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 Troubled Man, by Henning Mankel

Troubled, and troubling. This is apparently the last Kurt Wallander novel. No, he doesn't get killed.

Wallander's daughter decides to have a child with a man named Hans. Wallander meets Hans's parents, and observes that his father is worried about something.

Soon, the father disappears, and the mystery begins.

This is not only a tale of police work in Sweden, but  one of international intrigue, and a query into what any of us can really know about any other, even those very close to us.

The Whites, by Richard Price writing as Harry Brandt

New York Times review

This is a very good novel about the life and times of a New York City police detective. Sgt. Billy Graves runs the Night Watch, and the Night Watch runs him.

Mr. Mercedes, by Stephen King

Yep. Another Stephen King. This one is pretty much a pure detective-adventure novel. It features a retired detective named Bill Hodges, who had investigated a bizarre mass murder committed by an unknown person who drove a large Mercedes Benz 12-cylinder sedan into a crowd of people waiting in line to get into a job fair. The murder was unsolved at the time of Hodges' retirement.

When we meet Hodges, he has settled into an uneasy routine of mostly doing nothing, watching afternoon TV (a show is described that sounds a lot like Jerry Springer), and  contemplating suicide with his father's .38 calibre revolver.

Hodges receives a letter from someone who claims to be "Mr. Mercedes," the murderer in question, and seems to be goading Hodges toward suicide by taunting him with his failure to identify and apprehend the killer.

The investigation and subsequent action build up to speed quickly. Several interesting characters come into the plot, including one Olivia Trelawney, the owner of the car (it was stolen from her, there is no doubt, but there is some belief that she may have left the key in its ignition, thereby making the murderer's job a little easier). Trelawney's sister Janey comes on the scene as well, and is an important part of the story.

One remarkable thing about this book: it is a detective novel, no more, no less. There are no aliens, no supernatural beings, no other dimensions of reality. There is no time travel, no element of weirdness or horror other than those found in real human beings. There is plenty of evil in the character of Mr. Mercedes (we find out who he really is before long), but it is the evil of real life: he is a psychopath.

New York Times review

The Black Book, by Ian Rankin

An Inspector Rebus novel, (copyright 1993) in which Rebus becomes involved in several mysteries at once, which he, in his inimitable fashion, ties together, during which process he offends and alienates much of the Edinburgh police force.

This is a great book, a great mystery, and full of colorful language. While reading this book I decided to keep a list of what I imagine are "Scottish" words. Some of these I know the meaning of, some I guessed from context, some I need to look up. Page numbers are from my St. Martin's / Minotaur paperback edition, ISBN 0-312-97675-5.

• harr, n. Scot. and North Eng., a thick, wet fog along the seacoast.
  [1665–75; north var. of HOAR]*
• polis -- police
• ca' canny -- be careful?
• snell, adj. [Appears on p. 18 "weak sunshine and a snell wind" and 247.] Chiefly Scot. 1.    active; lively: a snell lad.
  2.    witty: a snell remark.
  3.    severe: snell weather. [bef. 900; ME, OE; c. OHG snel (G schnell) quick, ON snjallr excellent]*
•  stews -- I lost the page number for this one, but here's the quote I wrote down: "The Edinburgh establishment has never bided too far from the stews." (brothels)
• guttered -- "is he guttered?" [p.96]
• tadger -- penis [p.115]
• bunnet -- some kind of headgear [p.131]
• gey -- extremely? "...guide dogs are gey expensive these days..." [p.160]
• skited -- slipped, skidded? " ...nearly skited on wet linoleum..." [p.172]
• gardyloo -- "stepped under a gardyloo bucket..." [p.180] gardyloo, interj.
  (a cry formerly used in Scotland to warn pedestrians when slops were about to be thrown from an upstairs window.)
  [1760–70; Anglicized form of F gare (de) l'eau beware of the water]*
• heid-the-ba -- henchman? [p.189]
• keech -- shit? "They used to chuck all their keech out of the windows and onto the street ... the locals called it the Flowers of Edinburgh..." [p.190]
• blether -- talk, conversation [p.193]
• pulses -- beans? [p.241]
• fly-halfs [p.251]
• scoor-oot [p.263] -- a scattering, like throwing a handful of coins on the ground for children to scramble after -- search this page for "scoor-oot." Also, there's a rather expensive dictionary of Scottish words and phrases on Amazon.com with this word as its title.
• thrawn [p.321]
• teuchters [p.322]
• donnert [p.325]
• glaur -- mud? shit? [p. 333] 

*Thanks to my friend R.S. for these definitions

Another wonderful bit of color from the book: at one point, Rebus visits an elderly aunt that he hasn't seen since he was a child. She surprises him by grabbing his wrists and reciting the following grace before they eat:

     Some hae meat and cannae eat
     and some hae none that want it
     but we hae meat and we can eat
     so let the Lord be thankit

The Black Book is violent, funny, and beautifully written.

Rankin's favorite moments from his books, in The Guardian

Summary of The Black Book on Ian Rankin's website

The Falls, by Ian Rankin

An Inspector Rebus novel. And another great one.

Rebus is called in when a wealthy student at Edinburgh University disappears. In the course of this mystery, Rebus falls typically afoul of his commanding officers and winds up on suspension. This does not stop him from working on, and ultimately solving, the mystery.

This one is full of academics, quirky pathologists, strange artifacts, and Rebus's co-workers who, in varying degrees, either admire or despise him for his methods.

Ian Rankin's Website

Observer Review

The Complaints, by Ian Rankin

An audio book.

I just discovered this, sitting as a draft since last April. Oops. Well, it's a long time ago, but Ian Rankin is no slouch and I am looking forward to getting back to reading him.

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.

Faceless Killers, by Henning Mankel

An audio book.

One of the Kurt Wallander series of detective novels. Translated from Swedish.

I think I've noted before that I suspect translation hurts these novels a little. Wallander's life is so depressing that it starts to rub off when I read one of these. As a commuter's boredom relief it was okay. I wonder about the structure.

Real police work is probably something like what is related here. False leads, loose ends, periods of time during which nothing happens. Whether this makes good crime fiction is debatable. Perhaps Mankel is more interested in simply writing a novel about a character who experiences a great deal of adversity in his life, and how he deals with it.

This story begins with a gruesome and violent murder of an elderly couple in a remote farmhouse. As the plot progresses, we learn that the husband's life was a little more complicated than his neighbors thought. There is a clue that the perpetrators may have been "foreign." This leads to some public reaction to the large numbers of refugees living in the area. Hate crimes are committed.

As the plot progresses, Wallander's life is complicated by his father's dementia, which is beginning to get out of hand. As acting police chief during a time when more than one horrible crime has been committed, he is ill prepared to deal with this situation.

One of the issues that was never resolved to my satisfaction is the brutality of the murder, including the use of a certain eclectic knot in a cord used to strangle one of the victims. Why Mankel imagined the murder in this way, and added that detail, as well as others, is not clear to me. This is one area where I expect something did not come through the translation process -- or it may simply be my own sloppy reading.

Knots and Crosses, by Ian Rankin

This is the first novel in the Inspector Rebus series. I have previously read number three, Tooth and Nail.

Knots and Crosses is set in Edinburgh. Its copyright date is 1987, and the novel takes place in a time that is perhaps a few years earlier than that.

Rebus is called away from a busy desk to join a task force investigating a series of murders of young girls. As the investigation intensifies, the murders continue, and Rebus is drawn further into the mystery. His involvement becomes more and more personal as the plot unfolds.

We learn, in this book, that Rebus was in the SAS before joining the police. His experiences there, which were beyond horrible, have affected him, and color the events of this story--as well as being integral in its plot.

We are introduced to Rebus's ex-wife Rhona and their daughter Samantha in this book.

The Choirboys, by Joseph Wambaugh

This book is sort of a sick farce. It has made me laugh aloud, and I will read the whole thing (I'm not quite done as I write this), but "redeeming social value?" No. I suppose there are some cops who fit Wambaugh's description, but I doubt that there are many, and I doubt that there are any who quite fill these caricaturizations.

Of course, the book is dated. Its copyright is 1975. Sexism, racism, and homophobia (especially the first and third) were not quite as objectionable then as now (and really, racism was--if not worse or more common--somehow different back then, perhaps more in the open? One could write a book on that subject, and I'm certainly not qualified.), and what was considered to be illegal and/or antisocial was actually a little bit different.

So, having not completed the book, I'll reserve some--not much--judgement for now.

The "Choirboys" are a group of LA cops who meet after work in MacArthur Park for drinking and debauchery. This is known as "choir practice." The book is made up of stories of their various adventures on and off duty.

The Hollywood Crows, by Joseph Wambaugh

An audio book.

Community Relations Officers, CRO, pronounced "crow."

Good stuff. Made me feel like I knew Hollywood a little better.

Hollywood Moon, by Joseph Wambaugh

an audio book

Another of Wambaugh's novels about the LAPD, with characters that appear in other books. This was quite entertaining, and improved many a commuting trip.

There is an interesting bit of conversation that advocates very strongly for equal treatment and respect for female cops.

A Cold Heart, by Jonathan Kellerman

An Alex Delaware / Milo Sturgis novel. This was an audio book. Published in 2003.

This book begins with the murder of a blues guitarist named Baby Boy who has just come out of rehab and is on the road to making a comeback with his music. As Delaware and Sturgis become involved, as well as Det. Petra Connor and a new character named Det. Stahl, it becomes evident that this murder is related to others, and the mystery deepens.

I was a bit worried about Detective Eric Stahl, as he seemed doomed from the beginning of the story, similar to the joke about the nameless character you've never seen before in any given Star Trek episode, but he turned out to be a bit more multi-dimensional.

It's a good mystery with decent denoument. Kellerman is a master of the form.

At this stage of the series, Delaware is not living with Robin, and has a new woman-friend named Allison, who is also a psychotherapist. Milo is still with Rick, Petra is single. Eric Stahl's story is revealed near the end of the book.

This recording enhanced many miles of commuting.

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 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.