Book Review : The Brass Verdict
Author : Michael Connelly
My Rating : 3 out of 5 stars
Michael Connelly has written numerous best selling mystery books - based on 3 main protagonists - the detective Harry Bosch, or the lawyer Mickey Haller or the reporter Jack McEvoy. "The Brass Verdict" is a Mickey Haller (or called the Lincoln Lawyer) book with a guest appearance from other 2 characters as well. That was the main reason for me to try this out as my first Michael Connelly book - 3 in 1 !
A movie producer is arrested and being charged for a double murder of his wife and her lover. The first lawyer hired by the movie producer is also murdered and the case lands on the laps of Micky Haller. As he starts building his defense, naturally he realizes that there is more than meets the eye. Giving any more synopsis, would give out some surprises.
As a mystery, this is quite decent and well-structured. Everything falls neatly in place by the end, nothing seems forced, there are no logical holes and the conclusion is quite satisfying.
What made me give this only 3 stars is they way clues are tied together. In spite of being written as a first person account - we are not given enough insight into the mind of our protagonist. Of course complete insight will mean no surprises, but some of the real investigation is done by Haller's helper and we are never told what he discovered. We just hear the deductions made by Haller. The best mysteries are where the reader has almost the same amount of information as the investigator, but it's presented in such a way that the reader is never sure how to tie it all together - till it's explained by say someone like Hercule Poirot.
Nevertheless, this is a very nice book to read. Connelly excels at building a real multi-dimensional character of Haller - who is far from perfect. He takes his time, so the book may feel slow to some. To me the character development was a big plus point. We are given a nice tour of how the justice system really works, and the subplots are interesting too.
I definitely recommend this book. Personally, for the next book by Connelly, I would read a book from his other series - featuring detective Bosch - than by the same Mickey Haller.
Author : Michael Connelly
My Rating : 3 out of 5 stars
Michael Connelly has written numerous best selling mystery books - based on 3 main protagonists - the detective Harry Bosch, or the lawyer Mickey Haller or the reporter Jack McEvoy. "The Brass Verdict" is a Mickey Haller (or called the Lincoln Lawyer) book with a guest appearance from other 2 characters as well. That was the main reason for me to try this out as my first Michael Connelly book - 3 in 1 !
A movie producer is arrested and being charged for a double murder of his wife and her lover. The first lawyer hired by the movie producer is also murdered and the case lands on the laps of Micky Haller. As he starts building his defense, naturally he realizes that there is more than meets the eye. Giving any more synopsis, would give out some surprises.
As a mystery, this is quite decent and well-structured. Everything falls neatly in place by the end, nothing seems forced, there are no logical holes and the conclusion is quite satisfying.
What made me give this only 3 stars is they way clues are tied together. In spite of being written as a first person account - we are not given enough insight into the mind of our protagonist. Of course complete insight will mean no surprises, but some of the real investigation is done by Haller's helper and we are never told what he discovered. We just hear the deductions made by Haller. The best mysteries are where the reader has almost the same amount of information as the investigator, but it's presented in such a way that the reader is never sure how to tie it all together - till it's explained by say someone like Hercule Poirot.
Nevertheless, this is a very nice book to read. Connelly excels at building a real multi-dimensional character of Haller - who is far from perfect. He takes his time, so the book may feel slow to some. To me the character development was a big plus point. We are given a nice tour of how the justice system really works, and the subplots are interesting too.
I definitely recommend this book. Personally, for the next book by Connelly, I would read a book from his other series - featuring detective Bosch - than by the same Mickey Haller.
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