A Darkness More Than Night (2001)

Connelly opens A Darkness More Than Night with a new protagonist, Terry McCaleb, whom he had developed in earlier novels. Though McCaleb is now retired and still recuperating after a heart transplant five years previously, he takes on an investigation, pro bono, into a possible serial killer. The investigation leads to ties between the works of Hieronymus Bosch, the artist; and Hieronymus Bosch, the detective.
While McCaleb and Sheriff's detective Jaye Winston are investigating Bosch as a suspect in the murder of Edward Gunn, Bosch is testifying in court delineating the investigation of the murder of Jody Krementz by David N. Storey, a celebrity film director.
Connelly ties all together brilliantly in a thrilling and intriguing ending.

50 pgs in and already well-hooked. ( )

Re-read of the McCaleb, Bosch, McEvoy, Walling crossover
Review of Orion paperback edition (2001) of the Little, Brown & Co. hardcover (2000)

After my recent re-read of Harry Bosch #1 The Black Echo: Special Edition (1992/2020) in its new narration by Bosch actor Titus Welliver, I looked over my shelves for some other possible re-reads of earlier Michael Connelly books. A Darkness... was a good candidate as it has a multi-crossover plot with several characters of the Bosch Universe.

I had of course forgotten most of the plot after 20 years, but it came back easily and the tie-ins and twists became more predictable, but it was still entertaining nevertheless. Probably the most interesting element was the amount of time spent discussing the paintings of Harry's namesake Hieronymus Bosch as they had become the inspiration for an attempted framing of Harry as a possible vigilante executioner. Connelly even pulls off a short twist by introducing the paintings as the work of Jerome van Aken, the actual birth name of the painter. ( )

Ehh. This one I did not feel at all. The book went back and forth between Terry McCaleb's POV (way too much of him) and then Harry Bosch. Since the book is set up as Terry trying to tie Bosch into a murder of a man that was Bosch's suspect in a prior case, I just couldn't work up the energy to it. The flow was bad in this one too since it kept jumping back and forth. One of my friend's told me that I should have read "Blood Work" first to get a better sense of Terry, but since I had a ton of books I went through like candy this weekend, I was not going to circle back to figure out a character who I found to be a big pain the butt through almost the entire book.

Terry is called in to investigate a possible connection between Harry Bosch and the murder of Edward Gunn. Terry is called in by an old friend, Jaye Winston. She wants Terry's help in figuring out who could have murdered Gunn in a scene that calls upon a famous painting by an artist many readers will know from reading this series. At this point, I would have said this was some straight up obvious set-up, but we have to muddle through things with Terry as he realizes that maybe Bosch has turned a corner into being a murderer.

Bosch is up as a witness for the prosecution in the trial of David Storey. Storey is charged with murdering his lover and making it look like a suicide. According to Bosch, Storey confesses, but also says Bosch won't be able to prove it. So the book flip flops between Terry's investigation of Bosch, and Bosch's testimony in court.

The book only improves when we have Bosch's POV chapters. Connelly has Bosch locked down. And now we get why most of his chapters it felt like Bosch was holding a little back here and there. We don't get to see until the end what our Bosch has up his sleeves. And when we see how these two men's current cases tie together, I may have said "oh come on" out loud.

I really thought that Terry's supposed insight into Bosch was weak as anything. Also I didn't like the whole thing really being about Bosch going into the judge and jury. The POV of Terry of Bosch had Bosch just being really close to going around the bend. And also these guys (Bosch and McCaleb) has to be freaking clairvoyant to be able to figure out how the criminal trial case was tied up into the murder of Gunn. There was way too many plot holes with the whole book.

Secondary characters don't really get developed in this one. I assume some of these people popped up in "Blood Work." We have Terry's disapproving wife who just, no. I didn't like her or get her at all. She was just kind of there weeping and being negative all of the time since she doesn't want Terry to be involved in profiling anymore.

The dialogue during all of the courtroom scenes was great. I wish more of that was included in the Bosch series. We get to see how Bosch is on a stand and how his notes are crucial to key evidence during a murder trial.

The flow didn't work very well in this one. All in all, this felt like two books smashed together. I wish Connelly had kept McCaleb investigating Bosch with no back and forths between the two men, or just had Bosch being the main POV with no POV of McCaleb.

The setting of the book felt a bit disjointed. We have McCaleb away on an island and coming back and forth to LA to analyze Bosch. Bosch in court. And then McCaleb on his boat. I think those were the major settings besides a bar or two. This really didn't feel much like a Bosch book.

The ending was definitely a what the heck just happened moment. I still don't get everything that went down in this case. ( )

This latest Connelly is interesting. His series character - Harry Bosch - plays a secondary role. Terry McCaleb from his novel, Blood Work, comes back here to help with what looks like the first murder of a serial killer. I think Connelly may have bit off more than he could chew here. The story is interesting but not as tightly wound as his other work. If I were recommending, I'd say hold off and find it in used paperback. ( )