The Burning Room

From Amazon:

In the LAPD's Open-Unsolved Unit, not many murder victims die a decade after the crime. So when a man succumbs to complications from being shot by a stray bullet ten years earlier, Bosch catches a case in which the body is still fresh, but any other clues are virtually nonexistent. Even a veteran cop would find this one tough going, but Bosch's new partner, Detective Lucia Soto, has no homicide experience. A young star in the department, Soto has been assigned to Bosch so that he can pass on to her his hard-won expertise. Now Bosch and Soto are tasked with solving a murder that turns out to be highly charged and politically sensitive. Beginning with the bullet that has been lodged for years in the victim's spine, they must show more pull new leads from years-old evidence, and these soon reveal that the shooting was anything but random.

As their investigation picks up speed, it leads to another unsolved case with even greater stakes: the deaths of several children in a fire that occurred twenty years ago. But when their work starts to threaten careers and lives, Bosch and Soto must decide whether it is worth risking everything to find the truth, or if it's safer to let some secrets stay buried.

My Thoughts:

Michael Connelly spins his mysteries in such a way as to cause the reader to believe it could be a true story. It’s always fascinating to see everything Harry Bosch goes through to solve a case. The writing is as smooth as ever, the plot holds together as if super-glued, and the novel flies by in an interesting and easy fashion. My only complaint is that Harry somehow seems Un-Harry-like. Connelly has always excelled at character development and if, like me, you've followed Bosch from his first outing, you expect certain things from him based on all the previous things we've learned about him. I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe Connolly has run out of enthusiasm for Harry and his admittedly long-lived saga. So...4 stars-which is still a positive recommendation. show less

A new novel, and Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch is still working on the LAPD Cold Case Unit, but now he has a new partner, Lucia Soto. Bosch himself is liberally strewn with emotional and emotive baggage amassed over his thirty years as a detective, and Soto, although less than a year into the job, has already gathered enough of her own. In her previous police posting she had killed two criminals after she and her previous partner had been caught in the midst of an armed robbery.

Bosch and Soto are assigned to a cold case with a difference. Ten years previously, Orlando Merced, a guitarist in a mariachi band, had been shot while his group was performing in one of the cities plazas. Though seriously wounded, Merced had survived the show more shooting, but the bullet had been lodged too deeply within his body for it to be removed, and he had been left paralysed. When he died ten years later, there was no hesitation in deeming it a clear consequence of the shooting, meaning that the incident became a homicide case. At the time, police investigations had stalled, and the assumption had been that Merced was an unintended victim of a gang-related drive-by shooting. Merced had been taken up by an ambitious local politician who featured him heavily in his campaigns to become Mayor of Los Angeles. Merced’s eventual death is, consequently, a politically charged event, and there is immense pressure for the reinvestigation of the shooting to bring in a swift conviction.

As if that were not challenging enough, Bosch finds himself drawn into Soto’s personal quest to explain a traumatic and tragic incident from her own past, and the two investigations proceed in tandem.

A lot of the standard elements of any Bosch story are there – attempts by his superior officers to rein him in; conflicts with his teenage daughter; strained relationships with the press; outrage from public officials. Yet although we are on what might seem familiar ground, Connelly never makes this seem repetitive, and takes care always to make these twists seem fresh. He also writes effectively. Having started out as a journalist, Connelly knows how to trim the fat off his prose, and how to reach out and grab the reader’s attention. show less

A smooth Bosch read. Not a lot of action but the story flowed and was complex without being confusing. The last 20 pages and the ending was a surprise. MC didn't get bogged down with daughter and there was only a minor bit of fluff that I sped read through. Soto was and almost too perfect sidekick for Bosch but Bosch still kept his darkness while letting some light in at times. And as always Titus Welliver's Bosch character was in mind as I read. Almost a 5.

I'm a loyalist at heart, and while I'm certainly capable of being disappointed with an entry in a beloved series (and saying so), I root for Bosch to win. This book, while not reaching the heights of the earlier volumes (and really, what series can say they do?) it was solid and enjoyable: two cases this time, and blessedly they did not "magically" intertwine as some writers are wont to do. Hey, cops have multiple cases. This is something the tartan noir writers have included in their plotting that their American cousins often neglect.

...And bittersweet. Two things became pretty clear as he book wound down to it's conclusion: Harry Bosch ages in real time (well, kinda) and he can't work forever. There is a dry real chance this was, if show more not the last, then the penultimate Bosch novel. That would be sad but admirable. The second is that Connelly may be introducing a new detective for us to follow, because while Harry is retirement age, I doubt Michael Connelly feels he is. Lucy Soto might develop into a solid character but it's hard to tell from this book. Certainly, Mickey Haller has some life left in him, but Connelly isn't as good with lawyers as he is with cops. Time will tell. show less

Superb Bosch story. Harry is back in Open and Unsolved with a new rookie female partner and given a 20 year old murder case to solve as the victim has only just died from their wounds. Harry is a bit uncertain about his new partner, especially when he finds out she is pursuing a 20 year old personal hobby case in her own time. As always authentic LA / California locations, strong well-drawn characters and clever plotting elevate this story above the ordinary. The plot involves politics, corruption, anti-hispanic discrimination cleverly woven together. Highly recommended.

Somewhere along the way someone gave me a Michael Connelly book to read and it sent me into the world of LAPD cop Harry Bosch. Forewarned is forearmed – this is one in a series. I did not start at the beginning and have read two or three novels with this character. It is not necessary to start at the beginning as enough information seems to emerge through the books so that you can piece it together. However, if you are a reader that gets sucked into series’, then be ready.

A mariachi band member was shot several years earlier in the Mariachi Plaza in Los Angeles. The bullet has been lodged in his spine and this has prevented the LAPD from being able to solve the shooting. The guitarist has now died and the cold case unit with show more Detective Harry Bosch and Detective Lucia Soto is now on the case.

The unfolding story has a backdrop of local Los Angeles politics which of course lead the higher ups in the Department to both cover asses and ward off the detectives on the case. There are also racially sensitive issues that emerge as the focus is on the Latino community both from a political perspective and a criminal perspective.

One of the things I enjoy about the Bosch novels is that they are set in Los Angeles and the author delves deeply into both neighborhoods and the surrounding county. This is interesting for the reader because it expands the normal setting of LA based books into the nooks and crannies that the average visitor would not normally see.

The other thing is that the character of Harry Bosch has been developed over a long period. With series books, this means that long standing characters develop depth and dimensions that don’t happen in single, one off books. Harry has depth.

In one sense, this is a typical police procedural. But it is one with some bulk behind it due to its presence in the series. Just a great, entertaining piece of crime fiction. show less

Sometimes, I feel just in the right mood for a good crime novel. (That’s not to say that I feel like committing a crime or am homicidal, I just like to read about things darker than my everyday life). Knowing that Michael Connelly is a stellar author, I decided it was time for me to make my acquaintance with Detective Harry Bosch. Harry, I feel like we are going to be very good friends after reading The Burning Room. Your world of cops and corruption has everything I’m looking for in a crime novel – hairpin twists, a plot that’s realistic yet impossible to predict and characters that are whole, rather than a cut out. After reading The Burning Room, I immediately went out and searched for more Harry Bosch. You see, while Harry is show more still a guy under his excellent detective skills (meaning there’s a few old flames mentioned), he’s not the stereotypical crime fighter who is lonely, bitter and jaded. Rather the opposite. Harry takes good care of his daughter, trying to ensure he’s home to see her. He also doesn’t make a pass at any woman nearby. Harry is one classy detective.

The Burning Room is the nineteenth story in the Harry Bosch series, but it shows no signs of being dated. It’s also exceptionally easy for new readers to become engrossed in the book without feeling like they should have read the other eighteen books first. Harry has been teamed up with a new, younger partner in ‘Lucky’ Lucia Soto. Lucy is a former uniformed policewoman who managed to take out a few criminals in a confrontation gone wrong, hence the nickname. Harry’s been paired with her to show her the ropes and pass on some skills before his short-term deferred retirement contract ends. At first, Lucy seems a little eager and error prone and Bosch wonders what’s up with her. What habit is she trying to hide? When it’s revealed, Harry realises he’s underestimated Lucy and their partnership becomes stronger as they work together on not one, but two cold cases. The first is a murder that took ten years to happen. (Yes, ten years). A man who was shot and a bullet lodged in his spine dies from related causes. The original shooting was never solved, so it’s up to Harry and Lucy as the media demand answers. The second case is just as yet, but even more complex…

Both cases were fascinating to read about – they were unique enough to hold my interest, yet were plausible enough to have happened. The twists were impossible to see coming and Harry and Lucy didn’t have any incredible light bulb moments that seemed contrived. The plot felt very real, from Harry’s bemoaning of the loss of traditional journalism to the amount of policing done behind a desk. That’s one of the things I enjoyed most about The Burning Room. The second were the characters. All of them, including the minor characters were properly fleshed out, making them easily distinguishable in my mind and interesting to read about. That Harry and Lucy weren’t stereotypical detectives was the icing on the cake – they were real people, from their coffee habits to Harry’s weary distaste for elements of the police system. I thought Lucy was a great new character – she’s a rookie, but she’s not stupid by any means. She also wasn’t distinguished by her looks, but rather her multiple talents.

While The Burning Room has some moments of violence, it wasn’t gory or dragged out, nor was it gratuitous. I greatly appreciated this – I really don’t want to read about prolonged, agony filled deaths and maimings if I can help it. It’s obvious that Michael Connelly can tell a fine story without resorting to cheap tricks.

With a gasp at the ending, I had to take my leave of Detective Harry Bosch. I promise you, Harry, that it won’t be the last time we meet. I look forward to reading more of your adventures very soon.

Thank you to Allen & Unwin and The Reading Room for the ARC. The contents of my review are in no way influenced by he receipt of this book.

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