The Night Fire: A Ballard and Bosch Thriller (Ballard & Bosch 2)

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Then the side of her head exploded in blood and tissue before Ballard even heard the shot come from a distance." Haller played the part beginning at the twenty-minute mark, where Herstadt seemed to shut down physically and mentally. He sat frozen, catatonic, staring down at the table. He didn’t respond to multiple questions from Gustafson, and the detective soon realized that something was wrong. Bosch teams up with Ballard to try and figure out what really happened—was it really just a drug deal gone wrong? Meanwhile, Ballard wants to stay on a case she was the first to respond to—a young, homeless man burned to death in his tent on the street—but it turns out there was more to this man than anyone realizes. But to get involved means tangling with her former supervisor, with whom she has a bad history. Ballard tells Bosch that Laurie Lee Wells had a part on "an HBO show about a hit man who wants to be an actor." That's Barry (although Wells is a fictional character).

Ballard is a great character, however, she’s one that works best without Bosch in my opinion. I found the cases she was involved in much more readable and enjoyable than the father/daughter interactions with Bosch – which became repetitive and dull. Your Honor, where is he going with this?” she asked. “This is beyond the scope of my cross-examination.”

The plot, as usual, is great--you can always count on Connelly for gripping cases that are timely and interesting. He manages to do this even as our two heroes are solving a cold case: quite a feat. I'm always astonished at how Connelly can somehow have Bosch and Ballard juggle two, three, four cases at time and somehow it all works. I always think I'll be confused and lost among the plot points, yet it always comes together. Meanwhile, Ballard, working the Late Shift, finds herself on the scene where a homeless man died while in his tent overnight. Investigators are sure it’s arson and the case is transferred to Ballard’s nemesis and former Captain, Olivas. Ballard however, doesn’t want to let it go. For Ballard, perhaps the time is right to fight for what she wants. Connelly gives us a masterclass in keeping things straight. He alternates chapters between Bosch and Ballard, with each case typifying in different ways the textures of society and class, and police protocols and procedures, for good and ill, in LA. Homelessness, abuse, drug-taking and the inequities of the flawed justice system are treated with weight and seriousness. Yet Connelly is an entertainer. He writes great one liners and zippy conversations, all with a light hand. Coincidence and accident play their part, as well as, just like real life, the shadow of the past. It turns out that what matters most is the identity of the young man murdered decades ago. The investigation is enshrined in the stolen Murder Book and casts Bosch’s mentor in a new and unforgiving light.

After the death of Harry Bosch’s mentor, his wife gives Bosch a murder book that has been in her husband’s possession for years. Bosch seeks Ballard’s assistance in looking into the 20 year old murder case as she is on the LAPD staff and he is not. The big question, however, is why did his mentor have this in his possession? Was it to solve the case or to hide the murder book so no one else would take an interest? There is something about Nordic based mysteries that just draw me in. There always seems to be an underlying darkness. The ones I’ve read always have flawed police detectives whose lives seem lonely and a bit sad and this book is no exception with one difference, one of our detectives is retired.Ballard pointed. The division was divided into thirty-five geographic zones called reporting districts and these were in turn covered by seven basic car areas. At any given time there was a patrol in each car area, with other cars belonging to supervisors like Sergeant Dvorek, who had divsion-wide patrol responsibilities.