The story revolves around a trial for a major client that has been accused of murdering his wife and her lover. Haller gets the case (and several more) by inheriting them when a fellow defense attorney is murdered. Bosch is trying to solve the murder of the first defense attorney while Haller is trying to build a defense for his client.

The book is very much in the vien of The Lincoln Lawyer and is an enjoyable ride. It includes many twists and turns as you try to figure out who killed the first defense attorney and why as well as whether Haller’s client is guilty of not. I really enjoyed the book and completed it in less than 48 hours. If you like Connelly’s other books, you will like this one.

Notwithstanding my enjoyment of the book, I did have a couple of small quibbles with it. It turns out that Haller was as much of a jazz aficionado as Bosch is. The scene where this is discussed, just didn’t ring true to me. Second, there is a reveal at the end of the book that I just did not enjoy. It felt contrived and pointless to me. Nevertheless, these quibbles did not dampen the overall quality of the book for me.

As an additional bonus, you can listen to a chapeter that Connelly cut from the novel. It deals with one of the  other cases that Haller inherited. This case doesn’t really have anything to do with the events of the book (thus explaining why Connelly cut it).  However, it is an enjoyable short piece that provides a nice insight in the failings of the justice system. You can download an mp3 of Connelly reading this chaper at Crimewav.com. If you enjoy crime fiction  and are not familiar with Crimewav, I urge you to check it out.