Following the events in The Lincoln Lawyer, Haller goes on a downward spiral that involves substance abuse and not practicing law. However, he gets the opportunity to get back in the saddle with a case that can revive his career. Unfortunately, it is born out of an ill-fated situation involving the murder of his acquaintance and former colleague, Jerry Vincent. The novel is one of Connelly’s books in the franchise to do a crossover between his character Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller. Their paths cross when they find themselves on opposite sides of the murder investigation but end up working together. Though Haller defends mostly guilty defendants and Bosch is a strict detective, they have more in common character-wise than they know.
Haller inherits the case of the high-profile studio executive Walter Elliot—charged with the murder of his wife and lover— from his deceased colleague. He is rushing against time preparing for the case with Bosch trying to solve the murder of the dead lawyer. Though Bosch claims that Vincent’s files and Walter might have the clues to who could have killed Vincent, Haller maintains attorney-client confidentiality. Consequently, the detective informs him that he is in danger as well because of pursuing the case that got the previous attorney murdered. He finds himself in a tense situation where he has to outsmart everyone including the same client he is representing.
The book places Connelly’s main characters in a similar case as they navigate the situation as the flawed heroes they are. Kirkus Reviews wrote “The answer to every Connelly fan's dream: Hieronymus Bosch meets the Lincoln Lawyer...By turns wary, competitive, complementary, cooperative and mutually predatory...Connelly brings his two sleuths together in a way that honors them both”
