Detective Harry Bosch seems to have accidentally shot the wrong serial killer four years ago, taking out the wrong guy instead of the evil Dollmaker. Now, the broken and grieving family of the accidentally shot serial killer is suing Harry, who was only acting with the best of intentions. And just to make things worse, another victim shows up: The Concrete Blonde. Talk about bad luck…
Twisting Police Investigation… and Courtroom Drama
From here on, Connelly’s novel takes two parallel paths: in one, the grieving family’s lawyer is squeezing Harry’s balls in the courtroom, and in the other, the police investigation into the new victim unfolds.
Michael Connelly, a master of the procedural crime novel (focused on the exact police procedures), is no stranger to thrilling twists, having been a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times for years. Both storylines are exciting and full of unexpected turns. For example, it wasn’t until page 209 that I figured out who the killer was, and Harry, a little behind, figured it out just a few pages later. Unfortunately, we were both wrong…
Harry Bosch is an experienced detective in the Los Angeles Police Department. Crime novel fans (and his furious superiors) know him not only for his peculiar methods but also for his relentless pursuit of justice. The Concrete Blonde adds an extra layer to the tension, as the morally steadfast detective begins to doubt himself. The realism (and, of course, the twists) of the courtroom events are guaranteed by Connelly’s other well-known and excellent series centered on Mickey Haller, who just so happens to be a defense attorney.
Draw the Killer in the Trap!
What slightly dampens the overall picture of The Concrete Blonde are the last 50 pages. (But of course, the ending is always the hardest part to nail in a crime novel.) The way Harry Bosch reaches the killer seems, for some reason, not to flow organically from the investigation.
On the other hand, luring the killer into a trap bears quite a resemblance to the TV show The Mentalist, which, let’s face it, is not exactly known for being the most elegant solution. But aside from that, the Harry Bosch series is still probably the best crime series you can read right now. (Especially after the Jack Reacher (see: Past Tense) and Harry Hole series (see: Knife), to put it mildly, have started to take a nosedive.)
If You Want to Read Great Crime Fiction…
In fact, not just recently but in general: for me, the American author has been an all-time favorite for over 15 years, ever since I accidentally picked up City of Bones. Connelly’s Bosch series truly belongs to that rare group of detective stories that are IMPOSSIBLE to put down.
And The Concrete Blonde even features a lovely romantic subplot carried over from the previous book.
(Harry Bosch seems to attract both complex murder cases and women with the same inevitability—as magnets attract paperclips.)
Rating: 8.5/10
The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch #3) by Michael Connelly
448 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2014 by Orion
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