2022.02.28 Meeting Notes

I hope everyone is enjoying The Maidens by Alex Michaelides. We will meet in person to discuss that on Monday, March 28 at 6:00 pm. Kim is bringing a snack (thanks Kim).
In February we were in person to discuss The Law of Innocence by Michael Connelly. It has been quite some time since we visited with Mickey Haller aka The Lincoln Lawyer. This time Mickey has been framed and finds himself representing himself at his own murder trial (Abraham Lincoln quote be damned).
We had quite a lively discussion of the book and it wasn’t until at least halfway through that we realized that we weren’t discussing the plot at all. By plot, I mean the background information on the company that was defrauding (was it the government) and why the dead guy was killed in the first place. Basically the FBI case. We spent the whole time discussing the characters, the trial, Mickey’s love life, the FBI agent who helped him, etc. We didn’t much care, or in my case follow, the background crime. To be honest, for me it wasn’t even a necessary part of the book – other than to explain the dead guy. We were more interested in the guy who killed him and decided to frame Mickey to get back at him (much to his later demise). For us, that was the main crime.
The scores were all excellent: seven 9s, ten 8s, and seven 7s. Not a score less than 7 – WOW!
I usually say: the high scores said X and the low scores said Y, but since all the scores were high, I’ll tell you our positives and negatives.
What we liked: Amusing, fun, couldn’t put it down, liked characters, liked locale, entertaining, engaging, good character development, liked the role reversal with Bosch, and many enjoyed the court procedural part. This was the first Mickey Haller for a lot of people and at least one or two plan to go back and read others. 
What we didn’t like: we felt cheated that we didn’t really know a lot about the plotline (mentioned above), also felt cheated that they dropped the case rather than going to a verdict, it had an abrupt ending (anticlimactic), it was laborious in the beginning, it had far fetched lawyer stuff, and the romance part was distracting. I think we all agreed that the girlfriend coming back and then leaving again didn’t add a thing to the story. In addition, the prison parts really creeped Jeff out and Susan spent the whole book worrying about Mickey’s diet (too much baloney).
I know it looks like we had more negative comments than positive ones, but a lot of people repeated the positives, so they are only listed once but were said by many.
That’s all for now. Thank you to Kelly S. for bringing snacks to the meeting! And welcome Marilyn and Teresa. Remember, we have a Facebook Group (just called Crime & Beyond) and we use BookMovement for reminders, so if you don't have a login there, let me know. Marilyn & Teresa, I just sent you an invite to BookMovement.
WWHR (What Would Heather Read): The Nothing Man by Catherine Ryan Howard
I didn’t write down any shows we discussed, but I just watched the first episode of The Chelsea Detective on Britbox/Acorn (I can never remember which one I'm watching). I also just finished Season 3 of Candice Renoir (French show with subtitles). It’s also on Britbox/Acorn and I love it. I looked on IMDB and there are 9 seasons! I hate that it takes so long to get them to the US.
See you all at the end of the month.
Kerry
=== Character List ===
J. Michael (Mickey) Haller – “Lincoln Lawyer“
Moira - bartender at Redwood
Roy Milton – arresting police officer
Edgar Quesada – prisoner whose case Haller looked at in prison
Mr. Sequin – Edgar’s Lawyer
Bambadjan Bishop – Mickey’s cellmate / bodyguard / driver
Richard Rollins Hagan – Judge who set Mickey’s bail really high
Violet Warfield – Judge in Mickey’s case
Andrew – Judge Warfield’s clerk
Dennis Cisco – Mickey’s Investigator
Jennifer Aronson – Mickey’s Law Partner “Bullocks”
David “Legal” Siegel – Mickey’s mentor
Lorna Taylor – Case manager / ex-wife
Dana Berg – Major crimes unit prosecutor “Death Row Dana”
Maggie McPherson “McFierce” – Mickey’s Ex-wife / District Attorney’s office
Hayley – Mickey’s Daughter
Harry Bosch – retired LAPD detective / Mickey’s stepbrother
Sam Scales – Victim / former client
Walter Lennon – Scales alias
Austin Neiderland – Sam Scales cellmate
Morris Chan – Courtroom deputy
Millicent Shogren – Mickey’s neighbor
Gary Chasen – Mickey’s neighbor
Kendall Roberts – Mickey’s previous love interest
Andre La Cosse – previous client, Mickey got him a good settlement
Wesley Brower – Mickey’s garage door installer
Fernando Valenzuela – detective
Kent Drucker – LAPD robbery / homicide division
Rafael Lopes - LAPD robbery / homicide division
Louis Opparizio – suspect in Mickey’s previous case
Jeannie Ferrigno – Opparizio associate
Lisa Trammel – Mickey’s previous client
Mitchell Bondurant – Lisa Trammel suspected of his murder
Herb Dahl – wanted to make a movie of Lisa Trammel’s story
John Trembley – Special Agent in Charge (FBI)
Agent Eason FBI – receives subpoena at FBI office
Rick Aiello – FBI agent
Dawn Ruth – FBI agent
Art Schultz – Environmental Protection Agency
Mason Maddox – attacked Mickey in bus on way to prison
Alvin Pressley – deputy sheriff / Mickey defended his nephew
Rountree – Detective who arrested Sam Scales in Ventura
John “Big” Kelly – District Attorney
Mathew Scallan – Dana Berg’s boss and head of Major crimes unit
Wilson Corbett – U.S Attorney for S. District of California