Michael Connelly, The Fifth
Witness, (New York: Grand Central Publishing; 2011), 439 pages.
This book continues Connelly’s
series of “Lincoln Lawyer” novels based on his character Mickey Haller, a Los
Angeles criminal defense lawyer. Haller operates his law practice out of
his car – a Lincoln. In The Fifth Witness
we see how Haller shifted his law practice away from criminal defense into the
booming area of foreclosure prevention. The recession caused (paying) criminal
defense work to dry up in Los Angeles, hence the move into the only growing
area of legal work in Los Angeles - foreclosures. When one of Haller’s foreclosure clients is
charged with murder of the banker foreclosing in her home, Haller returns to criminal
law to defend her. The Fifth Witness
is a courtroom drama about Haller’s defense of his client. A major feature of
Haller’s defense is his attempt to propose an alternate theory of the murder,
and suggest an alternate killer. A large part of this defense is his piecemeal
exposure of the fraudulent activities of the mortgage company, that company’s
links to organized crime, and the attempt by the victim to expose the illegal
activities of the mortgage company.
This is a book about a criminal
trial, and as such, it’s an entertaining story as are most books by Connelly
(the exception may be the non-fiction book he published containing reprinted
articles he wrote during his time as a police beat reporter). Connelly knows
how to keep the reader’s interests; in this book, those skills are on display
throughout. Connelly does not appear to be an idealist. His main character
Haller is a street lawyer that does not want to know if his client “did it.”
Haller’s major concern as a lawyer is to mount an effective criminal defense
that he hopes will acquit is client. This single-mindedness and drive appears
to have cost Haller his two marriages. Haller is no Atticus Finch, but he is
the sort of lawyer you would like to represent you because of his
resourcefulness, ruthlessness, and desire to have his client’s be acquitted.
These quibbles aside, The Fifth Witness
is another entertaining book from Connelly. It’s the perfect book to read if
you are kept indoors on a rainy day, or for passing the time during a long
trans-Atlantic plane flight.
