The Late Show is a gripping police procedural that introduces a new main character from author Michael Connelly. Renee Ballard is an LAPD detective who works the overnight shift, dubbed the "late show." She and her partner respond to crime scenes that occur during the night hours. Ballard is stuck on the night shift because of a past clash with a supervisor who still holds a grudge against her.
Ballard's job is to do initial crime reports, then turn cases over to the regular day shift detectives to follow up. She's not supposed to be involved in the cases after that. But she responds to two crime scenes during one shift that she can't let go of. One is the vicious beating of a transgender hooker by an unknown assailant. The other case is a multiple homicide shooting inside a sketchy nightclub, where a young waitress is killed.
Ballard begins to run her own investigation of these crimes without her supervisor's knowledge. She has to cut corners and hide her actions within the LAPD, even from her partner. But as she gets closer to a suspect in the beating case, and the full truth behind the nightclub shooting, Ballard's lone wolf act leads her into imminent personal danger.
The Late Show is another superb police procedural by Michael Connelly, with an interesting new character in Renee Ballard, who shares the same rogue cop traits with another Connelly character, Harry Bosch.
Monday, July 24, 2017
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