Connelly,Michael.Trunk Music. St.Martin's Press:New York, 1998.
Crime thrillers that take their time to unwind may not be racy or gripping page turners...but they slowly grow one and even if they require days of reading, one keeps on because the unravelling of the mystery becomes as much of a necessity as the clearing of cobwebs in a stacked up garage. You like to see everything sparkling clean at the end of what seemed a chore.
Detective Harry Bosch returns to his job after a brief period of untouchability in his department. The file he is assigned investigates the death of a man found in the trunk of a car parked in the view of thousands of people gathered for a Philharmonic concert at the Bowl in Hollywood. It is a case of 'trunk music' - a 'wise guy saying outta Chicage...when they whack some poor slob'. The connection is not really hard to make and the curiosity begins there for the reader.
Bosch must solve this not just to regain his confidence as a detective, but also his self-esteem and dignity as a human being. He solves the crime with determined perseverance. What I liked about the book is that Bosch comes out as a detective with a heart, who finds in Eleanor Wish, another convicted cop, a woman of substance.
Connelly is brilliant at the tying up of knots of the hundreds of loose ends. Momens of dullness are interspresed with moments of brilliance.
Crime thrillers that take their time to unwind may not be racy or gripping page turners...but they slowly grow one and even if they require days of reading, one keeps on because the unravelling of the mystery becomes as much of a necessity as the clearing of cobwebs in a stacked up garage. You like to see everything sparkling clean at the end of what seemed a chore.
Detective Harry Bosch returns to his job after a brief period of untouchability in his department. The file he is assigned investigates the death of a man found in the trunk of a car parked in the view of thousands of people gathered for a Philharmonic concert at the Bowl in Hollywood. It is a case of 'trunk music' - a 'wise guy saying outta Chicage...when they whack some poor slob'. The connection is not really hard to make and the curiosity begins there for the reader.
Bosch must solve this not just to regain his confidence as a detective, but also his self-esteem and dignity as a human being. He solves the crime with determined perseverance. What I liked about the book is that Bosch comes out as a detective with a heart, who finds in Eleanor Wish, another convicted cop, a woman of substance.
Connelly is brilliant at the tying up of knots of the hundreds of loose ends. Momens of dullness are interspresed with moments of brilliance.
That is one reason why I persisted with the novel.