Plot summary
Following an incident at work, the LAPD puts Detective Harry Bosch on involuntary stress leave and requires him to undergo therapy sessions with a police psychologist, Carmen Hinojos. Meanwhile, Bosch decides to investigate the unsolved murder of his mother, Marjorie Lowe, a prostitute who was strangled when Harry was twelve. He visits Meredith Roman, a friend of his mother's, and learns that she was going to meet local prosecutor Arno Conklin at Hancock Park on the night of the murder.
With the help of Los Angeles Times crime reporter Keisha Russell, Bosch investigates Conklin; his close associate Gordon Mittel; and Marjorie's pimp, Johnny Fox. He discovers that Fox was apparently killed in a hit and run while distributing campaign literature for Conklin. He also learns that Mittel is now an influential political donor. Bosch crashes Mittel's fundraiser and, identifying himself as his adversarial superior Harvey Pounds, asks for an envelope to be delivered to Mittel, which contains a copy of the newspaper article about Fox's death.
Looking at city records, Bosch finds out that only one of the original investigating officers, Jake McKittrick, is still alive and residing in Florida. Visiting McKittrick, he learns that at the beginning of the investigation, his senior partner, Eno, was called into the Assistant DA's office and was told not to investigate Fox; the only way they could interview him was in Conklin's office, in the presence of Conklin and Mittel. After that interview, the investigation went nowhere and was went cold.
In order to gain entrance to the gated community where McKittrick lives, Bosch pretends he is interested in a house for sale. He eventually has a romantic encounter with the homeowner, Jasmine Corian. Bosch then stops in Las Vegas to visit Eno's widow. Harry intimidates the woman posing as the widow's sister, who is taking care of the ninety-year-old invalid, into letting him take some of Eno's old files. From the files, he discovers that Eno had been receiving $1,000 a week since the murder via a dummy corporation, the officers of which included Eno, Mittel and Conklin.
Upon returning to Los Angeles, Bosch learns that Pounds has been murdered in his absence and is brought to Parker Center for questioning. He realizes that using Pounds' name when trying to scare Mittel at the fundraiser resulted in his death. Keisha gives Bosch the identity and address of Monte Kim, the writer of the article on Fox. Kim tells Bosch that he possessed photos of Conklin and Fox in the company of Marjorie and Meredith, using them to blackmail Conklin into giving Kim a job.
Confronting Conklin, Bosch learns that he and Marjorie were planning to get married on the day of the murder, with Conklin believing Mittel killed her. However, Bosch is soon abducted and held captive by Mittel, who tells him that Conklin is dead. Bosch manages to overwhelm Mittel's henchman, Jonathan Vaughn, and knock him out with a billiard ball. A pursuit and struggle with Bosch causes Mittel to take a fatal fall off a cliff. Bosch returns to the house but finds Vaughn missing. He arranges to have Mittel's fingerprints compared to those belonging to his mother's killer, but finds they do not match.
During a therapy session, Hinojos looks at Marjorie's crime scene photos and notices a discrepancy in her clothing. This causes Bosch to realize that Meredith killed his mother. He visits Meredith's house, only to learn that she has committed suicide. Vaughn confronts him with a gun and reveals the truth: he is Johnny Fox, having faked his death, and he had killed Pounds and Conklin. The police arrive, and Fox is shot while trying to escape. Bosch visits Jasmine in Florida.
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.
In law enforcement parlance, the term murder book refers to the case file of a murder investigation. Typically, murder books include crime scene photographs and sketches, autopsy and forensic reports, transcripts of investigators' notes, and witness interviews. The murder book encapsulates the complete paper trail of a murder investigation, from the time the murder is first reported through the arrest of a suspect.
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 Overlook is the 18th novel by American crime writer Michael Connelly, and the thirteenth featuring the Los Angeles detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch.
Echo Park is the 17th novel by American crime-writer Michael Connelly, and the twelfth featuring the Los Angeles detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch. It was published in 2006.
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.
City of Bones is the twelfth novel by American crime author Michael Connelly, and the eighth featuring the Los Angeles detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch. Published in 2002, it was named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times.
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 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.
Lost Light is the ninth novel in Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series. It is the first Bosch novel to be narrated in first person; all prior Bosch novels had utilized an omniscient third-person style.
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 Reversal is the 22nd novel by American author Michael Connelly and features the third major appearance of Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Michael "Mickey" Haller. Connelly introduced Haller in his bestselling 2005 novel The Lincoln Lawyer and then paired him with LAPD detective Harry Bosch, his half-brother, in 2008's The Brass Verdict. In 2009's 9 Dragons, Haller was a secondary character as Bosch's personal lawyer. The Reversal was published in the United States on October 5, 2010.
J. Michael "Mickey" Haller, Junior is a fictional character created by Michael Connelly in his 2005 novel The Lincoln Lawyer. Haller, a Los Angeles-based defense attorney, is the younger paternal half-brother of Connelly's best-known character, LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch. The Mickey Haller series currently consists of seven published novels.
John "Jack" McEvoy is a literary character created by Michael Connelly in the 1996 novel The Poet and starring again in the sequel The Scarecrow thirteen years later. In-between, McEvoy appeared in one Harry Bosch novel – A Darkness More Than Night – and one Mickey Haller novel – The Brass Verdict. McEvoy starred again in Connelly's 2020 novel Fair Warning.
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.
The Black Box is the 25th novel by American crime author Michael Connelly, and the sixteenth novel featuring Los Angeles Police Department detective Harry Bosch. The book was published on 26 November 2012, "in part to honor the 20th anniversary of the character".
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 Wrong Side Of Goodbye is the 29th novel by American crime author Michael Connelly, and the nineteenth novel featuring Los Angeles Police Department detective Harry Bosch. It was published in 2016.
