The Closers

The Closers
by Michael Connelly
(MYS CONNELLY, MYS AD CONNELLY)

2007-2008 Tayshas Reading List


Detective Harry Bosch is hot on a case that went cold fifteen years before. Bosch is a detective in the Open-Unsolved, Cold Case, unit of the Los Angeles Police Department trying to right wrongs from decades before. In 1988, a 16 year old girl was taken out of her bed in the night and murdered. The case was never solved. When a DNA match comes through, Bosch and his partner take over the investigation.

"The chorus of forgotten voices," [the Police Chief] said.

"Excuse me, Chief?" [said Bosch]

"That's what I think about when I think of the cases down there in Open-Unsolved. It's a house of horrors. Our greatest shame. All those cases. All those voices. Every one of them is like a stone thrown into a lake. The ripples move out through time and people. Families, friends, neighbors. How can we call ourselves a city when there are so many ripples, when so many voices are forgotten by this department?"

Bosch is a likable character. Just back from a three-year retirement, he has the questioning uncertainty of a new recruit trying to learn departmental procedures plus a desire to prove himself. However, he also has the insight and instinct of experience to guide him in the investigation. The story drifts into police department politics just enough to make things interesting without weighing the story down. Bosch is like a dog on a scent when it comes to his cases and nothing distracts him. An all together fun read.