Mickey Haller is the standard sleazy lawyer, working criminal defense across all the court-houses in the Los Angeles area. Since he shuttles between courts frequently, he works from his chauffeured car, specifically a Lincoln Town car. He specializes in finding the procedural missteps by the investigators and uses that to get his clients off, many of whom provide him repeat business.
But having worked the scene for so long, he is not sure whether he would even recognize innocence when he sees it, or for that matter, true evil. He had recently managed to get a client of his, arrested for the brutal murder of a young prostitute, a reduced sentence of just four years. The client insisted he was innocent, but Mickey convinces him this is the best deal possible.
And then, a rich real-estate agent arrested for a very similar crime asks to be defended by Mickey specifically. On the surface, this looks like the big-ticket moneymaker case which will set him up for life, but something is not right. It is a little too similar to his previous case… and makes Mickey wonder exactly how innocent or guilty, or evil his clients really are…
The book delves in great detail both into criminal court procedure, as well as police investigational procedures and the extensive research done by the author makes the book that much more interesting. A very good read, and the first in a series of books featuring Mickey Haller.