The Law of Innocence – Michael Connelly

Heading home after winning his latest case, defense attorney Mickey Haller – The Lincoln Lawyer – is pulled over by the police. They open the trunk of his car to find the body of a former client.

Haller knows the law inside out. He will be charged with murder. He will have to build his case from behind bars. And the trial will be the trial of his life. Because Mickey Haller will defend himself in court.

With watertight evidence stacked against him, Haller will need every trick in the book to prove he was framed.

But a not-guilty verdict isn’t enough. In order to truly walk free, Haller knows he must find the real killer – that is the law of innocence…

I’m a big fan of the Bosch tv show, but realised that I’ve never actually read the books. And it seems that Michael Connelly has written quite a few of them! The Law of Innocence is this sixth in his Mickey Haller Lincoln Lawyer series, and the 34th(!) in his Harry Bosch universe.

Seems like I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

I really enjoyed The Law of Innocence. Defence lawyer Mickey Haller is heading home after a successful case when he’s pulled over by the police in an apparent routine traffic stop. And then they find a body in the trunk of his car. The body of a former client.

Mickey knows he didn’t do it, but the evidence is stacked firmly against him and he’ll have to defend himself from inside prison.

I do love a good courtroom drama, and Connelly clearly knows his stuff inside out and backwards. Haller’s task of defending himself seems insurmountable – a Not Guilty would still leave doubts, and ruin his professional career, so he needs to track down the actual killer, whilst stuck in prison.

Good job he’s got a great team on his side, including Harry Bosch himself. Loved the mix of detective work alongside the courtroom procedural, leaving you wanting to read just one more chapter.

Taut plotting, ingenious story and great characters elevate this above most that I’ve read, and I’ll be digging into the Bosch/Haller back catalogue as soon as I can!

The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly is published by Orion on 10^th November. Many thanks to Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for inviting me on the blog tour, and to the publisher for an advance copy of Michael Connelly’s book to review.