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The Burning Room, a Riveting New Thriller by Michael Connelly
If King of the Police Procedural were an actual position, Michael Connelly would be crowned tomorrow. His books starring LAPD detective Harry Bosch are impossible to beat for smart plotting, crisp dialogue, and realistic “shoe leather” investigative work. To solve the case, his hero is just as likely to pull a file from archives as pull a Glock, the sort of realism Connelly’s millions of fans appreciate. And in his new book The Burning Room, Connelly shows us once again what makes him king. Here are five reasons anyone who receives this book will find it difficult to tear themselves away for holiday dinner.
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The strangest cold case ever
Confined to a wheelchair, street musician Orlando Merced dies from a bullet lodged in his spine—a bullet that was fired 10 years earlier. When the media mobs a press conference and the mayor offers a reward for information, Harry Bosch is called in to solve the high-profile case. The pressure is on in more ways than one: with his retirement just around the corner, Harry is determined to see justice done and also to pass on his legacy, his philosophy of what makes a good detective, to LAPD’s next generation.
The trail of clues
Of course, half the pleasure of reading a mystery is trying to solve the puzzle, and, nineteen books in, Connelly is still at the top of his game, laying out a truly byzantine trail of clues. Anonymous tips, real estate records, high-tech bullet forensics: it’s all here, and all satisfying.
The introduction of Lucia Soto, Harry’s new partner and protégé
This new relationship brings a welcome depth to the story. Lucia is a “celebrity” cop, one who owes her place on the Cold Case Squad to politics and PR rather than experience. In a nice twist, she turns out to be a competent and driven detective—and her reason for joining the force becomes one of the book’s most compelling storylines.
The hard-boiled detective at its heart
The biggest draw, as always, is Harry himself. Connelly once wrote that he wanted to create a character “whom readers would find impossible to love on all levels, who in fact was capable of doing things that the readers might find objectionable. But, at the end of the day, my guy would be the kind of detective [they] would want on the case if it was ever them lying on the stainless steel table in the morgue.” That flawed nature (“impossible to love on all levels”) is what makes Harry unique. He doesn’t get every piece right every time; he makes mistakes along the way, and those mistakes have real consequences. Fans of the series may recall an earlier book in which, annoyed by a pompous bureaucrat, Harry hands out the bureaucrat’s card at a mafia party—a prank with fatal consequences.
The killer dialogue
Though older and mellower in The Burning Room, Harry is still his own worst enemy, as seen in this exchange with a prosecutor:
“Did you get a warrant to search for those weapons?”
“Nope,” Bosch said. “We were invited to search by one of the current owners of the property.”
“Always bring a warrant. Come on, Detective. That’s basic.”
“But there wasn’t any doubt. That search was clean. Are you sure you went to Harvard?”
Boland’s face turned scarlet.
“Detective, you know what else is basic?” he managed to ask. “Not insulting the prosecutor you want to file your case.”
In the end, despite stepping on toes and antagonizing allies, Harry ties all the pieces together in a deft, satisfying resolution. Is this truly the end of the line for him, or will Connelly give us one last case? Readers can only hope they’ll see Harry again soon.
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