The Black Box
A Harry Bosch Mystery
Michael Connelly
Little, Brown and Company 2012
The Black Box is Michael Connelly’s twenty-fifth mystery novel. Detective Harry Bosch is still in fine form. This time around Bosch reopens a case that slipped through his fingers some twenty years ago. At the same time, a complaint has been lodged against him and he is under investigation. Connelly’s many fans will not be disappointed in his latest installment but The Black Box is a little too by the numbers. Kindle: The Black Box (A Harry Bosch Novel Book 16)
The last few Harry Boch mysteries have not been as dark as the early ones. Bosh is getting older, he now has a daughter to take care of, and he is nearing retirement and working cold cases that interest him.
This time it is a murder that took place during the 1992 L.A riots. Bosch only had a few minutes to examine the crime scene of a murdered foreign journalist before being moved on to the next one. Twenty years later, he wants to find out who killed that journalist.
The Black Box is good stuff but it does not have the angst usually associated with the series. If I were to introduce someone to this series or author, I would certainly not choose this mystery.
The ending is much more like that of a TV mystery of the week than a serious crime novel.