John Grisham’s new legal thriller, about an attorney who stumbles across deadly coal industry secrets, is super-hot this month.

So whether you’re waiting to read “Gray Mountain,” or just finished and loved it, we suggest these other legal and coal mining tales:

 

Guilt by Association
by Marcia Clark

Hidden secrets legal thriller: A Deputy DA specializing in high-profile cases, Rachel Knight is addicted to her work and fiercely loyal to her friends. But when her colleague Jake is found dead in a seedy Los Angeles hotel room next to the body of a teenage male prostitute, Rachel realizes she might not know those around her as well as she thinks.

 

 

 

Blind Man’s Alley
by Justin Peacock

Pro bono legal thriller: Defending a real estate tycoon from lawsuits stemming from a building collapse and suspected mafia ties, lawyer Duncan Riley finds the task complicated by his client’s enamored daughter and a seemingly unrelated murder case.

 

 

 

Accused
by Lisa Scottoline

Underdog legal thriller: Allegra Gardner’s sister Fiona was murdered six years ago. It seemed like an open-and-shut case: the accused, Lonnie Stall, was seen fleeing the scene; his blood was on Fiona and her blood was on him; most damningly, Lonnie Stall pleaded guilty. But Allegra believes Lonnie is innocent and has been wrongly imprisoned.

 

 

 

Stand Up That Mountain
by Jay Erskine Leutze

Appalachian coal mining: The true story of an outdoorsman living alone in Western North Carolina who teams up with his neighbors and environmental lawyers to save a treasured mountain peak from the mining company.

 

 

 

Black Country
by Alex Grecian

Coal mining mystery: When members of a prominent coal-mining family go missing, Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad teammates Inspector Walter Day and Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith, aided by newly arrived forensics pioneer Dr. Bernard Kingsley, investigate dark secrets and realize that the family’s village is slowly sinking into underground mines.