In this second book in the 'Mickey Haller' series, the attorney defends a Hollywood mogul. The book can be read as a standalone.
*****
Criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller is 'The Lincoln Lawyer' who - instead of keeping an office - works out of the back of one of his three specially equipped Lincoln sedans.
As Mickey's chauffeur drives him around to meet with clients, interview witnesses, go to the courthouse, examine crime scenes, etc. the attorney studies his case files, make phone calls, sends and receives faxes, plans his defense strategy, and so on.
Haller's second ex-wife, the meticulously organized Lorna Taylor, works as his 'office manager' from her home and Mickey's private investigator Cisco is a phone call away - so it all works quite well.
As the story opens Mickey has been on sabbatical for a year, recovering from a gunshot would and the painkiller addiction that resulted. Mickey is ready to re-open his law practice, but wants to start with a low-key case or two to get back in the game.
Fate has other plans for Mickey, however, which he discovers in the office of the chief judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court. The justice tells Mickey that his colleague, Jerry Vincent, was just murdered and Mickey is the designated 'heir' to Vincent's law practice. Thus Mickey instantaneously gets Vincent's thirty-something cases - assuming he and the clients agree on his representation.
Mickey hustles over to Vincent's office, to make sure detectives investigating his murder don't grab any case files - which would violate attorney-client privilege. And wouldn't you know it, Mickey finds Detective Harry Bosch and his partner riffling through Vincent's papers.
There's a brief stand-off and the cops leave, but Bosch insists the identity of the murderer is somewhere in Vincent's file cabinet. Bosch isn't about to let it go, and initiates some cat and mouse games to try to get the information he wants.
Meanwhile, Mickey learns that Vincent was working on a variety of run-of-the-mill cases and one REALLY BIG ONE. The dead lawyer was defending Hollywood movie producer/studio head Walter Elliott, a multimillionaire charged with killing his trophy wife Mitzi Elliott and her lover Johan Rilz. Mickey is anxious to keep the lucrative, high profile case and quickly makes an appointment to speak to Elliott, who's out on bail and working at his movie studio.
Elliott agrees to keep Mickey on as his lawyer under one condition - the trial, slated to start next week, CANNOT be postponed. Elliott insists he's innocent and will be acquitted, and he wants the whole business over with. Mickey reluctantly agrees, though he's puzzled by Elliott's confidence and certainty.
Mickey and his private eye immediately start re-investigating the Mitzi Elliott/Johan Rilz murder - so Mickey can prepare a defense - and Bosch continues to look for Jerry Vincent's killer. All of this leads to some surprising discoveries.
The novel contains gripping courtroom scenes, and the descriptions of jury selection, as well as the maneuvers of the prosecution and defense, are compelling.
It's fun to see Mickey lay traps for the prosecution, though it's not always easy to root for his client.....who seems like a sly fellow.
In his personal life, Mickey is trying to maintain cordial relations with his first ex-wife Maggie, a fierce prosecutor and the mother of their daughter Hayley. Pre-adolescent Hayley acts a bit like Mickey's conscience, asking why he gets criminals off rather than putting them away like mom.
This book is a turning point in the 'Bosch Universe' since Mickey and Bosch meet for the first time and form a kind of uneasy cop/attorney truce. I've read books further along in the series and it's always a treat to see them work together.
Connelly is an excellent mystery writer and this is a very good story. Highly recommended to fans of suspense novels.
Rating: 4 stars
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