Dark Sacred Night, Michael Connelly 2018

Connelly has done it again!  This is a smart, well written page turner featuring one of my favorite detectives of all time and reintroducing a new detective from his last novel.  Harry Bosch, formerly of the LAPD and now a part-timer with the San Fernando PD, teams up with Renee Ballard, LAPD detective who has been busted to the night squad in Hollywood after making the courageous but career-ruining decision to accuse her lieutenant of sexual improprieties, to solve a series of crimes that interweave cleverly and credibly.  The main story has Ballard joining Bosch to catch the murderer of a teen age runaway that happened nine years ago, but along the way, they get involved in another cold case, a gang murder from even longer ago, that almost results in Bosch’s murder.   Several additional crimes occupy Ballard in her routine night duties, each of which gives Connelly the opportunity to provide the reader with fascinating insights into the details of police work. The duo of Ballard and Bosch is a winner.  At 433 pages, this is not a quick read, but the action never flags nor did my attention.  The only criticism is that this is not a good book for bedtime reading—-way too intense.  Already looking forward to Connelly’s next book!