Crime Novels About the Reasons People Give for Breaking the Law

A criminal can describe a terrible decision as work, loyalty, revenge or the only option left. These novels let those explanations be heard without treating them as a final verdict. The choices range from theft and fraud to murder and the professional fixing that helps powerful people escape consequences. Some are intimate and realistic, others comic or deliberately heightened. What connects them is attention to the person making the choice and the people left to bear its costs.