Attorney Mickey Haller hasn’t been practicing law the last year or so, having been recuperating from being shot and a subsequent addiction to pain meds that could have destroyed his life. On the verge of getting back in the game, he receives a summons from a judge and is told that forget wanting back in, he’s been thrown in. One of his legal colleagues has been shot dead in a parking deck, and the man’s cases were all directed by the victim, Vincent, to Haller’s practice. Although the cases are a mixed lot, one of them stands out: a prominent movie producer stands accused of the double murder of his wife and her lover, the “interior decorator”. The fees from this case are a windfall, but when Haller arrives to take possession of the files, he finds that cops investigating the murder are trying to beat him to the punch. One of them, Harry Bosch, is particularly aggressive — but he and Haller figure they can help each other out: Bosch wants to take down the murderer, and Haller wants to know that whoever knocked Vincent off won’t come for him next. With the court date looming, the boys both scramble to work. The result is a superb thriller with multiple twists: I don’t know why it’s been long since I read Connelly, but I’m delighted at the return.

The Brass Verdict opens with the statement that everybody lies, and the book definitely bears that out: our main character was introduced in The Lincoln Lawyer as someone who viewed the legal system as a machine, one that he took pride in manipulating to his client’s advantage: not that he’s unethical or immortal, merely pragmatic. Haller has a good heart, if one weary and wounded: one of his new clients is a bankrupt ex-surfer who lives out of his car, and Haller offers him his first foot forward by hiring him as a driver. The story has an instant hook, of course — the Hollywood exe charged with double murder, the mysterious killing of the lawyer that may or may not be related — but the way a multitude of characters here are continually playing one another keeps it compelling. Even the good guys try to manipulate the other: while Haller and Bosch develop a grudging respect for each other throughout the book, they both want to fish more information out of the other than they’re willing to give, and Bosch is particularly adept at playing a few moves ahead in pursuit of justice. Morality is another strong element of this novel, as Haller has a gut instinct that his client is guilty as sin even as he builds a strong case in the man’s defense, incorporating factors that his predecessor and the prosecutor had overlooked or dismissed. Combined with the physical peril and mystery of the murdered lawyer, this made for a great read. Will definitely be reading more Connelly this year.