Bosch, a blonde and a bald guy (The Concrete Blonde - Michael Connelly)

Member Name: Tracy_1127

Product:	The Concrete Blonde - Michael Connelly
Date:	13/04/09 (74 review reads)
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I rather like Michael Connelly's Detective Harry Bosch novels so when I saw a copy of The Concrete Blonde selling for a £1 recently in a local book shop I bought it. I've read several of the Bosch series but mostly out of sequence and I think this is one of the early ones.

The storyline revolves around Bosch being sued for shooting dead a man named Norman Church. A few years before the courtcase a serial killer dubbed "The Dollmaker" was killing prostitutes and porn stars and then making them up with their own make up afterwards. Bosch received information from a prostitute that she had just been in The Dollmaker's flat and Bosch decided to check it out, but he didn't take any back up with him.

When Bosch bursts into the flat worried another victim has already arrived he finds Norman Church naked and standing by the bed. Bosch instructs him not to move twice but Norman Church still reaches under the pillow of the bed so Bosch shoots him. Turns out Church was just reaching for his toupee but it's too late once Bosch realises he wasn't reaching for a gun, Church is dead.

A search of the flat reveals items of make up from some of the victims but not for all of them. The LAPD are certain this is indeed The Dollmaker but Church's wife is certain he wasn't and takes the LAPD, via Bosch, to court for the shooting.

This is where the story really starts. The courtcase is well under way with Bosch having a useless lawyer and Church's widow having the best money can buy when a letter is delivered to the station addressed to Bosch. It's from The Dollmaker and gives the location of another body, she's buried in concrete under a building.

Confused and beginning to doubt himself Bosch and some other officers find the body and confirm it has all the markings of The Dollmaker but how since he's been dead for 4 years but this body hasn't. Bosch has to establish quickly whether this is the actual Dollmaker and he shot the wrong man or if they have a copycat on their hands.

The character of Harry Bosch is described on the back of the book as a maverick and that's exactly what he is. Constantly in trouble with his superiors for not following strict rules and doing his own thing, for example going into Church's flat without back up, he is often reprimanded. He has a real nose for uncovering the truth and will stop at nothing to reveal it. He's a withdrawn kind of guy who is unlucky in love but during this book has a girlfriend called Sylvia, however he's having problems discussing his past with her and details about his life come out in court that she wasn't aware of and thinks he should have told her himself.

Jerry Edgar is Bosch's partner and there are complications there as well, Bosch just doesn't seem to be able to maintain any relationship.

The character of Bosch is thoroughly likeable and you really want him to be right. He is portrayed very well as secretive which is no mean feat considering this is a book and he is the main character so the author could easily have gone too far and had him saying very little at all! His romance has all the signs of being awkward right from the word go and this is typical of Bosch. He has a rather accepting attitude when it comes to his personal life and he almost expects it to go wrong but as a detective he's anything but accepting.

The pace of the book is consistently quick, the evidence mounts up and Bosch tries his best to solve the case as well as attend court. Some of the courtroom scenes could easily have become boring but Connelly manages to inject alot of description into them which holds the readers interest. The journey of solving the case is both informative and entertaining with several wrong turns along the way and I think I guessed the ending about three quarters of the way through the book.

If you like crime novels Michael Connelly's Bosch novels are well worth a read. Yes he's a typical unlucky in love detective but there's alot more to him than that and it makes him a really interesting character. There are always some twists and turns and of course Bosch getting a telling off for being so bull-headed and as far as these books go no character is safe or permanent except Bosch so you just never know what the author is going to do next.

Currently available from Amazon for £5.49 or Amazon Marketplace for £0.01 but if you search discount stores like me you could manage to get a copy for £1. Highly recommended.

Summary: Recommend all the Bosch books