Book Review: Echo Park by Michael Connelly (Harry Bosch #12)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Characters and plot

Cons: None

The Bottom Line:

A case from the past

Is it solved with confession?

Another great book

Does the Confession Solve the Cold Case?

I’ve missed Harry Bosch.  It’s been way too long since I was able to visit him via one of the books in the series, and I quickly remembered why I love these books so much as I fell under the spell of Echo Park.

Since Harry Bosch joined the open unsolved squad of the LAPD, he has been actively working on one of his own unsolved cases, that of a young woman who vanished thirteen years earlier.  He has a suspect, but it is just based on gut feeling.

Then he gets a surprising call.  A man who was recently arrested with dead bodies in his car has reached a plea deal to avoid the death penalty.  He’s going to confess to several other crimes, including Bosch’s cold case.  Is the confession credible?

 As I already said, it was great to be back with Bosch.  He’s a wonderful character, and once again author Michael Connelly does a fantastic job of bringing him to life.  Rachel Walling, an FBI agent who has been in some of Connelly’s non-Harry Bosch novels, appears in this one, and she is a great compliment to Bosch’s character.  There are other characters we’ve gotten to know in this book, and it’s wonderful to see them again.  Of course, we’ve got new characters, too, and I appreciated how vividly they came to life as well.

And the case?  Well, it wouldn’t be a Bosch case if it didn’t twist all over the place.  I knew to expect them but I was still surprised by what happened as the case unfolded.  Yet, each one was completely logical given what had come before and leads up to a fantastic climax.

Since this isn’t one of my typical cozies, there is more language, sex, and violence than I would normally read.  However, these elements are kept to a minimum and are never used gratuitously but always further the story or characters.

I did listen to the audio book.  The version I listened to was narrated by Len Cariou, who did a great job reading the book without getting in the way of the story.

There is a reason why Michael Connelly has so many fans, and I definitely count myself as one of them.  Echo Park is another outstanding book from a master of mystery.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Harry Bosch series.