A legal potboiler with moral overtones, all the while paying homage to Harper Lee.

In his first novel, Mark Giminez has come up with the winning recipe for a page-turning bestseller: start with a legal thriller à la Grisham, throw in an obscene helping of Dallas money (think: the Ewings) and sprinkle with eulogies to one of the best American books ever written. Result - a gripping read that won’t win any literary awards but will have you losing a whole weekend finishing it.

A Scott Fenney became a lawyer because his mother read To Kill a Mockingbird to him as a child. He wanted to be Atticus Finch and do right by the world; instead he grew up and became a Dallas corporate lawyer earning $750,000 a year, driving fast cars, living in a mansion and not caring about anyone except himself. All that changes when a Senator’s son is murdered and Scott has to defend the accused, a black junkie prostitute, for free.

Mark Giminez succeeds in bringing Harper Lee’s story of racial injustice into the present day, writing a damning indictment of the American legal system in the process. The mix of courtroom drama and personal trauma is handled well, with plenty of surprises thrown in on both fronts along the way.

The Colour of Law can’t compare to Lee’s masterpiece (but then what can?), but it’s definitely a cut above most other legal thrillers, not least because at its heart is a tale of honour amongst thieves - well, lawyers.

Recommended by Diccon Bewes