As a reader, I went back and forth between finding Vincent innocent or guilty until the denouement came and all was revealed. Also, the complicated relationship between a criminal defense attorney and the accused criminal made for fascinating reading. Once again, as in The Lincoln Lawyer, I found the courtroom scenes and Connelly's explanations of the workings of the court to be compelling. Near the end of the book, we find out just how much. They are both loners and they seem to have much in common. And Haller agrees to cooperate with him within the ethical limits of his profession to try to bring that killer to justice.Īlthough the two have never met, from the first, there seems to be something of a bond between Haller and Bosch.

Bosch is not necessarily averse to using Haller as bait to draw out the killer. If that is true, then Mickey Haller may now be in the sights of that killer. It appears that the motive for Vincent's murder may have had something to do with the Elliott case.

Heading that investigation is a name familiar to Michael Connelly's readers. Poring over Vincent's records on the Elliott case, Haller believes he has found the 'magic bullet,' the thing that will implant reasonable doubt in the jury's mind, and he prepares to go to trial.īut there's that other investigation going on - the one in regard to finding Jerry Vincent's killer. The fly in the ointment is that the trial is to start in a week and Elliott refuses to allow Haller to request a continuance. He meets with Elliott and gains his approval to proceed with the case. He is really hoping that he will be able to secure Elliott as a client because that case could really launch him into the big time. Soon, Haller is back in his Lincoln, chasing down his new clients and trying to either firm up a relationship with them or cut them loose to find other legal representation. Instead of easing back into being a lawyer, Haller has suddenly inherited 31 cases and one of them is his biggest case yet - the defense of Walter Elliott, a prominent motion picture studio executive accused of murdering his wife and her alleged lover.

Vincent and Haller had a legal agreement that in case of the death or disability of either the other lawyer would take over his caseload. He's just about ready to ease himself back into his profession, one case at a time, when his fellow defense lawyer, Jerry Vincent, is murdered. Criminal law, as practiced by Haller, turns out to be a hazardous profession.įollowing his recovery from surgery, Haller became addicted to pain killers and had to spend time in rehab to get that monkey off his back. At first, he was recovering from being shot in the abdomen by an angry mother at the end of The Lincoln Lawyer. Mickey Haller, criminal defense attorney, has been out of action for a year.

The brass verdict