BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
(Print: 10/30/2018; 9780316484800; Little, Brown and Company; 448 pages.)
Audio: 10/30/2018; Hachette Book Group; 9781549121067; Duration 10:43:14; 10 parts.
(Digital: Yes)
(Film/TV: I recognized this plot from the Amazon Prime Video Bosch series—minus the Ballard character.)

SERIES:
Harry Bosch, Book 21 [depending on how you count] (32nd novel by the author)

MAIN CHARACTERS:
Renee Ballard – LAPD Late Show Detective
Lola- Renee’s dog
Aaron Hayes – Lifeguard and Renee’s love interest
Harry Bosch – Private Investigator / Part-time volunteer Detective at San Fernando Police Department
Dennis (Cisco) Wojciechowski – Mickey Haller’s private investigator
Elizabeth Clayton – Drug addict—the murder of her daughter is a 9 year old cold case.
Captain Trevino – Captain at the San Fernando Police Department
Bella Lourdes – Detective in Crimes against persons unit--Partners-up with Bosch at the San Fernando Police Department
Danny Sisto – Detective at San Fernando Police Department
Anthony Valdez – Chief at San Fernando Police Department
Lucia Soto – Bosch’s former partner at LAPD
Oscar Luzon – Detective for the San Fernando PD.

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
I was HOPING Bosch and Ballard would meet! This was fun to have two star detectives meeting and working together.
Occasionally there’s something I don’t buy, like in this story, an overturned glass and lamp are attributed to a cat. It’s possible, but I have 11 indoor cats, and my lamps and glasses have never once been over-turned. It’s attributed here in the story to the cat being stressed at being couped up for three days. Maybe…but hungry cats don’t equate in my mind to clumsy cats. But hey, it works well enough.

AUTHOR:
Michael Connelly (7/21/56). From Connelly’s website—"Born in Philadelphia, AP. Moved to Florida at the age of 12 (so that’d be 1968?) Inspired by the books of Raymond Chandler while attending the University of Florida. Chose the major of journalism with a minor in creative writing. One of his teachers was novelist Harry Crews. Graduated in 1980. Worked at newspapers in Daytona and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, specializing mostly in the crime beat. A magazine article he co-wrote elevated his stature for the likes of the Los Angeles Times, which brought him here to California.”

NARRATOR:
Titus Welliver (3/12/1962)
The most comprehensive biography page I have seen on Titus so far is “Rotten Tomatoes. Be advised though that the leading sentence begins with “Titus Welliver was an American Actor . . .” as though he no longer exists. This is not the case. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/titus_welliver

GENRE:
Mystery, fiction, suspense, thriller

LOCATIONS:
Los Angeles, San Fernando, San Bernardino, Orange County

SUBJECTS:
Murder, Police Procedure, Addicts, Gangs, Crime, Volunteer police work; night shift; female cop; cold case; serial killer

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From Chapter 1
“Ballard looked back into the tub. Half of the water she had put in was gone. The drain’s rubber seal had a slow leak.
‘There’s no bleeding wit the facial injuries,’ she said. ‘That happened postmortem. The wound on the back of the head is what killed her.’
Doucette nodded.
‘Someone came up and cracked her skull from behind,’ he said.
‘No,’ Ballard said. ‘It’s an accidental death.’
‘How?’ Doucette asked.
Ballard pointed to the array of items on the bathtub sill. ‘Based on decomp. I’d say it happened three nights ago,’ she said. ‘She turns out the lights in the house to get ready for bed. Probably that lamp on the floor in the bedroom was the one she left on. She comes in here, fills the tub, lights her candles, gets her towel ready. The hot water steams the tiles and she slips, maybe when she remembered she left her glass of wine on the bed table. Or when she started pulling up the nightgown so she could get in the tub.’
‘What about the lamp and the spilled wine?’ Doucette asked.
‘The cat.’
‘So, you just stood here and figured all this out?’”

RATING:
I gave this book 5 stars. I’m so pleased Bosch and Ballard have teamed up. ( )

A police procedural that shows how the detailed examination of old records is used to help solve a cold case as Harry Bosch and Renee Ballard work together to find the murderer of a teenager. Although they are disciplined enough to do this, when Ballard figures out whodunit, she goes alone to the suspect's location and breaks into it with no way out. There are many side stories that show us more about Ballard and Bosch and the daily routine of police detectives. Cisco, from Connelly's Lincoln Lawyer series, makes an appearance. As usual, I guessed wrong, but I'm satisfied with the mystery part of the story---Connelly gives some reasonable clues early on; alas, Renee has to happen upon the information she needs near the end of this over 400-page book. The book is separated into alternating sections focusing on Bosch and Ballard.

(The book gets 3.5 stars instead of 4 because I made the mistake of picking up a P.G. Wodehouse immediately after I finished this and saw once again what delightful writing looks like. I like Connelly's books, but I wouldn't call them delightful.) ( )

Good old Bosch joined by detective Renee Ballard. Bosch is searching an historical case of a young murdered girl. Technology has improved but Ballard have to manually search thru old written up case pages over several years.
Pain strikingly they crack the case against internal police resistanc. To get quick justice they tell the father (criminal) of the murderers location and basic justice is done. ( )

Mr. Connelly is a master of the police procedural.

I think by far the best Bosch book even though technically it was a Ballard book. And, yet he still managed for Bosch to have random sex. ( )