Two Cops Join Forces in DARK SACRED NIGHT

Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly is the latest police procedural novel in the series that features Detective Harry Bosch. Bosch is retired from the LAPD and now works at the small police department of San Fernando.

This time Bosch is teamed with another Connelly character, LAPD detective Renee Ballard. She works the night shift cases, dubbed the Late Show. Bosch and Ballard cross paths on a cold case involving the murder of a teenage girl by an unknown predator who may still be out there. The two cops agree to pool their efforts to find the killer.

At the same time, Bosch pursues his own murder case against a violent local gang. The case is fraught with danger. First, Bosch loses his key witness to a hit job. Then Bosch himself is kidnapped and set to be killed by the gang.

Meanwhile, Ballard is working her job as on-call night shift detective. She is called out on a house break-in, but little does she know that it may be linked with the cold case she is working with Bosch and bring her face to face with a serial murderer.

Dark Sacred Night is a riveting read that moves back and forth between the two main characters of Harry Bosch and Renee Ballard created by Michael Connelly, one of the best crime authors writing today.

TWO KINDS OF TRUTH a new Harry Bosch Case from Michael Connelly

Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly is new police procedural in the series that features former LAPD detective Harry Bosch. After being run out of the LAPD, Harry now works for the small city police force of San Fernando. He's a valuable addition with his long years of police experience.

Bosch is called into a new double homicide case, where a father and son team of pharmacists are coldly shot to death inside their store. It's soon apparent that the execution-style murders are about more than a random robbery. The investigation leads toward a prescription drug fraud operation with a ruthless and violent reach.

At the same time, an old LAPD case comes back to entangle Bosch. A murderer he once put in prison petitions for a new trial, based on newly discovered evidence that will show he is innocent, and that Bosch planted material to frame him. This new charge puts Harry's whole police record into question.

Bosch must find a way to show this accusation against him is baseless and the supposed new evidence is a fraud. Meanwhile, the pharmacy homicide case leads him to go undercover, where things go wrong in a deadly way.

Two Kinds of Truth is slowed at times by a complicated plot and stretches of background material and over-explanation. But it's still a solid read for fans of Michael Connelly and his obsessive, hard nosed detective, Harry Bosch.

THE LATE SHOW a New Police Thriller from Michael Connelly

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.

WRONG SIDE OF GOODBYE a New Harry Bosch Case

Former LAPD detective Harry Bosch is back in The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly. Bosch is now retired from the LAPD and working part time for the small police force of San Fernando. He also continues to take cases as a private investigator.

This new novel finds Bosch working simultaneously on two troubling cases. As a cop, he is pursuing a serial rapist, dubbed the Screen Cutter, who has staged a chain of local attacks on women inside their homes.

Harry is also hired by aged, frail billionaire Whitney Vance to search for a possible lost heir that Vance may have, an illegitimate child from a college affair. But with control of billions at stake in the Vance estate, Bosch is opposed by those around Vance who don't want any such heir suddenly found.

As Bosch digs deeper into both cases, the Vance matter turns threatening, and the Screen Cutter case leads to a violent confrontation. The Wrong Side of Goodbye is vintage Harry Bosch and another compulsively readable crime thriller from Michael Connelly.

Harry Bosch is Back in THE CROSSING by Michael Connelly

The Crossing by Michael Connelly sees popular character Harry Bosch return in a new police procedural mystery. Bosch is now retired as an LAPD detective. When defense attorney Mickey Haller asks Bosch to assist as an investigator in a homicide case, Bosch doesn't want to do it. He spent his whole police career putting such criminals behind bars. It would mean "crossing over" to help the other side if he works to free an accused defendant.

But Bosch does grudgingly agree to at least take a preliminary look at the murder case. The victim was a woman brutally beaten to death in her home. The accused suspect is a black former gang member, whose DNA was found at the scene.

The case looks solid until Bosch starts digging deeper. He doesn't like what he finds. Too many things don't fit. It looks like Haller's client may have been set up, possibly by someone inside the LAPD.

When new murders occur as Bosch keeps probing, things take a dangerous new turn. Someone unknown will keep killing to protect themselves and Harry Bosch is the next target on the list.

The Crossing is a riveting, outstanding read for mystery fans. Michael Connelly continues to deliver, book after book, the best novels in the police procedural genre.

THE BURNING ROOM by Michael Connelly a Top Crime Read

LAPD Detective Harry Bosch returns in The Burning Room, a new crime novel by Michael Connelly. Bosch is a hard nosed, tenacious murder cop in a highly popular continuing series of books by Connelly.

Bosch is now a veteran detective nearing retirement. He is currently assigned to the Open-Unsolved Unit that handles cold cases.

His new case involves a shooting victim who recently died from a bullet lodged in his body ten years earlier. As Bosch investigates, the original shooting may link to an earlier arson fire that took the lives of several children trapped in a smoke-filled room.

The novel's plot moves like a relentless machine as Bosch follows threads of old evidence that lead toward a powerful political figure who wants the case dropped permanently. But that's not how Bosch operates.

Another strong story element is the teaming of Bosch with a young new partner, Lucia Soto. It's a great combination as the energetic rookie detective Soto gains valuable learning from the hardened veteran Bosch.

The Burning Room is an outstanding crime read. Michael Connelly continues to be the best writer of police procedurals working today. Highly recommended.

BEACH RATING: 4 Palm Trees