In “The drop” Michael Connelly announces Detective Bosch’s (the lead character in many of Connelly’s mysteries) eventual retirement –and then slams him with two complicated cases. Simultaneously Bosch is forced to figure out how an eight-year-old (now a twenty-nine year old convicted sex offender) could be charged for raping and killing a grown up woman in a 1989 case, and in the present, whether the apparent suicide of Councilman Irving’s son—who fell to his death from a balcony during his stay at the infamous Chateau Marmont—is really all that it seems. As in the last couple of novels, Detective Bosch is paired with Detective Chu—and their shaky relationship bears its share of ups and downs. Not fully trusting his partner but determined to solve the cases, Bosch interviews Clayton Pell (the sex offender who was eight during his alleged involvement with the murdered woman)to find out why his DNA was found on the victim—only to fall in love with Pell’s social worker, who runs the halfway house where he stays. At the same time, Councilman Irving continues pressuring Bosch’s superiors to solve his son’s case. But Detective Bosch doesn’t like where the case is leading him. George Irving was a lawyer, who used his father’s standing in the city council, to lobby for his clients. And some of the methods used are questionable—such as tarnishing the reputation of Irving’s client’s competitors. Overall, this was a fast read for me. Even though there are two cases going on simultaneously, Connelly does a good job of switching between them at an appropriate pace and keeping the story going, without confusing the reader. Bosch is a strong character, who hates deception. Yet it is deception in particular, which accompanies both mysteries. I particularly liked a masquerade-like scene at the end of the book. If your only experience with Connelly is watching “The Lincoln Lawyer,” then is an interesting book to get started. Published by Little, Brown, and Company. November 28, 2011. 388 pages. List price $27.99
