Michael Connelly -- The Fifth Witness

Mickey Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer, is back at work in this one. He's now specializing in foreclosure defense, and as you might expect in the current economy, business is good. But then one of his clients, a woman named Lisa Trammel, is accused of the murder of a mortgage banker, and Haller agrees to defend her. It's not a job he relishes. He doesn't like Trammel. She's abrasive, and everything seems to indicate that she's guilty.

Connelly walks us through the intricate legal and procedural details with his usual sure hand, and in the meantime brings in things about the personal lives of Haller and his team. I don't want to spoil too much, so I'll just say that in this one Haller moves out of the Lincoln into an office. More changes seem to be on the way, too. As always with Connelly, the plot is tangled, suspenseful, and likely to surprise you.

I had the wrong idea about the title of the book, but I'd figured it out by the time it came up in the book. If you're a fan of legal thrillers or a defense lawyer yourself, you probably know already.

The first Lincoln Lawyer movie is due in theaters before long with Matthew McConaughey as Haller. I'll bet you a dime there's a scene where he gets to remove his shirt.