The Drop

January 30, 2012
In Connelly’s latest, Los Angeles police detective Harry Bosch has to deal with two puzzling cases. The first involves DNA evidence from a 20-year-old unsolved rape and murder that matches up with a convict who would have been just eight years old at the time of the crime. The second sees Bosch investigating the death of an influential and overbearing councilman’s son, while trying to avoid the police department’s internal politics. Len Cariou, who has narrated most of Connelly’s recent books, sounds more over-the-hill than appropriate for Bosch, despite the detective’s looming age-based forced retirement. Nonetheless, Cariou’s performance ably serves this compelling, fast-paced police procedural—even if his croaking voice takes a little getting used to. A Little, Brown hardcover.

Starred review from September 26, 2011
In Edgar-winner Connelly’s compulsively readable and deeply satisfying 17th Harry Bosch novel (after 2010’s The Reversal), Harry, still a member of the LAPD’s “Open-Unsolved Unit,” pursues two investigations. A recently unearthed DNA hit connects the 1989 murder of a young woman with Clayton Pell, a convicted sexual predator. But Pell couldn’t have committed the crime because he was eight years old at the time. Meanwhile, Irv Irving, a city councilman and LAPD nemesis, wants Harry to look into the apparent suicide of his 46-year-old son, George, a well-connected lobbyist. The case smacks of politics (“high jingo,” Harry calls it), but he and partner David Chu do a by-the-book investigation to determine whether George fell from the seventh floor of the Chateau Marmont or was pushed. All of Connelly’s considerable strengths are on display: the keen eye for detail and police procedure, lots of local L.A. color, clever plotting, and—most important—the vibrant presence of Harry Bosch.

Detective Harry Bosch is facing retirement, juggling two cases, getting to know a woman, and dealing with his teenage daughter. While the love interest doesn't add much, Connelly bounces deftly between the parallel cases, and narrator Len Cariou keeps pace. While his voices for the women aren't outstanding, he shines with the protagonist. A grizzled tone reflects the detective's mood. It is not overbearing yet is clear enough to let the listener get a good feel for Bosch's personality. Cariou also gives distinctive inflections to Bosch's Asian-American partner, a sought-after suspect, and a crime victim. Not-so-subtle foreshadowing suggests that Bosch will be around for a while longer. One hopes Cariou will come along for the ride. M.B. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine