The Law of Innocence (Lincoln Lawyer)

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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads' database with this name. See this thread for more information. Kudos, Mr. Connelly, for another winner. I loved the concept and thoroughly enjoyed Bosch’s cameo within the story. But the bigger plot is the one against him. Haller knows he’s been framed, whether by a new enemy or an old one. As his trusted team, including his half-brother, Harry Bosch, investigates, Haller must use all his skills in the courtroom to counter the damning evidence against him. No os voy a contar nada más sobre The Law of Innocence, sólo que el suspense se mantiene hasta el mismo final, sin estar claro el futuro del abogado.

As Haller delves deeper into the case, he uncovers a hidden world of dark secrets, where the boundaries between law enforcement and criminality become blurred. What I also really appreciated about this novel is the fact that it is the first one I’ve read that includes Covid-19 in the storyline. Michael Connelly incorporated the virus in a very realistic way, which I must give him kudos for. I hope that other authors will follow suit. Por favor, que se traduzca pronto al castellano. Me dan igual las ideas políticas de Connelly, todo el mundo tiene derecho a expresarlas cuando le convenga. El caso es que la trama es estupenda y la resolución también. Sam Scales, a con artist and former Haller client who pops up in three Haller novels, is the murder victim in this one.Connelly’s novels have long been distinguished by his mastery of the complexities of the justice system including an ability to get police and courtroom procedures exactly right. Combine this with a cast of well-drawn characters, writing as precise as a Patek Philippe watch, and a propulsive plot, and the result is one of the finest legal thrillers of the last decade.” The most richly accomplished of the brothers’ pairings to date—and given Connelly’s high standards, that’s saying a lot. As the novel opens, we learn that Haller himself is in prison, on remand and awaiting trial for murder after the body of one of his former clients was found in the boot of his car. The case appears fairly strong, and the District Attorney’s Office is pursuing their investigations zealously, feeling extra savour in the thought of perhaps convicting someone who over the years had proved such a thorn in their side. Haller has marshalled his own team, and is working vigorously on his defence from his prison cell, but knows that he is embarking on the most important case of his career.

Connelly is best known for his long series of books featuring Hieronymus ‘Harry’ Bosch. Formerly a long-serving detective in LAPD, and more recently retired, and acting as a private investigator. Connelly went out of his way to ensure that Bosch aged in real time, and while that helped with the books’ sense of authenticity, it meant that he had to make hard decisions about when, and how, Bosch would step down from the police force. I was really quite enchanted by "The Law of Innocence". I am a fan of legal procedurals and this story almost filled the full five stars bill for me, but not quite. I particularly enjoyed the court scenes and the interaction between Haller and his team members, including the beloved Harry Bosch, and between the prosecutor and her investigating detectives, and I loved the judge! I had no illusions about my innocence. I knew it was something only I could know for sure. And I knew that it wasn’t a perfect shield against injustice. It was no guarantee of anything. The clouds were not going to open for some sort of divine light of intervention.

Tropes:

In his Haller novels, Connelly has always displayed great ability to write courtroom scenes, combining thrust-and-parry exchanges between defense and prosecution with a look at the personal motives driving all the players (including the judge). He does all that here, too, but the extended focus on the pretrial discovery process, with Bosch and investigator Cisco Wojciechowski doing the legwork while Haller sits in jail, gives the novel a double-barreled appeal. This is a fine legal thriller and a revealing character study, as we watch Haller lose a little bluster at the prospect of life behind bars” The power of television and film was demonstrated to me by the fact that when I thought of Haller he wore the head of Matthew McConaughey and when Bosch arrived on the scene I saw and heard Titus Welliver. I think it’ll ever be thus. One night after leaving a party celebrating his latest courtroom triumph, Haller (who is completely sober) is pulled over by a traffic cop. He knows he hasn't violated any laws, but when the cop walks him around to the rear of the car, he sees that his rear license plate has mysteriously gone missing--hence the traffic stop. When the cop sees something dripping from the trunk, he opens the trunk and discovers the body of one of Haller's former clients who has been shot to death, apparently in the trunk.