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The Drop - Michael Connelly
This is the second Harry Bosch one I have read from this author and it was nice to meet him again. Harry seems to have changed a little since we last met. he now has his daughter living with him and he seems a bit more tired, angry and frustrated with crime and the politics in the department.
This is a two part story and manages to do justice to both. The first case that Harry and his partner (David Chu) are assigned to is one that has to do with cold case involving a young girl and a gruesome end. Some DNA evidence has come back and the detectives are not quite sure what to make of it at first. This part of the story gets Chu and Bosch on the trail of a serial offender and ends up with them uncovering some of the most heinous crimes either of them has even seen. It turns out that the evidence points towards someone who could not possibly have been the killer as he (Clayton) was only 8 years old at the time of the murder. This means that our detectives have to use some creative thinking to figure out what really happened and on how to interpret the evidence they find. Naturally Harry is the one who kind of figures it out and they find the bad guy... who proves to be a real piece of work nicknamed Chill. He is just that, a chilling individual with an overactive imagination and a lust for killing. It is kind of nice to see how Harry's opinions are tested when he meets Clayton first. Our Harry does not hold very high opinions of repeat offenders. However, as he learns of the work that is done he kind of seems to soften his opinion somewhat. It shows that Harry may be an old dog but that he might just be able to learn some new tricks. It may also be that his opinion is somewhat influenced by his falling for one of the therapists there. This is the part that the book does not really need. Harry and Hannah. The story would be able to stand up fine without it and if I remember correctly I found that to be the case with the other Harry Bosch one I read as well? The nice thing about this Clayton-Chill case is that there are not too many twists and turns in it. The boys investigate, probe and discover the truth. The sting in this one is in the end when Clayton Pell decides to take matters in his own hands.
The second case Harry and Chu get is one of an apparent suicide of a high profile councilman's son. This one is a bit more complicated and the one where the political games are being played. Harry gets called to the scene as a favour to a councilman that does not even like him. His son has committed suicide and the councilman wants to be sure that it what it was. Apparenty Harry is the man for the job as the councilman trusts him to do right by him even though Harry dislikes him. When Harry and Chu investigate this one they find a number of clues that seem to be going either way. They stumble upon some dodgy dealings with government contracts and a taxi firm as well as falling out as partners when Harry finds out Chu has been feeding info to the press. In the end they find that it was just a simple suicide after all. Once again it is shown that it is kind of difficult to do a proper investigation into a case if you have to have on hand tied behind your back and people keep things from you but our Harry gets it out of them and this case is out to bed as well. One little niggle that Harry now has to live with that one of his closest allies in the force turns out to be able to do politics as well as the next guy and we come away with the feeling that perhaps Harry has been played.
The fun thing about reading a much later Harry Bosch novel is that I can see that Harry has changed a bit. Like I said, he now has his daughter living with him (who is naturally interested in police work and will be a better him when she gets through police school.. and she will.. eventually). It is briefly mentioned why she now lives with him but it may be interesting to read a few books back to see when this happened as I get the feeling it has changed and re-set Harry's singleton life quite dramatically. Harry definitely seems to be more grumpy than I remember him, and more morose, frustrated and sombre. Though that could be because he knows he has only a few more years to go in the force. He is also really not getting on that well with his partner so it may be interesting to see where that goes.
I do like Connelly's style. He writes at a good pace and his story flows well. Harry hops and skips between the two cases and this manages to keep the tension for the reader focused and you never know what case he will be working on the next chapter. I liked the variation between the two cases and felt it kept things interesting.
By the way... the title refers to the drop of Clayton Pell's blood that is found on the belt that killed the girl in case number one, the body that dropped in the suicide and the fact that Harry gets his retirement, his DROP in a few years. Very clever Mr Connelly. Just leave out the love interest next time please... Thank You.
Title: The Drop
Author: Michael Connelly
418 pages
Orion
ISBN # 978-1-4091-3630-9
Books to be read: 152
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