The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

50. – 460.) The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly – A master of crime fiction brings together his lawyer character, Mickey Haller, with his detective character, Harry Bosch. Haller is recovering from rehab for prescription drug addiction when friend and colleague, Jerry Vincent, is murdered. He has named Haller as his successor and he inherits a franchise case, the defence of movie mogul, Walter Elliott, to double murder charges (wife and lover). Bosch is designated to investigate Vincent’s murder. The story focuses on Haller’s defence. Bosch’s investigation weaves around the defence. Haller learns Vincent had a “magic bullet” – evidence or a theory that will devastate the prosecution. Haller finds the bullet. Connelly gives enough evidence and confirmation when Haller has found it but I did not figure out the bullet. While interesting the story is slower moving than most Connelly mysteries. As the trial is about to begin the story takes off as twists starting occurring that I never saw coming. The trial provides a vivid demonstration of how to effectively present demonstrative expert evidence. The twists continue through to the end of the book. As usual Connelly works in some personal history that keeps me hooked on the characters. If the first 2/3 of the book had been as good as the final 1/3 it would have been a great book. (I learned abit of police jargon – the brass verdict is the street solution to solving/avenging a murder.) Hardcover as always. (Dec. 6/08)

 

Harry Bosch: The First Twenty Years

In my last post on Thursday I put up a review of the first Harry Bosch mystery, Black Echo. A few weeks ago I posted a review on the latest in the series, The Drop. I have been reflecting on Bosch. It has been 20 years since Connelly created Bosch.

It was interesting to go back to read the first in a long running series where I have read most of the other books. I found myself understanding later developments better from reading the opening mystery. I was reminded why I try to read series sequentially. 

Seeing Irving’s efforts to get Bosch fired in Black Echo makes it clear why Bosch was so surprised in The Drop to have Irving reach out to him to lead the investigation into the death of Irving’s son.

It is striking in Black Echo how Bosch is a chain smoker who can barely stay in a room without lighting up a cigarette.

Right from the start of the series Bosch has the appealing trait of fearlessness. He can neither be intimidated by superiors nor criminals. I believe he attracts readers as a person who speaks bluntly, especially to authority, what many, more polite and careful, wish they would say to those who seek to control them. I have met a few men like Bosch in real life who have been equally unafraid. All but one were big powerful men who been tested physically to the limit and met the challenge.

Physical danger has never deterred Bosch as a detective. At times he verges on the recklessly brave. Being a tunnel rat in Vietnam burned the fear of death out of Bosch. He is a man you would want beside you in a dangerous situation.

Still, even Bosch’s stubborn attitudes to authority are affected by life. In Black Echo he is willing to take chances in his investigation and does not worry about being fired. By The Drop superiors would undoubtedly still see him as insolent but Bosch is trying to adjust a lifetime of disdain for the system to use the bureaucracy to maximize the length of his career.

Life is hard for perfectionists. Bosch is no exception. Nothing but precise investigations satisfy him. He antagonizes partners and supervisors with his intolerance of average police work.

Bosch is a hard man in Black Echo without the family around that helps soften him in The Drop. It is hard to think of the driven, often caustic Bosch of Black Echo being the affectionate father of the teenage Maddie two decades later in The Drop. If Bosch did not have Maddie I worry what would happen to him when he is forced to retire in 3 years. It to Connelly’s credit Bosch can credibly change in his personal life over two decades.

From Black Echo to The Drop Bosch works by the principle everyone counts or no one counts. He believes all victims of violent crime deserve a careful thorough investigation.

While readers would want Bosch investigating the murder of a loved one he remains so driven through the whole series it is hard to see going out with him for a beer. Of course, Bosch could care less whether someone wanted to spend time with him.

In both books, as common in many of Connelly’s books in the series, the identity and character of the bad guys is revealed relatively late in the book.

One of the distinctions through the series involves the character of the bad guys. In Black Echo there are realistic multi-dimensional bad people. In The Drop the bad guy is almost a cartoon character being nothing but evil.

I hope Connelly creates villains worthy of Bosch in coming books. While Elvis Cole is a self-proclaimed World’s Greatest Detective I would say Bosch is L.A.’s Greatest Detective. Cartoon style bad guys should be left for the lesser detectives of southern California.

Bosch appears destined to spend his senior years alone. His work obsessed character has made a long term female relationship impossible over the past 20 years. In The Drop he tries to slow down but is soon seeking ways for Maddie to get by without him at home. I wonder if Connelly is setting up Bosch to ease the pace of life abit and find a lady with whom to share his life.

Black Echo (1992) by Michael Connelly

(15. – 647.) Black Echo (1992) by Michael Connelly – I had not realized I had not read the first Harry Bosch mystery until, after reading The Drop, I started thinking about how the series has evolved and noted I had not read the first book. Bosch is already 40 years old when the series starts.

I have always thought of Bosch as a big guy. Instead, he is “a few inches short of six feet and was built lean”. His size is consistent with him being a member of the American Army tunnel rats in Vietnam.

Connelly provides a powerful description of Bosch’s war:

“Out of the blue and into the black is what they called going into a tunnel. Each one was a black echo. Nothing but death in there. But, still, they went.”

It is little wonder that Bosch is still affected by his service in Vietnam.

His bleak life as a child in foster homes is touched upon in the book.

As the book begins Bosch is called out to investigate a body found in a tunnel on the Mulholland Dam in Los Angeles. He is startled when he recognizes the deceased as Billy Meadows, a fellow tunnel rat, who has struggled with heroin addiction since coming home.

All present at the scene are content to conclude Meadows died of a self-injected heroin overdose. The meticulous Bosch refuses to accept the easy solution. By carefully examining the body, the tunnel and the apartment of Meadows he determines it was murder.

When Bosch makes a connection with an unsolved bank heist he contacts the FBI and meets agent Eleanor Wish. It is a frosty first contact in her office.

Bosch riles fellow officers and other government agencies with his investigation. We meet Deputy Commissioner, Irvin Irving, who wants Bosch, clearly not a team player, out of the police force.

Bosch had nearly been fired for his actions during the Dollmaker serial killer investigation. IAD, frustrated he was merely demoted from the elite Robbery Homicide Unit, is pursuing Bosch hard for evidence that would get him off the force.

Bosch has a partner in Jerry Edgar but is barely concerned whether Edgar even keeps up with him in the investigation.

In Bosch’s world there are no coincidences. He looks for information linking the bank job with Meadows death. Bosch and Wish become an unlikely team working the cases. Connelly creates an inventive and credible method of attacking the bank.

As they gradually close in on the killers Connelly displays his ability to build tension. As with most Connelly books I found myself racing to the end.

I thought the solution was alright but it was not as good as the balance of the book.

On Saturday I will be posting thoughts on how Harry Bosch has evolved as a character between Black Echo and The Drop. (Mar. 30/12)

The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly

29. – 492.) The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly – Wesley Carver is the Scarecrow of a huge data farm scaring off hackers attempting to steal some of the crops of data being stored. Jack McEvoy is an L.A. Times reporter, previously appearing in The Poet, who is being laid off as the Times seeks to cut costs. (Connelly obviously laments the diminishment of a currently great newspaper.) He is given the opportunity to prolong his departure by training his replacement, the young and photogenic and less expensive Angela Cook. He looks for a last great story and settles on clearing a young Latino from a murder charge where the body of a young woman is found in the trunk of a car on a beach that came from the inner city. Checking out other trunk murders leads him to Las Vegas and rural Nevada where former lover and FBI agent, Rachel Walling, saves him from a killer. When Angela is murdered he is even more determined to find the killer. Together they pursue a twisted trail that leads them to the Scarecrow. The amount of information whose security is dependent on the security of independent data storage companies is frightening. The main clients of the Scarecrow’s company are large law firms. Connelly is in fine form. Carver is a character who sends chills up your spine. You cannot stop reading it. (Aug. 2/09)

Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly

45. – 508.) Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly – Harry Bosch takes on the investigation of the murder of a Chinese liquor store owner in a black neighbourhood. The investigation swiftly focuses on a tong enforcer who would have been at the store around the time of the killing. After arresting the enforcer, Chang, Harry receives a video from Hong Kong showing his daughter, Maddie, has been kidnapped. With no means of getting any answers from Chang or the tong Harry flies to Hong Kong where he meets his ex-lover, Eleanor Wish, and they pursue leads on where Maddie is being held. It was amazing how Harry is able to get information from a window reflection on the video through complex technical enhancements. The hunt for his daughter is violent and shocking. As he pursued the kidnappers I kept wondering why a tong would risk the attention that would descend upon them by kidnapping the daughter of a police officer to gain the release of a low level member. In the end Connelly, as he always does in his books brings together the threads and provides a realistic solution. The entry of Maddie into Harry’s life provides a new series of personal development as he will have to balance a family with work. It will be intriguing how a teenage daughter will be fitted into his life. No woman has sustained a long term relationship with the cop obsessed with his work. I am reminded of the mysteries of Gail Bowen and Anthony Bidulka where family members are active participants in the stories. I enjoyed the book but the standard of several earlier works was higher. Hardcover. (Nov. 23/09)

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

33. - 592.) The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly – The recession has driven Mickey Haller into foreclosure defence. A foreseeable consequence of the faltering California economy is the dearth of criminal defendants able to pay for their defence.

            Haller returns to criminal defence when one of his foreclosure clients, Lisa Tramell, is accused of murdering the bank official, Mitchell Bondurant, in charge of proceeding with the foreclosure of her home. There is no problem with motive. Her strident protests, as head of FLAG – Foreclosure Litigants Against Greed, had resulted in a restraining order keeping her away from the front entrance of the bank. Bondurant is hammered to death in the garage where he parks each morning.

            Unlike most fictional lawyers Haller immediately addresses how he is to be paid. Unlike non-Los Angeles fictional lawyers he has the entertainment option. He can pursue a deal in the film industry for the story of defending Lisa.

            Complicating the arrangements is low level Hollywood producer, Herb Dahl, who has paid the $200,000 bond to get Lisa released from custody and wants the rights to the story. Haller is forced into an uneasy relationship with Dahl.

            With both the prosecution and the defence interested in an early trial the pace of the proceedings are swift.

            Andrea Freeman is chosen to prosecute the case. A very determined prosecutor she grudgingly provides the minimum in disclosure of the evidence.

            Haller is filled with energy being back in action with a prominent newsworthy case. Aiding him are a new associate, Jennifer “Bullocks” Aronson, his faithful secretary, Lorna Taylor, his skilled investigator, Dennis “Cisco” Wojciechowski, and his steady driver, Rojas.

            Connelly is the best non-lawyer writer at describing trial action. He knows the nuances of courtroom behaviour and the law. Whether from his own research or expert assistance his lawyers rarely misstep from real life.

            The State has a good but not perfect case. There is strong circumstantial evidence against Lisa. As with every trial lawyer, Haller sets out to find the weaknesses and inconsistencies in the State’s case. Between Haller’s courtroom skills and Cisco’s effective investigations they find and execute a reasonably logical defence. It involves the risky plan of providing an actual, rather than rhetorical, alternative killer.

            Within the trial Haller makes effective use of a mannequin. Demonstrative evidence is far more powerful than the words of the average witness. It must been over 30 years ago when I read of Melvin Belli first using the term demonstrative evidence. Such evidence livens a trial. I had a trial in which my older son was called to be one of the participants in a demonstration to establish a jacket could not be pulled over my client’s head. It was crucial to the defence.

            Connelly creates an excellent trial with an effective combination of planned and reactive strategies. Each lawyer prepares well but each is forced into quick decisions during the trial.

            In his personal life Haller loves his daughter, Hayley, and willingly makes the time needed to see her each week. Their weekly pancake supper date where each works was touching. As always with adults his relationship with his ex-wife, Maggie “McFierce”, is more complex and gets progressively more complicated.

            The Lincoln lawyer is changing. An office is rented for the trial and Haller finds himself comfortable in a regular office. Will he maintain his primary office in the back seat of his Lincolns or be tempted to return to a regular physical office?

                        Harry Bosch is not a character in the book. I think it was a better book without him. I did not think it went well when Bosch and Haller shared the spotlight in The Reversal.

            Connelly is such a smooth and polished writer. The story just flows irresistibly to the end. I enjoyed everything about the book but the ending. As I cannot explain my reasoning without spoiling I will refrain from an explanation. It reflected an undercurrent that had been present throughout the book. Excellent.

            I did not understand the perfection of the title until near the end of the trial. (June 25/11).

The Reversal by Michael Connelly

4. – 563.) The Reversal by Michael Connelly – The beginning of the book is startling with Mickey Haller accepting an appointment as a special prosecutor to handle the re-trial of Jason Jessup whose 24 year old conviction for the abduction and murder of Melissa Landy has been reversed principally because of DNA evidence that a semen stain on the victim’s dress was from her stepfather. Haller primarily moves from the defence to prosecution table because the DA promises to move his ex-wife, Maggie “McFierce” McPerson, to downtown L.A. from suburban exile. After 35 years of criminal defence except for a handful of prosecutions a couple of decades ago I wonder if I could conduct a major prosecution. When I started as a lawyer it was routine for Saskatchewan lawyers to both defend and prosecute. The system gradually evolved into full time prosecutors and defence counsel. To have available the resources of the province would be such a change. Haller swiftly and readily makes the shift. I regretted that he used some of the manipulations as a prosecutor he had resented prosecutors using against him. There was a major contrast with Robert Rotenberg’s Canadian lawyers in Old City Hall who played fewer games as they prosecuted and defended.

            Haller calls upon Connelly’s other main character, Harry Bosch, to be his investigator. Bosch is his usual dogged confrontational self.

            In a continuing departure from most American crime fiction the characters of Haller and Bosch are rounded out by their relationships with their teenage daughters.

            The book unfolded as a procedural with methodical police and legal work. The greater emphasis was on the legal side. Connelly may have come up with a new genre – the legal procedural – to rival police procedurals.

            I did see a glaring error in how the trial was conducted by the defence that I would be glad to discuss with any reader after they have read the book.

            I found myself wanting Jessup to be found not guilty. I kept thinking of the series of great miscarriages of justice in murder cases that Canada has experienced in the past 20 years where innocent men spent decades in jail.

            The writing was as skilful as ever but I did not find the book as satisfying as most Connelly novels. The story simply unfolded with impeccable logic. I think I prefer Haller and Bosch in separate books. Connelly is a great author who has written a good book. (Jan. 17/11)

The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly

The Alphabet in Crime Fiction sponsored and led by Kerrie Smith at her blog Mysteries in Paradise is at "L". Click on the link to see all the "L" entries. I have chosen a book by Michael Connelly who is one of my favourite mystery writers. When he created a lawyer as a new leading character I was excited. For a non-lawyer his understanding of lawyers and court proceedings is exceptional. The movie version of The Lincoln Lawyer has just been released. I have not seen it. My older son, Jonathan, liked it though he said it differed from the book. I had disliked the movie version of Connelly's Bloodwork.

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52. - 307.) The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly – In a departure from his Harry Bosch  stories Connelly features L.A. criminal defence lawyer, Mickey Haller, who is racing from court to court tending to his usual clientele when suddenly called to defend wealthy realtor, Louis Roulet, who has been charged with attacking Regina Campo in her apartment. Haller is excited about the opportunity for a “franchise” client (a client who can afford a 6 figure legal bill). Aided by investigator Raul Levin he attacks the evidence. The story dramatically and suddenly twists when it turns out a previous client, Angel Mendenez, Haller persuaded to plead guilty of murder is a defender’s nightmare, an innocent man. The connection with his present case puts Haller in an incredible dilemma. The whirl of a busy lawyer’s life and the action in court are far better than the average legal thriller. The style reminded me strongly of John Grisham. The conclusion is a touch too predictable but Haller has a future as a character. Hardcover. (Nov. 18/05)

The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly

37. – 87.) The Concrete Blonde by Michael Connelly - Detective Harry Bosch is on civil trial for killing the Dollmaker when he discovers there is another killer copying the Dollmaker. The copycat proves to be even cleverer than the Dollmaker. Another great story you cannot put down. Hardcover. (Third best fiction of 2001)