The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly

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.