[Cross-posted to Knite Writes](view spoiler)[PlotHaving finally returned to the homicide table after his involuntary stress leave in The Last Coyote, Harry Bosch is ready to tackle his first real case in months. And it comes quickly: a cop named Powers discovers a body in the trunk of a Rolls Royce off Mulholland Driver. A man shot twice in the back of the head and stuffed in a trunk, a mob-type execution style called “trunk music.”Harry, his partner Edgar, and Kizmin Rider, a young and promising black female detective new to Hollywood Division, head to the crime scene and start putting the pieces together. The victim is one Tony Aliso, a producer of close-to-pornographic trash films, who takes regular trips to Vegas for poker. Aliso’s last trip to Vegas was right before his death, and the trio suspect that someone from the mob in Vegas might have followed the man home and murdered him.Why would the mob kill him? Well, Rider, using Aliso’s financial records, discovers two things: 1) Aliso was laundering mob money, and most of his “film” profits were actually his cut from that business, and 2) someone recently tipped off the IRS to Aliso’s dealings, and he was due for an Audit. Very soon.After talking to Aliso’s wife gets them nowhere, Harry decides to check out Vegas to see if he can trace Aliso’s last days alive. He ends up at a strip club where Alio’s stripper lover, Layla, worked, and he has a confrontation with the owner, Luke Goshen, and his bouncer/bodyguard. Goshen is a member of the mob and works for a man dubbed “Joey Marks,” for whom Aliso was laundering money.While in Vegas, Harry also happens to run into an old flame: Eleanor Wish from The Black Echo, who has since been released from prison. Harry regrets how their relationship ended, but he’s surprised to find she feels the same way, and they begin to rekindle their lost love.Then Harry gets a break in the case: some fingerprints found on Aliso’s body turn out to be Luke Goshen’s, and with the Vegas police on his side, he raids Goshen’s home. During the raid, he finds a .22 caliber gun, which is the type of weapon used to murder Aliso, but Harry finds it rather odd that Goshen would be stupid enough to leave the weapon in his house. Regardless, the cops bring him in, and Harry leaves for LA to set up the next stage of the investigation.Once the .22 caliber is confirmed to be the murder weapon, Harry and Edgar head back to Vegas to extradite Aliso to LA. Unfortunately, Harry discovers that Eleanor is missing, and a meeting with Joey Marks confirms his worst fears: she’s been kidnapped as leverage against him. Of course, Harry, being Harry, quickly threatens the location of the safe house out of Goshen, and with Edgar’s help, he rescues Eleanor. He sends her to LA for safety, and Goshen is successfully extradited……only for it to quickly come out that Goshen is, in fact, a federal agent who’s been in deep cover for years. The police brass try to pin BS charges on Bosch, claiming he must have planted the gun found at Goshen’s house. They also try to squash the investigation into Aliso’s murder. Harry, furious, continues the investigation off the books, with the support of Rider, Edgar, and, surprisingly, Billets. Who proves that, unlike the late Harvey Pounds, she actually cares about justice.Harry scraps the entire investigation and starts over from scratch, realizing that the mob trail in Vegas was a clever setup. He rounds back on Aliso’s wife, Veronica, and discovers that she was once a stripper in Vegas and knew Joey Marks. Meaning there was no way on Earth she didn’t know about her husband’s money laundering. The truth comes together: fed up with her husband’s philandering, Veronica decided to off him and pin the blame on the Vegas mob. But, one question remains: who helped her?Harry, in a stroke of brilliance, sets a trap to find out. After canvassing Mulholland Drive, he finds the place where Aliso was ambushed before he was killed, and he locates some of the items missing from the Rolls: a box of videos and a suit bag tossed into the woods. After this discovery, he casually mentions to Veronica in another “interview” that Aliso was carrying a million dollars on his way back from Vegas, double what was in the briefcase that was stolen from him the night he was murdered, and that much of it was stored in his suit bag.Harry, Rider, and Edgar lie in wait near the bag, and lo and behold, who shows up to snag it…but Powers, the cop who “found” Aliso’s body. They arrest him, and the rest of the pieces fall into place: Veronica and Powers were having an affair, and Veronica concocted a scheme to off her husband and make her and Powers both rich. However, Veronica also had a backup plan in case anyone caught onto the plot — she plants the $480,000 from Aliso’s suitcase in Powers’ attic in an attempt to make him look like the mastermind.When Harry tells Powers that Veronica is setting him up to take the fall, Powers reveals the entire plan was Veronica’s. And then, using a clever ruse, he escapes from lockup and tries to track down Veronica, who has vanished. The ensuing chase brings everyone back to Vegas one last time. Veronica, who knows her husband skimmed about $2 million from Marks, tries to retrieve it and flee. But she’s captured by Marks, who tries to force her to get him the money back. The Vegas and LA police, plus the FBI, show up at the bank where the money should be and stake it out until Marks arrives — but right after he does, Powers reveals himself and shoots everyone he can get his hands on, including Veronica. He’s then summarily shot to death by the police.In the end, Harry and friends find that the $2 million is gone — and Harry realizes it must be with Layla, who’s been missing since Aliso was killed. He also realizes that Layla is Veronica’s daughter (but not Aliso’s), abandoned in Vegas by an irresponsible mother years ago. The reason Veronica finally snapped and killed Aliso was because she saw her daughter with him in the pictures taken by Powers when she had the cop tail him in Vegas.In the end, the charges against Harry are dropped, he finally reconciles with Eleanor Wish (and they get married!), and the case is solved.Oh, and Eleanor and Harry happen to randomly run into Layla in Hawaii — but Harry lets her go.The End.Cue sequel.____ (hide spoiler)]
What might not have caught the attention of someone not receptive to music, caught Bosch's ear. It's these details that keep me coming back to this series. Take this first sentence. I can see and I can hear and I'm hooked. "AS HE DROVE along Mulholland Drive toward the Cahuenga Pass, Bosch began to hear the music. It came to him in fragments of strings and errant horn sequences, echoing off the brown summer-dried hills and blurred by the white noise of traffic carrying up from the Hollywood Freeway. Nothing he could identify. All he knew was that he was heading toward its source."The source though pleasant to listen too is not the reason Bosch is on scene. The property is L.A.F.D. Fire Control. Bosch parks his Caprice and has to walk the fire road towards the crime and the music. What's he hearing? "Sheherazade" is being played by The L.A. Philharmonic at The Hollywood Bowl. Crime scene - White Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, one white male in the trunk, dead from gunshots. And so begins another case. Eleanor Wish, the FBI agent sent to prison in "The Black Echo" shows up again in this book. I'm glad to see her as I like her character and she does seem a good match for Bosch. Lots of the old gang are on hand but a few new characters are introduced. My favorite is Detective Kizmin 'Kiz' Rider. Smart, young, up and comer, she is certain to challenge the mostly male department. Bosch can see her potential. Bureau Commander Lieutenant Grace Billets is Bosch's direct supervisor this go round and she is an excellent edition to the cast. I've got to read carefully and make notes or I soon forget small points of detail. I almost overlooked a quick statement by Bosch that he dislikes cats. Bosch remembers Lawyers, Guns and Money by Warren Zevon as "an anthem among the uniforms back when he had worked patrol.". He mentions some restaurant that I wanted to look up to see if it's a real place. Can't find it now. I'll pay better attention next time .The more I learn about Bosch, the more I'm curious about the author. There's lots of interviews with Connelly and just like with Bosch, you've got to dig a bit to find out what you want to know. In one interview Connelly mentions that Bosch continues to be an interesting character to write and that he continues to learn things about him. He looks at a scenario and thinks "What would Harry do?" I imagine the series will continue to entertain as long as Connelly can keep this interest. Connelly also mentions that the truth of some real cases won't translate well to his fiction as his readers would never believe what really happened. Still, many are based on a real life case. He's hopeful for LA but feels it's beautiful place "but it can't get itself together". Both Bosch and Connelly are fascinating men. It's difficult not to judge each of the series against each other consequently my 3 star rating. Don't let this put you off. I liked the story but it is not my favorite thus far. I'm definitely in for number six.
What do You think about Trunk Music (2006)?
‘Trunk Music’ = Mob Hit, I didn't know that. This is #5 in the Bosch series and Harry is back in full force after being forced into involuntary leave. A producer has been killed and stuffed in a trunk. Harry’s team is on it. We have some new characters to read about. Jerry Edgar and Kizman Rider. I like these two so far. Rider seems to be drawn up as a temp detective and might be moving on to bigger and better things but I hope she decides to stay. Edgar is a man, what can I say. Your typical masochistic and competitive male. However, he becomes loyal to Bosch so I think he will do. We don’t get into the specifics of their personal lives so I can’t say why I like them, only that they are good detectives. Grace Billets is Harry’s new boss. She is tough and supports Bosch throughout. Even when Harry’s job is on the line again. CIA, FBI, and IA have once again attacked Bosch’s credibility, saying he has planted evidence. Round and round they go. I love these pissing contests between Bosch and these guys. When Bosch FINALLY comes out on top, I whooped for joy so loud, my dog even got excited! Bosch’s old fame is in the story. Eleanor Wish, an ex-FBI who has served her time and with no support, has become a pro player, earning her living on cards. She is connected somehow but not so much that it hinders Harry’s investigation. In fact, she is helpful and the flame is reignited. I had my doubts about her but will most likely pick up the next book to see how the relationship continues if it does. I’m glad Harry has someone in his life once again. He’s had some pretty rough times between the earthquake destroying his home, relationships and his job. He really needed this break in the series as well as a good solve. The story, theme and dialogue were fantastic. Lots of clues to decipher and many twists and turns, even a big fat red herring which I saw coming, eventually. Throw in some back-stabbing, blackmail, corrupt cops and you've got a roller coaster of emotions to work through while reading this. The blurbs mentioned Harry keeping his friends close, his enemies closer. If it had turned out any different, I might not have considered reading the next in the series. Oh yes, I will read the next book now.
—Freda Malone
I pulled a late nighter to finish this 5th in the series of Detective Harry Bosch - it was gripping and a page turner. Harry is back from his suspension (book #4), and his 1st call is out near the Hollywood Bowl where a body of a sleazy Hollywood producer named Tony Aliso is found in the trunk of a Rolls Royce. It looks like a mafia hit which is called "trunk music". Harry and his two partners, Jerry Edgar and Kizmin Rider, investigate the death. As usual Bosch is in trouble with his superiors for not following protocol. Their search for the murderer takes them several times from Los Angeles to Las Vegas where it seems Tony was involved in money laundering for the mob.In Las Vegas Bosch is reunited with "his true love", a former FBI agent and convicted felon which Bosch helped put in prison (book #1). Eleanor Wish is happy to see Harry and they renew their relationship. The brass have rules on this and Harry is in trouble once more. But soon Bosch is being investigated himself for allegedly planting a gun in the home of who they think is the murderer. Of course, all is not as it seems and there is a lot of twists and turns that keep you reading late into the night. The ending is a surprise.For me Connelly delivers a riveting, fast-paced police procedural and thriller. Highly recommended.
—Dyana
The bad boy of the LAPD, Hollywood Division, is back on the job in this fifth entry in the Harry Bosch series. We last met Harry in The Last Coyote. He had endured an earthquake that made his house uninhabitable - although he continued to live in it - and he was again under suspicion of having committed grave crimes. After his innocence was proved, he was forced to take leave to recover from stress-related issues. He's now completed that leave and returned to work full time.He's back at work and with a new and more sympathetic boss, Lieutenant Billets (known, of course, as "Bullets"), but he hasn't had any murder cases. Until now.It begins with the body of a man, a low level Hollywood film producer, found in the trunk of a Rolls-Royce on the hills above the Hollywood Bowl. He had been shot twice in the head at close range and the murder bore all the signs of a Mafia hit - "trunk music" in the local parlance. Harry and his team of Jerry Edgar and a new detective called Kiz begin working the case and determine that the victim had spent a lot of time in Las Vegas and was a gambler which gives some validation to the idea that his murder might have been related to organized crime.The organized crime angle is the one they pursue at first, which is a good excuse to send Harry to Las Vegas and give us a glimpse of that glitzy world. Harry follows up leads but begins to feel antsy about it all. He intuits that there is a piece missing from the puzzle, but he can't lay his hands on it.While in Vegas, he runs into an old girlfriend, Eleanor Wise, the former FBI agent that he had been involved with a few books back. She had gone to prison for crimes related to that case, but now she's out after serving three years, and she's making her way in the world by playing poker. She and Harry are still attracted to each other and basically pick up where they left off. But back to the case, Harry begins to see a tangle of corruption and collusion involving the police in Vegas and one of the top crime figures in the city, and it seems that his victim back in LA was somehow involved with these figures, but how? What exactly is the connection?And what about the not so grieving widow? The records of the gated community where she lives show that she was at home on the night that her husband was killed on his way home from Las Vegas, but can those records really be trusted? Her husband was cheating on her in Las Vegas and she seems to have known about it and she appears to be the one who would most benefit from the man's death.Or would that be the girlfriend, a very young woman who was a dancer at a strip club in Vegas and went by the name of Layla. Harry attempts to locate her but without any success.Then everything goes pear-shaped when it turns out that there is an FBI undercover operation investigating the same people who are of interest to Harry and the two get all tangled up together. Guess who comes out on the losing end?Back in Los Angeles, Harry finds he's now the one being investigated and he's been pulled off the case. But when did being removed from a case ever stop Harry from investigating? Solving murders is his calling. It's in his blood and once he's on the case, the only way to really remove him is with a bullet.This case turns out to be even more complicated than it at first appeared, but we can be sure that, after clearing out all the misdirections, Harry will get his man. Or woman.It struck me as I was reading that the character of Harry Bosch has evolved and grown. He seems more mature, more responsible in this adventure. Of course, he's never going to resolve his issues with the Internal Affairs Division - the "squints." They are always going to be looking over the shoulder of the bad boy of the LAPD, Hollywood Division.
—Dorothy
