Foul play fallouts

Connelly's having fun with his characters in this book.

Michael Connolly is best known for his books featuring police detective Harry Bosch. Over multiple stories, we’ve seen Bosch grow through his career and eventually retire, continuing to solve cases as a consultant. Probably to keep with the times, Connolly recently introduced the younger, edgier detective Renee Ballard, in his book The Late Show. Since then, the two characters have interacted, and in his latest offering, The Night Fire, Ballard and Bosch are partners in solving multiple crimes.

The title refers, alternately, to a case of a destitute vagrant dying in a fire accident in his tent, and also to the fire within the detective’s heart to bring criminals to book. When Ballard is assigned the case of the vagrant, she attributes the death to an overturned kerosene stove. But, it soon turns out that the stove was spill-proof, meaning that some foul play was involved in the death. Because Ballard works the night shift, she has to hand over her cases to the day shift folks after making an initial investigation. The case continues to nag at her, however, and she works on it on the side.

Dynamic duo

In the meantime, Bosch finds a case file, a so-called ‘murder book’ at the home of his recently deceased mentor, John Jack. Wanting to close the case in his mentor’s memory, he begins to investigate. The case was the shooting death of a young man in an alley and it was brushed off as a drug deal gone wrong — but what made John Jack take it aside and keep it at home?

There is a third case that Bosch is involved in — the murder of a judge in daylight. Here he’s an independent investigator, helping the defense of the accused. This brings Bosch into conflict with his erstwhile colleagues and even Ballard herself. Bosch makes peace with it — he sees his role as someone bringing out the truth, not just protecting a man on trial.

The three cases intersect in interesting ways as the story proceeds. Connolly does a brilliant job of creating, on the one hand, the typical life of a police detective who is juggling multiple investigations along with their personal life, and on the other, a cohesive storyline where threads begin to come together, leading to a larger tapestry of crime. There’s a smooth movement from the standard flow of the cases, to a rather over-the-top conspiracy with a Bollywood-ish villain at the heart of it.

Connelly’s writing is sharp and fast-moving as always, and in this book, particularly, one also notices his deep understanding of the police detective’s work life. The best part of the book is the deliberate contrast between the old-world Bosch and the younger, hip, Ballard. Where Bosch keeps asking Ballard whether she’s sleeping properly, she returns the favour by jeeringly calling him “dad”. Notice their comically different reactions to avocado toast. Underneath it all, though, is a deep professional respect that the two have for each other. In a world where office politics ruins careers — Ballard herself is such a victim — these two trust each other with their lives.

Definitely a book worth reading. This is Connelly at the top of his game, having fun with his characters. Us readers are happy to come along for the ride.