Title: The Fifth Witness
Author: Michael Connelly
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: April 5, 2011
Hardcover: 448 pages
ISBN: 978-0316069359
Genre: Fiction, Legal Thriller
From the Publisher:
Mickey Haller has fallen on tough times. He expands his business into foreclosure defense, only to see one of his clients accused of killing the banker she blames for trying to take away her home.
Mickey puts his team into high gear to exonerate Lisa Trammel, even though the evidence and his own suspicions tell him his client is guilty. Soon after he learns that the victim had black market dealings of his own, Haller is assaulted, too–and he’s certain he’s on the right trail.
Despite the danger and uncertainty, Haller mounts the best defense of his career in a trial where the last surprise comes after the verdict is in.
My Review:
The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly continues the legal career of Mickey Haller, perhaps better known as the “Lincoln Lawyer” from Connelly’s earlier work of the same title. In The Fifth Witness, readers experience much more courtroom drama and less of the criminal investigative side of the legal process. Here, Haller has re-invented himself to handle civil cases, namely those dealing with foreclosure. His change of practice was primarily in response to the increased market for financial litigation, but when his client, Lisa Trammel, who is attempting to avoid foreclosure, is accused of murdering the bank executive responsible for initiating the foreclosure proceedings, Haller does not shy from the opportunity to defend his civil client in a murder trial. Connelly masterfully captures the tension of the courtroom atmosphere as Haller works to defend the client whom he felt fairly certain, was guilty of murder. Couple these suspicions of guilt with the vigor in which the police investigators honed-in on Trammel as the one and only possible suspect and one would expect a cut-and-dry verdict. Or is it? This is truly an attention-grabber as testimony and cross-examinations build into nothing short of high anxiety in the courtroom. I recommend The Fifth Witness to readers who enjoy intense legal thrillers as Connelly definitely delivers with his latest novel.
To learn more about author Michael Connelly and his books, please visit his website.
I loved The Lincoln Lawyer and really look forward to more of Mickey Haller!
I enjoyed this one much more, I hope you do as well.
This sounds like a book I’d enjoy reading. Of course, I must read Lincoln Lawyer first!!
It is a fun series.