You’re wondering why Mickey Haller, the eponymous Lincoln Lawyer, would choose to represent himself. He even quotes the maxim that my father happens to have taught me when I was 11 years old or so: “He who represents himself has a fool for a client.” You’ll have to read the book to find out Haller’s rationale for wanting to be his own client, as articulated by Connelly, of course.

The sixth volume in Michael Connelly’s Lincoln Lawyer series, The Law of Innocence is a first-rate courtroom drama, although the focus is much more on investigation than the courtroom. As is typical in long-running police procedurals and private eye series, at some point the author decides that they have to write a novel in which our hero becomes the suspect. In Connelly‘s case, The Law of Innocence is that novel. It’s a fine example of that particular sub-genre — suspenseful, plausible, and well-told. Telling stories well is Connelly’s specialty, as you know if you’ve read the Lincoln Lawyer books and/or the Harry Bosch ones. Sometimes, as in this case, you get a twofer with a cross-over story, although Bosch really has a pretty minor role here.

Story-telling, actually, is the key. “A trial often comes down to who is a better storyteller, the prosecution or the defense,” says Connelly in his Haller persona. In this case there’s no question that the defense is the better storyteller; you know from the start that Haller is not guilty, but the suspense comes from the Law of Innocence. The court can find Haller not guilty, but can it prove that he’s innocent? Jury selection becomes crucial:

If [a prospective juror] was a supporter of the president, it was likely she was a law-and-order hard-liner — not good for a guy accused of murder. That this person would continue to support the president after the media had documented his many, many untruths was a factor as well. It was blind loyalty to a cause, and an indicator that truthfulness was not an important part of her framework.

I can’t imagine who he’s talking about. Go read the book!

Categories: Books