Plot summary
In 1993, LAPD detectives Harry Bosch and Jerry Edgar investigate the disappearance of young equestrian Marie Gesto. Bosch and Edgar had suspected Anthony Garland, the son of powerful industrialist Thomas Rex "T-Rex" Garland, who had dated a woman who closely resembled Gesto and had broken up with him due to his temper. She also had lived at the apartment building where Gesto's car was found. However, despite several rounds of questioning, the detectives never found enough evidence to charge Anthony and the case went cold. Bosch had worked Gesto case as time allowed, calling her parents several times a year so they knew their daughter was not forgotten.
Thirteen years later, Bosch works in the Open-Unsolved Unit at Parker Center, going over cold cases with his most recent partner, Kizmin "Kiz" Rider. A serendipitous traffic stop in Echo Park results in the arrest of Raynard Waits after body parts are found in his van. Waits soon confesses to a string of slayings involving prostitutes and runaways, as well as to two earlier murders: that of pawnshop owner Daniel Fitzpatrick during the 1992 riots, the other of Marie Gesto. When the Gesto case files are reexamined, it seems that Waits had called the police shortly after the murder, pretending to be a tipster, but Bosch and Edgar never followed up on it. Without this costly error, Waits could have been implicated within a week of the disappearance and never gone on to kill more victims.
Bosch takes the Gesto files to his ex-girlfriend Rachel Walling, an FBI agent and former criminal profiler. Walling suggests that "Raynard Waits" might not be his true identity; Raynard is an unusual name, reminding Walling of Reynard the Fox, a trickster character from French folklore. Bosch and Walling speculate why Waits might have been carrying the remains through Echo Park, when nearby Griffith Park offered a much larger and more rugged area to hide human remains. Bosch suspects Waits felt comfortable in Echo Park, and that the investigation into his crimes had overlooked an important connection to this neighborhood. Bosch and Walling rekindle a romance that ended abruptly several years earlier.
Under questioning, Waits confesses to killing Fitzpatrick as a random act of violence, and to raping and strangling Gesto the following year due to her fitting his fantasy. The disappearance of a middle-class woman attracted too much attention, so Waits subsequently targeted people on the fringes of society. Waits agrees to take police to Gesto's body in exchange for a plea bargain that will spare him from the death penalty. Bosch, Rider and an LAPD investigation team accompany Waits and his attorney, Maury Swann, to an isolated area in Beachwood Canyon where human remains are buried in a shallow grave.
When departing from the burial site, Richard O'Shea, the prosecuting attorney, orders Waits' handcuffs removed so he can descend a ladder. Waits uses this opportunity to the weapon of Detective Freddy Olivas. He shoots three officers, killing Olivas and wounding Rider, and escapes into the woods. While Rider is treated at the hospital, Bosch is taken off active duty pending review of the shooting. Forensic dentistry confirms the remains are Gesto's.
Bosch learns that O'Shea has ordered the videotape of the Beachwood Canyon expedition edited to remove his order that Waits' handcuffs be removed, in an attempt to avoid any career-damaging fallout. Also, while examining copies of case files he made before quitting the LAPD several years earlier, Bosch discovers no evidence that Waits contacted police after Gesto disappeared. He suspects that the "51 sheets" (typed summaries of handwritten notes) were altered to make Bosch appear responsible for allowing Waits to escape notice. He comes to suspect that Olivas and O'Shea doctored the 51 sheets as part of a plot to help O'Shea's bid to become district attorney by nabbing a serial killer and closing eleven open murders. Waits, Bosch thinks, was not guilty of the Gesto murder but played along to avoid execution and hoping for a possible chance to escape.
With qualified support from Walling, Bosch sets out to investigate his hunches and find where Waits might be hiding. Clues on the Beachwood Canyon trail, like recently-cut tree limbs, indicate Waits might have been told where to find the burial site despite having never been there. Keisha Russell, Bosch's press contact, confirms that T-Rex was a major (albeit indirect) contributor to O'Shea's election campaign, causing Bosch to theorize that Waits' confession was intended to permanently clear Anthony. Bosch and Walling also discover evidence that Fitzpatrick was not a random victim: he had been murdered by a disgruntled customer who soon afterwards falsified a birth certificate to change his name to Raynard Waits. Abel Pratt, Bosch's superior, cautions him about investigating the case after he has been removed from active duty.
After Waits kidnaps another woman, Walling obtains a copy of his juvenile criminal record in hopes it will contain information about where he might be holding her. She and Bosch learn that Waits was born to an underage mother who lost custody of the boy in his infancy. Waits bounced between foster homes and youth detention facilities for most of his young life, exhibiting extreme anger towards women; the only stable period of his life was when he lived with the Saxons, a foster family in Echo Park.
Bosch and Walling locate the Saxon residence, where his elderly foster mother informs them that "Robbie" rents the garage. Walling urges Bosch to wait for backup, but he insists on entering sooner because the kidnapping victim is at risk. Inside the garage, Waits fires upon the investigators from a concealed tunnel built into the hillside abutment behind the house. Bosch crawls into the tunnel, which is filled with bones from Waits's victims. Hearing the victim's whimpers, Bosch attempts to establish rapport with Waits by sharing his experiences in the foster system. Waits admits that Swann approached him with O'Shea's deal, which he accepted because it gave him a chance to escape. Bosch urges Waits to turn himself in, but in the end is forced to shoot and kill him.
Bosch confronts O'Shea with Waits's final confession, but O'Shea denies any wrongdoing. Pratt issues a veiled warning to Bosch, saying that while the Waits shooting appears justified, high-ranking LAPD officers support O'Shea and the forensic data could be slanted against Bosch if O'Shea's actions are publicized. Refusing to play along, Bosch learns from Edgar that Pratt had been following him continually since he was removed from active duty. Bosch reevaluates his presumptions, now believing that the 51 sheets were most likely altered by Pratt and that Olivas and O'Shea were duped along with him. Surveillance proves that Pratt is cheating on his wife with a younger woman in the police personnel office; in a divorce, Pratt could lose everything and thus might be desperate for cash.
At Swann's house, Bosch and Walling discover Pratt attempting to intimidate Swann, overhearing damning details of the Waits scheme. Both men are arrested. Pratt offers Bosch a deal: if Pratt keeps freedom and his pension plan, he will go on the record saying that Olivas and O'Shea were not involved and obtain evidence that the Garlands were behind the scheme. Bosch reluctantly decides that letting Pratt walk is a price worth paying to finally catch Gesto's killer. Pratt meets the Garlands in a public park to demand more money. An FBI team, along with O'Shea, use video cameras and parabolic microphones to record the conversation. T-Rex admits to previously paying $1 million to Pratt. When Pratt goes to the men's room to communicate with the FBI team, Anthony follows and kills him. Moments later, FBI agents confront and shoot Anthony.
Walling confronts Bosch with her suspicions that he orchestrated the shooting of Pratt, having known that Anthony was hot-tempered and had a concealed carry permit due to his job as a security guard. Bosch denies it, but she departs in anger. Rider is released from the hospital, telling Bosch that she has decided to change careers to an office job with the chief of police where, she says, she can possibly protect Bosch from bureaucracy and office politics. He approves, glad that she will be one floor above him like a guardian angel.
Michael Joseph Connelly is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. Connelly is the bestselling author of 38 novels and one work of non-fiction, with over 74 million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into 40 languages. His first novel, The Black Echo, won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. In 2002, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie adaptation of Connelly's 1997 novel, Blood Work. In March 2011, the movie adaptation of Connelly's novel The Lincoln Lawyer starred Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller. Connelly was the President of the Mystery Writers of America from 2003 to 2004.
The Rampart Division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) serves communities to the west of Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) including Silver Lake, Echo Park, Pico-Union and Westlake, all together designated as the Rampart patrol area. Its name is derived from Rampart Boulevard, one of the principal thoroughfares in its patrol area. The original station opened in 1966, located at 2710 West Temple Street. In 2008, the staff moved southeast to a newer facility located at 1401 West 6th Street. With 164,961 residents occupying a 5.4-square-mile (14 km2) area, Rampart is one of Los Angeles's most densely populated communities.
Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch is a fictional character created by American author Michael Connelly. Bosch debuted as the lead character in the 1992 novel The Black Echo, the first in a best-selling police procedural series now numbering 24 novels.
The Poet is the fifth novel by American author Michael Connelly. Published in 1996, it is the first of Connelly's novels not to feature Detective Harry Bosch and first to feature Crime Reporter Jack McEvoy. A sequel, The Narrows, was published in 2004. The Poet won the 1997 Dilys Award.
The Overlook is the 18th novel by American crime writer Michael Connelly, and the thirteenth featuring the Los Angeles detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch.
The Narrows is the 14th novel by American crime author Michael Connelly, and the tenth featuring the Los Angeles detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch. As Bosch crosses paths with FBI Agent Rachel Walling, the novel ties story elements left unresolved in The Poet and those from Blood Work and A Darkness More Than Night together into the Bosch mythos.
A Darkness More Than Night is the tenth novel by American crime author Michael Connelly; it is the seventh featuring the Los Angeles detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch, and the second featuring FBI profiler Terry McCaleb, with reporter Jack McEvoy also making an appearance in a supporting role.
Angels Flight is the eighth novel by American crime author Michael Connelly, and the sixth featuring the Los Angeles detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch.
Trunk Music is the sixth novel by American crime author Michael Connelly, and the fifth featuring the Los Angeles detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch.
The Last Coyote is the fourth novel by American crime author Michael Connelly, featuring the Los Angeles detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch. It was first published in 1995 and the novel won the 1996 Dilys Award given by the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association.
The Concrete Blonde is the third novel by American crime author Michael Connelly, featuring the Los Angeles detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch. It was published in 1994.
The Black Echo is the 1992 debut novel by American crime author Michael Connelly. It is the first book in Connelly's series centered on Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective Harry Bosch. The book won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for "Best First Novel" in 1992.
Nine Dragons is the 14th novel in the Harry Bosch series and the 22nd book by American crime author Michael Connelly. It was published in the U.K. and Ireland on October 1, 2009, and worldwide on October 13, 2009.
The Drop is the 24th novel by American crime author Michael Connelly, and the fifteenth novel featuring Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detective Harry Bosch. The book was published on 22 November 2011.
Bosch is an American police procedural television series produced by Amazon Studios and Fabrik Entertainment starring Titus Welliver as Los Angeles Police Department detective Harry Bosch. The show was developed for Amazon by Eric Overmyer, and the first season takes its inspiration from the Michael Connelly novels City of Bones (2002), Echo Park (2006), and The Concrete Blonde (1994). It was one of two drama pilots that Amazon streamed online in early 2014, and viewers offered their opinions on it before the studio decided whether to place a series order. The seventh and final season was released on June 25, 2021.
The Burning Room is the 27th novel by American crime author Michael Connelly, and the seventeenth novel featuring Los Angeles Police Department detective Harry Bosch. The book was published by Little, Brown and Company on November 3, 2014.
The American rapper Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G., was murdered in a drive-by shooting in the early hours of March 9, 1997, in Los Angeles, California. He was 24 years old. Prior to the event, Wallace promoted his second studio album Life After Death, and attended an after-party in Los Angeles instead of traveling to London.
The Curtis Culwell Center attack was a failed terrorist attack on an exhibit featuring cartoon images of Muhammad at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas, US on May 3, 2015, which ended in a shootout with police guarding the event, and the deaths of the two perpetrators. The attackers shot an unarmed Garland Independent School District (GISD) security officer in the ankle. Shortly after opening fire, both attackers were shot by an off-duty Garland police officer and killed by SWAT.
Bosch: Legacy is an American police procedural television series developed by Michael Connelly, Tom Bernardo and Eric Overmyer. A sequel to the Amazon Prime Video series Bosch (2014–2021), it stars Titus Welliver as former LAPD detective Harry Bosch, with Mimi Rogers and Madison Lintz also reprising their roles. The series premiered on May 6, 2022, on Amazon Freevee with the release of four episodes, with the remaining released weekly, two episodes at a time. The series was renewed for a second season prior to its premiere. The second season premiered on October 20, 2023, again with the release of four episodes, with the remaining episodes to be released weekly, two at a time. The series was later renewed for a third season prior to its second season premiere.
