Part of Harry Bosch, book 15
First published 1994
Detective Harry Bosch has three years left before mandatory retirement from the LAPD. He craves cases now more than ever. One morning delivers two puzzles that will consume him. DNA evidence from a 1989 rape and murder points to a 29-year-old convicted rapist. The math creates an impossible scenario: either an eight-year-old committed murder, or the Regional Crime Lab made a catastrophic error that threatens every DNA case in the courts. The second case takes Bosch to the Chateau Marmont, where Councilman Irvin Irving's son has fallen from a window. Irving, Bosch's old enemy, specifically requests Harry for the investigation. As Bosch digs deeper into both mysteries, he uncovers disturbing truths. A serial killer may have operated in Los Angeles for thirty years without detection. Meanwhile, a political conspiracy reaches back into the LAPD's corrupt past, threatening to destroy careers and cover up decades of wrongdoing.
Genres: mystery, crime, detective, political-thriller
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, investigation
Setting: Chateau Marmont, Los Angeles, LAPD
Period: 1989, 30 years
388 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company
Content warnings: murder, violence