The Closers by Michael Connelly

"In the hallway he punched the elevator button harder than he needed to.  He had too much excitement and energy and he understood this.  The chorus of forgotten voices.  The chief seemed to know the song they were singing.  And Bosch certainly did, too.  Most of his life had been spent listening to that song." (p 8)


I sometimes take a break from "serious" literature to read some genre fiction. After reading Julia Keller's review of Michael Connelly's most recent novel I decided to try one of his earlier works, The Closers, featuring Detective Harry Bosch.
I was not disappointed as the novel was tightly woven, suspenseful story of crime and detection. In it Detective Harry Bosch is brought out of retirement by a new chief of police and assigned to a new division called "Open-Unsolved"; basically a 'cold case' division that is known as "The Closers". They look into cases that have remained unsolved for many years, and are hoping to close the file after all these years. He is teamed with his old partner, Kiz Rider, and they have the DNA of a man connected to the murder, but quickly discover that there may be more to this case than there seems. It is a seventeen-year-old case whose twists and turns kept this reader turning the pages until the resolution almost four hundred pages later. The book is full of realistic details about police work and references to some of the changes in criminal law, particularly the impact of "hate crimes". The change in the science of detection with the advent of DNA and its' resulting ubiquity is also an important factor in the story. This was a delightful light read, and introduced my to an author to whom I plan to return for more enjoyment in the future.




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