love Gave to Me
Short, cozy holiday love stories for palate-cleansing after courtroom brutality—no bodies, no stakes, just warmth.
A Glimpse of the Mersey
Still centers on a hidden past and hard truths coming out, but as a slow historical family saga rather than a fast, violent legal case.