History Literature / TheBrassVerdict

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: [[spoiler:Walter Elliot is guilty of the crime he is accused of. He also occasionally says he thought Johan Rilz was a "faggot". Mickey Lampshades the fact that this will not make him popular with a jury, and tells him if it comes up, to say he thought Rilz was "gay".]]

It has been two years since the traumatic Louis Roulet case that was related in ''Literature/TheLincolnLawyer''. Mickey Haller's recovery from a gunshot wound segued into an addiction to opiate painkillers and he hasn't seen a courtroom in nearly a year. He has managed to put his life back together, though, and is suddenly yanked back into the world of criminal law when he receives surprising news. It seems an old acquaintance of Haller's, Jerry Vincent, has been murdered. More importantly for Haller, he has been charged with the responsibility of taking Vincent's caseload.

* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: It’s not explicitly stated who took the shot, but this happens to [=McSweeney=] when Bosch and the FBI [[BigDamnHeroes interrupt him trying to kill Haller.]]

* DirtyCop: This book features a twist on the usual trope in the person of a Dirty Judge. It turns out that Judge Mary Holder, chief judge of the LA Superior Court, participated in the jury tampering scheme and arranged for Elliot's juror to be selected at a certain time.
* DistantPrologue: The first couple of chapters recount how Haller beat Vincent in a trial back in 1993, before jumping 15 years forward to find Haller inheriting Vincent's caseload.
* InternalReveal: For the entire Harry Bosch universe. Readers of Connelly novels found out about Harry's biological father, Michael Haller Sr., way back in book #2, ''Literature/TheBlackIce''. So readers of the series knew about Mickey Haller's relationship to Harry as soon as Mickey was introduced in ''Literature/TheLincolnLawyer''. But Haller does not figure it out for himself until the end of this book.
* JuryAndWitnessTampering: It turns out that the reason why Walter Elliot is so confident of acquittal and is so insistent on the trial proceeding forthwith is that he has paid someone to assume the identity of a juror. This guarantees him at least one Not Guilty vote no matter what.

* TheSociopath: Haller is horrified when Elliot finally confesses to him, not because Elliot is guilty of a double murder, but because he seems ''proud'' of having committed a double dealer. Elliot fondly recalls "You should have seen the looks on their faces when they saw that big gun."

* VigilanteExecution: When it starts to look like Haller is going to win an acquittal for Walter Elliot, but only after he drags victim Johan Rilz through the mud, the Rilz family has Elliot killed.

* HotScientist: Dr. Shamiram Arslanian, who testifies about the gunshot residue left behind in the squad car that transported Walter Elliot. Haller values her not just for her expertise but for her blue-eyed, blonde-haired hotness, which impresses jurors.

* TheSociopath: Haller is horrified when Elliot finally confesses to him, not because Elliot is guilty of a double murder, but because he seems ''proud'' of having committed a double dealer. Elliot fondly recalls "You should have seen the looks on their faces when they saw that big gun." --> '''Haller''': He was cold to the bone.

--> ''Elliot'': Is this the meeting where I tell you I didn’t do it and then you tell me that it doesn’t matter to you whether I did it or not?

----
!!Tropes:

* YouJustToldMe: Mickey Haller uncovers information in this way, getting Harry Bosch to inadvertenly reveal whom he was questioning over the Jerry Vincent murder.

* {{Deuteragonist}}: Harry Bosch, surprisingly enough. Connelly's most frequent protagonist gets a few POV chapters but the main character is Haller and most of the story is told from his perspective.

* SeriesContinuityError: The number of J. Michael Haller Sr.'s children. In the second Bosch novel, ''Literature/TheBlackEcho'', Harry describes coming back from his two tours in Vietnam just in time to attend his father's funeral. While there he sees a son of Michael Haller who's older than he is and three daughters. Several years later when the character of Mickey Haller is introduced in ''The Lincoln Lawyer'', the daughters are not mentioned. Mickey says he was six when his father died but mentions a nameless older brother. Finally, when this novel came out, Mickey has become an only child, and the nameless older brother is never mentioned again.

It has been over a year since the traumatic Louis Roulet case that was related in ''Literature/TheLincolnLawyer''. Mickey Haller has not seen the inside of a courtroom since that time; his rehab from a gunshot wound segued into an addiction to opiate painkillers. He has managed to put his life back together, though, and is suddenly yanked back into the world of criminal law when he receives surprising news. It seems an old acquaintance of Haller's, Jerry Vincent, has been murdered. More importantly for Haller, he has been charged with the responsibility of taking Vincent's caseload.

By far the biggest trial on Vincent's docket is the murder trial of Walter Elliott, a Hollywood movie producer and the head of Archway Pictures. Elliott is due to stand trial in nine days for the murder of his wife and her lover. Haller accepts the challenge but is shocked when Elliott insists on having the trial go forward as scheduled rather than accept a delay so Haller can prepare. Haller's job is further complicated by the investigation into the Vincent murder, which is being conducted by none other than Michael Connelly's most frequent protagonist, LAPD homicide detective Literature/HarryBosch.

* DirtyCop: This book features a twist on the usual trope in the person of a Dirty Judge. It turns out that Judge Mary Holder, chief judge of the LA Superior Court, participated in the jury tampering scheme and arranged for Elliott's juror to be selected at a certain time.

* JuryAndWitnessTampering: It turns out that the reason why Walter Elliott is so confident of acquittal and is so insistent on the trial proceeding forthwith is that he has paid someone to assume the identity of a juror. This guarantees him at least one Not Guilty vote no matter what.

* YouJustToldMe: In ''The Brass Verdict'', Mickey Haller uncovers information in this way, getting Harry Bosch to inadvertenly reveal whom he was questioning over the Jerry Vincent murder.

By far the biggest trial on Vincent's docket is the murder trial of Walter Elliott, a Hollywood movie producer and the head of Archway Studios. Elliott is due to stand trial in nine days for the murder of his wife and her lover. Haller accepts the challenge but is shocked when Elliott insists on having the trial go forward as scheduled rather than accept a delay so Haller can prepare. Haller's job is further complicated by the investigation into the Vincent murder, which is being conducted by none other than Michael Connelly's most frequent protagonist, LAPD homicide detective Literature/HarryBosch.

** Yet another nod to fictional Archway Studios, which has been mentioned in multiple Connelly books.

* {{Narrator}}: Mickey Haller, as is the case with all of his novels.

[[redirect:Literature/MickeyHaller]]