The Burning Room, by Michael Connelly

Connelly keeps writing Bosch novels, and I keep reading them. This one is pushing pretty close to the "could this be the last Bosch?" question, but it doesn't have to be.

Bosch teams with a young female partner to crack a cold case where a mariachi musician dies from a ten-year-old gunshot wound, and in the process, takes on a second investigation into an arson that occurred many years before.

Completely satisfying.

The Fifth Witness, by Michael Connelly

This is a Mickey Haller, The Lincoln Lawyer, novel.

In it, Haller takes the case of Lisa Trammel, a woman who is accused of murdering the banker that foreclosed on her house.

The plot is fascinating, as is the writing, and twists all the way to the end of a difficult court case for Haller.

The book features a terrific ending, and in no way disappoints. Connelly is a sure-fire writer of this type of fiction.

LA Times review

Gods of Guilt, by Michael Connelly

This is a recent Mickey Haller (The "Lincoln Lawyer") novel, set some time after his appearance in Reversal. Apparently since that novel, Haller has run for election as DA, and lost, largely due to having defended an unpopular person. At the tail end of this political and personal (his first ex-wife and daughter will have almost nothing to do with him) disaster, he finds himself representing a "digital pimp" accused of murdering a prostitute.

In typical fashion, as this story unfolds, the plot becomes very complicated. There are suspicious characters in law enforcement, including a DEA agent named Marco, as well as organized crime figures. A lawyer in prison reaches out through his son, an apparently incompetent lawyer with the same name as his disgraced father.

The novel goes at full speed right up to the end. There are only a few pages of denouement.

Harry Bosch doesn't really figure in the plot, but makes a cameo appearance.

Darkness More Than Night, by Michael Connelly

A Harry Bosch novel.

In this story, Bosch's unusual first name (Hieronymous) becomes an important element in the plot.

Another great entry in the Harry Bosch series.

Reversal, by Michael Connelly

An audio book.

In this novel, Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller, half-brothers (as we discovered in an earlier novel) are brought together again. Mickey Haller, the "Lincoln Lawyer," has always been a defense lawyer, and one who is particularly disliked by Los Angeles prosecutors, as he has an excellent track record of winning his cases. At the beginning of this story, however, Haller is approached by a representative of the DA's office and is asked to take a case -- for the people, as a special prosecutor.

Jason Jessup is the convicted murderer of a young girl, who has been in prison for the crime for 25 years. DNA evidence recently introduced has caused enough doubt about his conviction that he is to have a new trial. This is the case Haller is called to prosecute. Mickey is unsure exactly why the DA wants him, of all people, to take the case. There is an implication of sloppy or improper work on the original trial that may at least partially explain why Haller is a good choice -- or, is this a complicated political move wherein he will be used as a pawn?

Haller decides to take the case, but only if his ex-wife Maggie "McFierce" McPherson, a career prosecutor, will be assigned as his assistant. Furthermore, he insists on recruiting Harry Bosch as his investigator.

Good reviews and expositions exist.  I will only say that this is a terrific story, and a masterful use of the characters that Connelly has created in the Bosch and Haller series.

Wikipedia page

Official Michael Connelly page

NY Times review

The Black Box, by Michael Connelly

This was an audio book.

Another great Harry Bosch story, set in nearly contemporary time, ca. 2012. Harry investigates a cold case that dates to the Rodney King LA riots of 1992. At the time of the riots, Bosch and a partner responded to the murder of a woman, but in the thick of action and danger, with the National Guard deployed all around them, they were only able to do a very quick and preliminary investigation of the body and the crime scene, then were forced to rush to another murder. 20 years later, Bosch picks up the threads, and unravels an amazing fabric of conspiracy.

This is the stuff we go to Connelly for.

The Overlook, by Michael Connelly

This was an e-book from the PC Library.

This book was quite short, but still pretty entertaining. Harry Bosch solves a murder in spite of interference from the FBI, who seem determined to turn the incident into a national security issue. Bosch doesn't think it is.

As I've been reading a number of Wambaugh's LAPD novels lately, I was interested to note several details in common, for example, the mention of the Federal Consent Decree under which the LAPD was operating (still is? I don't know). Of course, most of these details are simply factual, so they would have to be identical.

The Drop, by Michael Connelly

Bosch, post-9 Dragons. A fabulous read, another great Bosch adventure, and yet another reprieve from the impending retirement of the great detective. Michael Connelly does not disappoint.

The Brass Verdict, by Michael Connelly

Mickey Haller, aka "The Lincoln Lawyer," has been out of commission for a couple of years. When he decides to begin practicing again, he's surprised by inheriting the caseload of an old friend, Jerry Vincent, who has just been murdered. Haller finds that, among other cases, there is a high-profile murder defense of a Hollywood film mogul. As he delves into this case, it becomes very complicated, and dangerous.

Connelly is a master of this type of writing. I've enjoyed a few other of his novels, and ripped through this one at speed. Harry Bosch, the taciturn LAPD detective, figures importantly in this book, and plays a role in the interesting denoument.

Here are the opening words of this book, which are repeated at least twice later on:

Everybody lies.
Cops lie. Lawyers lie. Witnesses lie. The vicitms lie.

The Black Echo, by Michael Connelly

Michael Connolly writes thrilling mysteries. This one stars Harry Bosch, a detective in the LAPD who has few friends among the administration. Bosch becomes involved in a mystery that begins with a murder of a man who turns out to be one of his long-ago "tunnel rat" buddies from the Vietnam War.

It's a great trip, full of the kind of in-your-face behavior and language that Harry Bosch is famous for. The ending has great twists and turns, and takes you at high speed to the very end.

Nine Dragons, by Michael Connelly

A Harry Bosch novel, with a little bit of the Lincoln Lawyer at the end. Not bad, really. This was an audio book. The person who read it was a little bit intrusive. He did voices, which isn't always objectionable, and it wasn't the worst I've heard, but it was just a little bit too much.

I will read, or listen to, more of these.

Murder of a Chinese storekeeper that appears to be a Triad killing leads Bosch to arrest a Triad bag man. The plot goes very quickly and violently from this point, taking Bosch to Hong Kong, and back to Los Angeles.

More reading to do soon

A few more titles from the last few pages of the 2010 Indie Bound Book calendar:

• Restless, by William Boyd
• The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, by Dinaw Mengestu
• The Girls, by Lori Lansen

And some from the 12 December 2010 issue of The Seattle Times,  page H4, "Best Crime Fiction of 2010."

• Rock Paper Tiger, by Lisa Brackmann
• The Weed That Strings The Hangman's Bag, by Alan Bradley
• Faithful Place, by Tana French
• Spies of the Balkans, by Alan Furst
• This Body of Death, by Elizabeth George
• The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing, by Tarquin Hall
• Moonlight Mile, by Dennis Lehane
• I'd Know You Anywhere, by Laura Lippman
• Still Midnight, by Denise Mina
• The Devil's Star, by Jo Nesbø

Also, we went to the movies today to see True Grit,  a remake of the old John Wayne western. This one, directed and produced by the illustrious Coen Brothers, stars Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon. I'm not going to try to start reviewing movies, don't know enough for that, but I mention this because one of the previews we saw was for an upcoming movie of Lincoln Lawyer,  made from the novel by the same name, by Michael Connelly. I instantly remembered reading Lincoln Lawyer,  and looked forward to finding it in this journal. It's not here, which means either I read it before I started keeping this (October 2005), or (likely) I forgot to enter it. In any event, Mrs. L. thinks she and I both read this book and at least one other my Connelly. I retrieved a book list from Connelly's web site and expect to pursue some reading in that direction as well.