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Mickey Haller / The Lincoln Lawyer Series Reading Order.

Quick Answer

Start Mickey Haller / The Lincoln Lawyer Series by Michael Connelly with "The Lincoln Lawyer", then follow the publication sequence. This order preserves the intended narrative twists and world-building progression.

The series follows defense attorney Mickey Haller, who operates his practice out of his Lincoln Town Car, often working cases alongside his half-brother, Harry Bosch.

Reader's Guide

This series spans 8 main titles released between 2016 and 2023. For the best experience, we recommend following the Publication Order below to preserve key plot reveals.

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Official Verdict

Short Answer:
Start with "The Lincoln Lawyer"

To experience the narrative as intended, read the main sequence in Publication Order.Ignore novellas and side stories until you finish the first 3 core novels. This resolves all timeline confusion and preserves every major twist.

Community Consensus

Low Debate

"The provided Reddit comments do not discuss the Mickey Haller or The Lincoln Lawyer Series. The content centers exclusively on plot twists, recommended fantasy and sci-fi books (such as Licanius, Mistborn, and The Fifth Season), analysis of the popularity of author Brandon Sanderson, and discussions about the results of the r/Fantasy top novels poll."

Key Reddit Advice

The recommended reading order for the Mickey Haller / The Lincoln Lawyer Series cannot be determined from the provided comments as the series is not mentioned.

Why This Order Is Confusing

Many reading lists for Mickey Haller / The Lincoln Lawyer Series conflict because early publishers often labeled short story collections as standalone novels, or rearranged internal chronologies for marketing. This guide follows original author intent and narrative continuity to settle the debate for good.

Can I skip the short stories?

Technically yes, but we strongly advise against it for Mickey Haller / The Lincoln Lawyer Series. The shorter volumes often establish the core character motivations and world-building that the main saga assumes you already know.

I watched the show/movie first — where should I start?

Ignore the screen adaptations' timeline. Start with "The Lincoln Lawyer" to see the original depth of the world. The books offer a significantly different (and usually more complete) experience than the on-screen versions.

Why do people disagree on the order?

Disagreement usually stems from the conflict between purely chronological order and publication order. Most long-term fans recommend publication order to preserve the emotional arc and mystery reveals.

Curator's Strategy

Recommended Reading Order Strategy

The authoritative way to read the "Mickey Haller / The Lincoln Lawyer Series" series is in Publication Order. Start with the first published book. It's the way the author intended the world to be revealed.This ensures you experience character reveals and plot twists exactly as the author intended.

Complete Series Reading Order

Publication Reading Order8 Titles

Why Publication Order?We recommend reading in Publication Order (default). This follows the author's release schedule, ensuring you experience plot twists, character growth, and world-building exactly as intended without spoilers.
Best Start Here
1

In this fast-paced legal thriller, charismatic defense attorney Mickey Haller takes on a slam-dunk court case involving a Beverly Hills playboy -- but as it spirals into a nightmare, he finds himself in a fight for his life.Mickey Haller is a Lincoln Lawyer, a criminal defense attorney who operates out of the backseat of his Lincoln Town Car, traveling between the far-flung courthouses of Los Angeles to defend clients of every kind. Bikers, con artists, drunk drivers, drug dealers -- they're all on Mickey Haller's client list. For him, the law is rarely about guilt or innocence, it's about negotiation and manipulation. Sometimes it's even about justice.A Beverly Hills playboy arrested for attacking a woman he picked up in a bar chooses Haller to defend him, and Mickey has his first high-paying client in years. It is a defense attorney's dream, what they call a franchise case. And as the evidence stacks up, Haller comes to believe this may be the easiest case of his career. Then someone close to him is murdered and Haller discovers that his search for innocence has brought him face-to-face with evil as pure as a flame. To escape without being burned, he must deploy every tactic, feint, and instinct in his arsenal -- this time to save his own life.This #1 bestselling legal thriller from Michael Connelly is a stunning display of novelistic mastery -- as human, as gripping, and as whiplash-surprising as any novel yet from the writer Publishers Weekly has called "today's Dostoevsky of crime literature."

2

Plot details hidden until you finish "The Lincoln Lawyer".

Defense attorney Mickey Haller and Detective Harry Bosch must either work together or die as they investigate a Hollywood lawyer's murder in this "epic page-turner" (Library Journal). Things are finally looking up for defense attorney Mickey Haller. After two years of wrong turns, Haller is back in the courtroom. When Hollywood lawyer Jerry Vincent is murdered, Haller inherits his biggest case yet: the defense of Walter Elliott, a prominent studio executive accused of murdering his wife and her lover. But as Haller prepares for the case that could launch him into the big time, he learns that Vincent's killer may be coming for him next.Enter Harry Bosch. Determined to find Vincent's killer, he is not opposed to using Haller as bait. But as danger mounts and the stakes rise, these two loners realize their only choice is to work together.

3

The Reversal

Pub: 2016

Plot details hidden until you finish "The Brass Verdict".

The stakes have never been higher: when DNA evidence frees a sadistic killer, defense attorney Mickey Haller and LAPD Detective Harry Bosch must put him behind bars before he strikes again. Longtime defense attorney Mickey Haller is recruited to change stripes and prosecute the high-profile retrial of a brutal child murder. After twenty-four years in prison, convicted killer Jason Jessup has been exonerated by new DNA evidence. Haller is convinced Jessup is guilty, and he takes the case on the condition that he gets to choose his investigator, LAPD Detective Harry Bosch.Together, Bosch and Haller set off on a case fraught with political and personal danger. Opposing them is Jessup, now out on bail, a defense attorney who excels at manipulating the media, and a runaway eyewitness reluctant to testify after so many years.With the odds and the evidence against them, Bosch and Haller must nail a sadistic killer once and for all. If Bosch is sure of anything, it is that Jason Jessup plans to kill again.

4

Plot details hidden until you finish "The Reversal".

After taking on a foreclosure case, defense attorney Mickey Haller must prove his client's innocence -- but first he must follow a trail of black market evidence to its sinister end. Mickey Haller has fallen on tough times. He expands his business into foreclosure defense, only to see one of his clients accused of killing the banker she blames for trying to take away her home. Mickey puts his team into high gear to exonerate Lisa Trammel, even though the evidence and his own suspicions tell him his client is guilty. Soon after he learns that the victim had black market dealings of his own, Haller is assaulted, too -- and he's certain he's on the right trail. Despite the danger and uncertainty, Haller mounts the best defense of his career in a trial where the last surprise comes after the verdict is in. Connelly proves again why he "may very well be the best novelist working in the United States today" (San Francisco Chronicle).

5

Plot details hidden until you finish "The Fifth Witness".

In this inspiration for the new season of the #1 Netflix show The Lincoln Lawyer, defense attorney Mickey Haller is forced to bend the law until it breaks when he's hired to defend a man accused of killing a prostitute in this suspenseful novel, the "best one yet" (The Washington Post).    Mickey Haller gets the text, "Call me ASAP - 187," and the California penal code for murder immediately gets his attention. Murder cases have the highest stakes and the biggest paydays, and they always mean Haller has to be at the top of his game. When Mickey learns that the victim was his own former client, a prostitute he thought he had rescued and put on the straight and narrow path, he knows he is on the hook for this one. He soon finds out that she was back in LA and back in the life. Far from saving her, Mickey may have been the one who put her in danger. Haunted by the ghosts of his past, Mickey must work tirelessly and bring all his skill to bear on a case that could mean his ultimate redemption or proof of his ultimate guilt. The Gods of Guilt shows once again why "Michael Connelly excels, easily surpassing John Grisham in the building of courtroom suspense" (Los Angeles Times).

6

The Crossing

Pub: 2010

Plot details hidden until you finish "The Gods Of Guilt".

Forensisch archeologe Ruth Galloway probeert met behulp van de wetenschap en politieonderzoek jaren oude moorden alsnog op te lossen.

7

Plot details hidden until you finish "The Crossing".

INSPIRATION FOR THE ORIGINAL SERIES THE LINCOLN LAWYER – COMING SOON TO NETFLIX Lincoln Lawyer Mickey Haller is back on the job in this heart-stopping thriller from a renowned #1 New York Times bestselling author. “One of the finest legal thrillers of the last decade” —Associated Press On the night he celebrates a big win, defense attorney Mickey Haller is pulled over by police, who find the body of a former client in the trunk of his Lincoln. Haller is immediately charged with murder but can’t post the exorbitant $5 million bail slapped on him by a vindictive judge.   Mickey elects to represent himself and is forced to mount his defense from his jail cell in the Twin Towers Correctional Center in downtown Los Angeles. All the while he needs to look over his shoulder—as an officer of the court he is an instant target, and he makes few friends when he reveals a corruption plot within the jail.   But the bigger plot is the one against him. Haller knows he’s been framed, whether by a new enemy or an old one. As his trusted team, including his half-brother, Harry Bosch, investigates, Haller must use all his skills in the courtroom to counter the damning evidence against him.   Even if he can obtain a not-guilty verdict, Mickey understands that it won’t be enough. In order to be truly exonerated, he must find out who really committed the murder and why. That is the law of innocence.   In his highest stakes case yet, the Lincoln Lawyer fights for his life and proves again why he is “a worthy colleague of Atticus Finch . . . in the front of the pack in the legal thriller game” (Los Angeles Times). A CBS The Doctors Book Club Pick A People Book of the Week Selection

8

Plot details hidden until you finish "The Law Of Innocence".

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly: Lincoln Lawyer Mickey Haller enlists the help of his half-brother, Harry Bosch, to prove the innocence of a woman convicted of killing her husband. Inspiration for the #1 TV show on Netflix, The Lincoln Lawyer series.​ Defense attorney Mickey Haller is back, taking the long shot cases, where the chances of winning are one in a million. After getting a wrongfully convicted man out of prison, he is inundated with pleas from incarcerated people claiming innocence. He enlists his half brother, retired LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, to weed through the letters, knowing most claims will be false.   Bosch pulls a needle from the haystack: a woman in prison for killing her husband, a sheriff’s deputy, but who still maintains her innocence. Bosch reviews the case and sees elements that don’t add up, and a sheriff’s department intent on bringing quick justice in the killing of one of its own.   Now Haller has an uphill battle in court, a David fighting Goliaths to vindicate his client. The path for both lawyer and investigator is fraught with danger from those who don’t want the case reopened and will stop at nothing to keep the Haller-Bosch dream team from finding the truth. Packed with intrigue and courtroom drama, Resurrection Walk shows once again that Michael Connelly is “the most consistently superior living crime fiction author” (South Florida Sun Sentinel).

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is it okay to skip books in the Mickey Haller / The Lincoln Lawyer Series series?

We recommend ignoring novellas and short stories until you finish the core sequence. However, main sequence novels should never be skipped as they contain critical character development and plot progression.

What is the best order to read Mickey Haller / The Lincoln Lawyer Series?

The final answer for the best experience is to start with "The Lincoln Lawyer" and proceed in publication order. This sequence preserves character developments and plot reveals exactly as Michael Connelly intended.

Can I read Mickey Haller / The Lincoln Lawyer Series books in any order?

No. The main narrative is strictly sequential. Skipping volumes or reading out of order will lead to significant plot spoilers and confusion regarding character arcs.

Are there spin-offs or companion books?

Yes, the Mickey Haller / The Lincoln Lawyer Series universe includes several companion works. These are marked as 'Optional' in our guide and can be read at any time without disrupting the main storyline.