Pun Salad

The latest from gifted mystery writer Michael Connelly. This is billed as a "Lincoln Lawyer" novel, featuring defense attorney Mickey Haller. But Harry Bosch also plays a major role; Connelly alternates Haller segments (first person) with Bosch segments (third person).

Mickey is usually in it for the money, more power to him. But he gets a thrill from a successful "resurrection walk": seeing a wrongly-convicted prisoner walk free, proven innocent by Mickey. So he's taking on pro bono cases now and then, with Harry offering assistance. They pick a case that sounds intriguing: a woman convicted of murdering her estranged husband, a sheriff's deputy. She maintains her innocence, saying she only pleaded nolo contendre to manslaughter to avoid being found guilty on a full-on murder charge. The evidence seems damning, but is it really?

Another complication: Bosch is undergoing an experimental treatment for his leukemia (probably caused by radiation exposure in a previous story). It's an arduous therapy, and it puts him out of action for a bit. And it has (possible) side effects on cognition, which becomes an issue later in the book.

There's nothing special about Connelly's prose, or his dialog. But he's masterful at plotting. There's courtroom drama, of course. Shady lawyers, possibly corrupt cops, spooky warnings from unknown intruders. I was going to say it's a page turner, but I got the Kindle version, so: it's a screen-poker.