The Burning Room

The Burning Room by Michael Connelly

Review by Gerti

 

Former reporter turned crime writer Michael Connelly is one of my favorite authors, and I could hardly wait to get my hands on “The Burning Room.” The only disappointment I felt when it was over, was that it was over, and I had no more Connelly to read! Don’t worry about me, though. I’m already halfway into one of his old books!

In this book, LAPD cold case detective Harry Bosch (hurrah!) is on the case of a man who died 10 years after being shot. He was Orlando Merced, a musician performing in Mariachi plaza in LA a decade before with his band, looking for work, when a bullet pierced his spine. The crime was always considered a gang drive-by gone bad, and Merced was paraded around by a political candidate to show how out-of-control LA crime had become. But Bosch and his new partner, Lucia Soto, soon realize that another band member was actually the intended victim, and that the murder weapon was a hunting rifle, which puts an entirely different spin on the investigation.

As always, Bosch is hampered in his efforts to find the truth by the political workings both inside and outside the police department, but now he has to even question the commitment of his partner, a young Hispanic woman who appears to be lying to him about where she is spending her time, and which case she’s really working on. When confronted, Lucy reveals that she was the victim of a neighborhood building fire as a child, and is hoping to find out who set the Bonnie Brae fire, which killed several of her childhood friends. Bosch agrees to help her, and soon realizes that that case is related to that of the Mariachi musician, as well as to a bank robbery down the street.

In typical style, Connelly weaves a brilliantly complicated story, filled with interconnected plotlines which make it real thrill when everything comes together at the end. For long-time Bosch fans, an FBI agent and former love interest of Bosch’s even puts in a guest appearance, and we get to see Bosch’s daughter working toward her own career in law enforcement. Can you say “passing the torch?” Connelly has thankfully even gotten over his young writer’s habit of making Bosch sleep with someone in every novel. Here Bosch resists getting back into a relationship with the coroner, and starts seeing a female crime reporter. It will be a sad day for Connelly readers when Harry Bosch decide to retire from the force! At this point, as long as Connelly keeps writing, I’ll be there, excited to read the next installment!