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We’re huge Michael Connelly fans’ and came to him via The Concrete Blonde, oh so many years ago, in Murder One. It’s thus with complete delight we read his new book, The Law of Innocence, the latest outing for wildly popular protagonist Mickey Haller.

From the first pages we’re thrown into the action, Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer, being pulled over by a traffic cop, in what initially seems odd but manageable circumstances, until, that is, the blood starts to drip from his trunk onto the road and a body is discovered: so begins Haller’s fight for his life and liberty. Incarcerated in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown LA and kept safe by the protection he’s paying for, Haller manages his own defence with the help of his outside tight-knit team.

They say never defend yourself, but Haller is a pro and, of course, convinced only he can get himself off, for it’s not as simple as clearing his name, he has to find out who the real killer is. It’s an interesting premise for a novel – Haller, the epic hero, accused of a crime he didn’t commit, but with the odds stacked against him, his quest is to battle evil, prove his innocence and gain the prize, his life.

The wonderful thing about Michael Connelly’s books is the sheer energy. So much is woven into his plots and the huge of amount detail given to the reader is done in such a way that it doesn’t seem overplayed or overworked. That in itself is an extraordinary skill. And in this, The Law of Innocence is no different to his earlier work. In addition, we’re also handed characters who are believable and in whom we’re quickly invested, whether they’re on the right or wrong side of the law.

This is entertainment pure and simple, delivered with the ease of an author at the top of his game. And while, we are unabashed Harry Bosch fans, and have been since we were first introduced to him in that great indie bookshop on Charing Cross Road, Mickey Haller is a very attractive protagonist and The Law of Innocence simply terrific stuff.

Highly, highly recommended.

 

The Law of Innocence | Michael Connelly | Orion | hardback | £20.00 | 10 November 2020

ebook and audio also available

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Acknowledgements: Many thanks lovely Tracy Fenton of Compulsive Readers for the invitation to/organising the tour and to the publisher, Little, Brown, for sending us a review copy and cover image. All opinions are our own. All rights reserved. Please check out the other reviews on this tour. And, as an aside, thank goddess Biden and Harris won. The world is a not so dark a place and our faith in humanity is restored …

See also: ‘Chris Whitaker’s small-town America’; ‘Lynda La Plante’s nod to the old and new’; ‘Damian Barr’s slice of South Africa’; ‘Nora Roberts’ Sanctuary: an Old Familiar’; By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept’; ‘Yvonne Battle-Fenton’s Remembered‘; ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised‘; ‘We should all be feminists‘; The not-so-invisible woman: 150 greats in their own words’; ‘How Penguin learned to fly – Allen Lane and the Original “Penguin Ten”‘; Dorothy L. Sayer’s Busman’s Holiday – Romek Marber for Penguin Crime (book covers we love).

This review is © 2020 by The Literary Shed. All rights reserved. All opinions are our own. We welcome your feedback and comments. If you wish to reproduce this piece, please do contact us to request permission. Any images are used for promotional purposes only. If we have unintentionally breached your copyright, please contact us and we will take the image down immediately. Thank you so much.

 

 

 

 

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