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“Donovan paced around, waiting for the coroner’s tech to finish so he could continue the laser show. He walked over to Bosch.

‘Harry, you want the swag on this?��

‘S�ɲ���?��

‘Scientific wild ass guess.��

‘Y�𲹳�,�� Bosch said, amused. ‘Give me the swag.����

Bosch is investigating how and why a guy has ended up dead in the trunk (boot) of a car that’s parked off the road, and he’s got two bullets in his head. But there’s not much blood there, so where is it?

To complicate matters, where the car was parked meant that people who were attending the concert in the Hollywood Bowl down the hill could actually see the car.

Block the car from view - nothing to see here �� just move the whole car, body and all, on a flatbed and shift the car crime scene to a more private location.

Now the body is back with the coroner, and they’re starting to find fingerprints on the guy’s leather-like jacket, and a footprint as well. Somebody got in the back and stepped on clothing to do the deed.

��‘Trunk music.��

‘W�󲹳�?��

‘It’s a wise guy saying outta Chicago. You know, when they whack some poor slob they say, “Oh, Tony? Don’t worry about Tony. He’s trunk music now. You won’t see him no more.��

Keeping company with Bosch is a health issue �� his smoking is out of control, but at least he isn’t drinking as much as a lot of fictional detectives. I like him. He’s not particularly likeable, but he’s very human. He has a real soft spot for the women he’s known, and in this book, he meets up with an old flame who had become an enemy.

The plot keeps moving, but I found it slower in the middle for a while as he goes back and forth in L.A. between victim Tony’s home, trashy studio, fancy house and model wife. He has to get a gate pass to even interview the wife.

“Walls and gates, guardhouses and private security forces were the secret ingredients of the so-called melting pot of southern California.��

Then it’s back and forth to Las Vegas, where Tony spent a lot of time and money in the casinos. Money-laundering? Drugs? Bosch is getting in deep and his badge isn’t going to help him.

His private life is always part of the stories. He is finally able to fix his earthquake damaged house and try to create something of a home. But his lady love is still sending postcards from Italy, just saying hello, not wish you were here. Poor old fella. (There is that old flame, of course.)

There’s a lot of police politics, a new lieutenant (we like her), conflict with other departments (we don’t like them), and constant jockeying for position. Bosch is in the bad books once too often, which never stops him, of course.

Something I enjoy is that we learn things only when Bosch does. We view people and scenes through his eyes. He was caught completely off-guard in this one (as were we) when he discovers who the real players are and are not.

I prefer to read these in order, but Connelly fills in enough details that you’ve got a good picture of how Bosch got where he is. There are plenty of thrills �� it’s not all police procedure and home renovations. He gives a brief backstory about Vietnam, and we see what triggers Bosch on the job.

“The light began advancing, its holder stumbling once as he or she went toward George’s home. A few moments later, Bosch saw the beam moving behind the blue plastic. He felt another charge of adrenaline begin to course through his body. Again, his mind flashed on Vietnam. This time it was the tunnels that he thought of. Coming upon an enemy in the darkness. The fear and thrill of it. It was only after he had left that place safely that he acknowledged to himself there had been a thrill to it. And in looking to replace that thrill, he had joined the cops. ��

I heard Michael Connelly interviewed today about AI using his work to create ‘fake�� Bosch stories. He is part of the big class action to protect authors�� rights, and I wish them all success.

Meanwhile, I’ll enjoy the real Bosch!

These are my reviews of the first four books.

(#1) My review of The Black Echo

(#2) My review of The Black Ice

(#3) My review of The Concrete Blonde

(#4) My review of The Last Coyote