Book Review: The Law of Innocence

What happens when a defense attorney is placed in the hands of the law for a crime he did not commit? "In the law of innocence, for every man not guilty of a crime, there is a man out there who is. And to prove true innocence, the guilty man must be found and exposed to the world," muses Michael Connelly's protagonist Mickey Haller. It's an interesting setup. When Haller is pulled over by the cops and find the body of his former client — a career criminal — in the trunk of the Lincoln Towncar he drives, he is charged with first-degree murder and imprisoned. Haller is sure of his innocence, as do his circle of colleagues, his ex-wife, daughter and half-brother Harry Bosch (who makes a bland forgettable appearance). But will the legal system believe he didn't do the job when circumstantial evidence is stacked against him? Narrated in first person, much of the action in The Law of Innocence takes place from October 2019 to March 2020, with reports about the COVID-19 pandemic gradually making its presence felt in what's an astutely plotted legal thriller, a police procedural, and a revealing character study. The conclusion is preordained, sure, but you can trust Connelly to nail the complexities of the justice system and expertly whip up tension even with the most mundane of situations.