My year-long binge-read through the Harry Bosch novels has underlined the impressiveness of Michael Connelly’s feat. Recently I posted my thoughts on the latest Jack Reacher thriller, Make Me, and lamented Lee Child’s recent inability to maintain the series’ momentum. There’s a staleness to the latter Reacher novels that is non-existent in the Bosch novels. I put this down to Connelly’s willingness to write outside Bosch’s sphere; the Mickey Haller novels allowed him to flex different creative muscles and therefore return to Bosch in rejuvenated spirits. Child, meanwhile, has remained with Reacher; unabated for twenty-one novels.

Of course, the Bosch novels are inherently procedurals, and there is a degree of uniformity with each instalment. But Connelly has a wonderful ability to play within the confines of the genre and keep things fresh. For example, The Drop sees Harry assigned to the Open-Unsolved unit. By having his protagonist working cold cases, Connelly reveals a different side of police work; and in this novel especially, he deftly weaves Harry between a politically-sensitive and current case, and a two-decades-old cold case.

The current case – designated as imperative due to the personnel involved – sees Bosch charged with the investigation into George Irving’s fatal fall from his seventh-story room at the Chateau Marmont. If that name rings a bell, you’re clearly familiar with Harry Bosch continuity; George’s father is city councilman Irvin Irving, the ex-deputy police chief whom featured prominently in Connelly’s early novels as one of Bosch’s primary foes. George’s death looks like suicide, but the councilman is adamant foul play was involved; his son was murdered. And despite their chequered past, Irving knows Bosch will discern the truth; he is familiar with Harry’s mantra: everybody counts, or nobody counts.

The cold case involves DNA evidence from a 1989 rape and murder, which is linked conclusively to Clayton Pell, a known predator with a long history of sex crimes. He’s served time for similar crimes, and he’s an entirely plausible suspect. Cased closed, right? A slam dunk. Only, Pell was just eight years old when the victim was slain. Something is amiss, and Harry won’t stop until he finds the true culprit.

Connelly weaves Bosch between these two cases with great skill, building momentum in both, and leading readers to a stunning climax, underlining once again that Connelly’s the master of the final gut-wrenching twist. The Drop is one of Harry Bosch’s finest hours.

ISBN: 9781925267297
Format: Paperback
Pages: 432
Imprint: Allen & Unwin
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Publish Date: 1-Mar-2015
Country of Publication: Australia