Detective Hieryonymus 'Harry' Bosch finds himself yet again in charge of a case that no one else will touch. This time his job is to nail the killer of hot shot black lawyer Howard Elias. Elias has been found murdered on the eve of going to court on behalf of Michael Harris: a man the LAPD believes guilty of the rape and murder of a 12 year old girl. Elias had let it be known that the aim of his civil case was not only to reveal the real kiler but to target and bring down the racist cops who beat up his client during a violent interrogation. Bosch is going to have to take a long hard look at some of his colleagues in a post-Rodney King Los Angeles Police Department that is rife with suspicion and racial hatred.

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Again, another surprise ending. I think I knew all along the outcome of this one, but Connelly puts enough twists and wrong turns in that will keep you second guessing yourself through this one. ( )

I love Connelly's books ( )

6th in the Harry Bosch series.

LAPD stress levels being what they are, naturally Harry’s one-year old marriage is on the rocks. To distract him from his personal woes, he and his team are called in to lead the investigation of a high-profile black lawyer-activist whose main claim to fame has been suing members of the LAPD for civil rights violations in investigations against racial minorities—and winning. His latest case, about to go to court, involves the alleged torture and wrongful arrest of an admittedly low-level criminal for abduction, rape and murder of Stacey Kincaid, the daughter of a wealthy and powerful southern California car dealer czar.

Because the murder of the black lawyer is so high-profile, the FBI is soon called into the case to help. Bosch splits up the investigation, giving the FBI the murder of the lawyer and taking on a new investigation of the Stacey Kincaid case, convinced that the two are connected. There will be more deaths before Harry manages to resolve the situation.

Unusually for Connelly’s previous books in the series, this story does not start off in a meandering way, following the way an investigation normally proceeds. The action picks up pretty swiftly and never lets up. The plotting is as usual excellent and the writing as well. However, Connelly does tend, at times, to descend into a sort of maudlin stickiness on the occasions when Harry is philosophizing, particularly about his line of work. It’s a very minor flaw but it’s there.

Character depictions are good; Edgar and Kimzim, his two team members, are well done although not terribly interesting. Harry’s relationship troubles are, quite frankly, not that interesting.

Still, the book is yet another excellent addition to the series, which is one I want to continue to read. But I must say that Dennis Lehane beats Connelly out in the genre.

Highly recommended. ( )

Not my favorite on the Harry Bosch novels, but it was still entertaining. ( )