While Mickey Haller was recovering from being gut shot at the end of The Lincoln Lawyer, he got addicted to oxycontin and went into rehab and that took him out of lawyering for a year. As this book opens, Mickey is slowly working his way back into the game, still working out of the back of his Lincoln. He gets a note that the chief judge of LA County wishes his presence. Turns out that a former ADA/opponent of Mickey’s went private and in setting up his papers, named Mickey as the person who should inherit his cases should he meet an untimely demise (guess that’s required of all lawyers). So within minutes, Mickey learns that this guy was murdered last night and Mickey goes from being essentially a part-timer to having a full caseload, one of which is this year’s Trial of the Decade.
The head of one of the Big 4 studios, Walter Elliot, is accused of murdering his trophy wife and her lover at his getaway in Malibu. He goes out to confront them, goes in, finds them shot dead, and he calls 9-1-1. The guy had motive (the pre-nup had vested 2 weeks earlier and she stood to get half the studio), opportunity (security cameras at the studio have him leaving in plenty of time to reach Malibu), but no means (no gun found). But, he has gunshot residue on his hands so he gets arrested. Mickey now has 2 weeks to prepare for the Trial of the Decade while not neglecting his other new clients. Mickey wants a continuance, but not Elliot who demands they go to trial on time.
From here on, Connelly details Mickey’s investigation, discovery exchange with the DA’s office, and the trial in exquisite detail. The investigation darts around amongst possible organized crime in Florida and France, corruption in the LA court system, bribes, manipulation by Haller, the LAPD, Elliot, the DA’s office – hell, you barely know who to believe. But Connelly doesn’t let any of the subplots muddy the stormy waters through which Haller wades.
It’s all about whether Elliot is guilty or not, was there jury tampering and who was behind it, and just who gets street justice – the brass verdict. Connelly keeps the procedural business hustling along at a vicious pace that had me looking for every possible break to sneak in a chapter or two.
And one of the best subplots of the book involves Connelly’s other star, Harry Bosch, investigating the original murder of the lawyer that started this avalanche of plot twists. Get set for one of those ‘no shit?’ moments in the last 2 chapters.
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