Reviewed by Alice DiNizo for Readers' Favorite

In this 19th novel by Michael Connelly, Los Angeles lawyer Michael "Mickey" Haller returns to work after treatment for drug addiction. He inherits murdered trial lawyer Jerry Vincent's case loads, the most outstanding one being the double-homicide case against movie mogul Walter Elliot. Mickey finds that even Elliot is charged with the murder of his wife and her German interior decorator who might also have been her lover. Walter Elliot is calm and keeps on working long hours at his movie studio, Archway.

Aided by his competent investigator, Cisco, and his office manager/ex-wife Lorna, Mickey prepares for the trial which Elliot refuses to have re-scheduled. Then Mickey Haller really "goes at" Walter Elliot over dinner one night and finds out that Juror #7 is not who he claims to be and that corruption exists in the legal system. Furthermore, Walter Elliot's "family" is the Mob, not quite family in the traditional sense. Working with LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, can Mickey Haller find the real murderers in this case before he is murdered himself?

Hachette Audio has done a first rate job in presenting Michael Connelly's "Brass Verdict" in compact disc format. The reader does an excellent job of reading all parts, Mickey, Harry Bosch, Walter Elliot, Cisco and Lorna and does it in a convincing way. When the listener hears Walter Elliot, he knows that it's Elliot he's hearing. When the listener hears Harry Bosch, he'll know that it's Harry Bosch's voice he's hearing. The reader pauses effectively between the chapters and breaks in the story, and this makes listening to "Brass Verdict" a positive experience.