Crime Detective Mystery Thriller Group discussion

Have you guys read any of his stuff?

Hi Angel, I've got a number of Michael Connelly books on my bookcases but only fairly recently got to reading anything by him after getting a promotional copy of Black Box last year, which I really liked. I decided I had to read his stuff but I wanted to read them in order. So far I've read only his first Harry Bosch novel, The Black Echo, which I did enjoy but not as much as Black Box. I haven't read anymore since as other books keep getting in the way, lol.

He is my favorite author. I adore his Harry Bosch protagonist, too. Unfortunately, I did not read them in order, and now I wish I had; there are several underlying themes that make reading in order a better decision.

Aaron; yes, yes and yes. I adored City of Bones, The Closers, The Narrows, The Drop, The Last Coyote, ETC...!

The Last Coyote was my favorite; The Poet features Jack MacEvoy, and I have it, and like you, Aaron, I own The Lincoln Lawyer but haven't read it; I also haven't read ( but own) Dragons and The Burning Room, and The Brass Verdict. There is only one---Void Moon---I didn't care for that much.

We are reading twins on Connelly!!!

City of Bones was the last book I read. I have enjoyed all the books in the series so far. Looking forward to the next one.

Skye wrote: "He is my favorite author. I adore his Harry Bosch protagonist, too. Unfortunately, I did not read them in order, and now I wish I had; there are several underlying themes that make reading in ord..."

So obviously it is a good decision on my part to start from the beginning...

Aaron; saw the movie but never read the book.

I did the same thing Skye.

at the moment i am reading his latest..."the burning room"

Angel, I have it, but haven't read it.

Ron wrote: "I did the same thing Skye."

Clint Eastwood

It was a great movie.

Yes, it was; anything with Eastwood has been sensational.

Reading the Bosch series, and the Lincoln Lawyer series, which are intertwined. So be careful that one is watching both series together......Like them all so far. Only about 6 deep but I go from author to author and rarely read back to back to back in a series.

I like Bosch, another similar detective is JA Jance's JP Beaumont

Skye wrote: "The Last Coyote was my favorite; The Poet features Jack MacEvoy, and I have it, and like you, Aaron, I own The Lincoln Lawyer but haven't read it; I also haven't read ( but own) Dragons and The Bur..."

Concrete Blonde anyone? My choice for the best I read the the day they come out.

David wrote: "Reading the Bosch series, and the Lincoln Lawyer series, which are intertwined. So be careful that one is watching both series together..."

A friend of mine mentioned this, too. I'm reading the first Harry Bosch, The Black Echo, now. I really like reading in chronological order & he helped me make the following list, but wasn't sure on the short stories. Any help is appreciated getting this right before I read them.

- The Black Echo (Harry Bosch #1), 1992
- The Black Ice (Harry Bosch #2), 1993
- The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch #3), 1994
- The Last Coyote(Harry Bosch #4), 1995
- Trunk Music (Harry Bosch #5), 1997
- Blood Work (Terry McCaleb #1), 1998
- Angels Flight (Harry Bosch #6), 1999
- A Darkness More Than Night (Harry Bosch #7, also Terry McCaleb #2), 2001
- City Of Bones (Harry Bosch #8), 2002
- Lost Light (Harry Bosch #9), 2003
- The Lincoln Lawyer (Mickey Haller #1), 2004
- The Narrows (Harry Bosch #10), 2004
- The Closers (Harry Bosch #11), 2005
- Echo Park (Harry Bosch #12), 2006
- The Overlook (Harry Bosch #13), 2007
- The Brass Verdict (Harry Bosch #14, also Mickey Haller #2), 2008
- Nine Dragons (Harry Bosch #15), 2009
- The Scarecrow (Jack McEvoy #2), 2009
- The Reversal also Mickey Haller #3), 2010 (Harry Bosch #16,
- The Perfect Triangle, 2010 Mickey Haller short story
- Blue on Black - Harry Bosch Short Story 2010
- The Fifth Witness (Mickey Haller #4 – Harry Bosch appeared only briefly, 2011)
- The Drop (Harry Bosch #17), 2011
- Suicide Run, 2011 (includes 3 short stories: Cielo Azul, Suicide Run, One Dollar Jackpot) - Harry Bosch Short Story
- The Black Box (Harry Bosch #18), 2012
- Angle Of Investigation, 2011 (includes 3 short stories: Father’s Day, Christmas Even,Angle of Investigation)- Harry Bosch Short Story
- Blood Washes Off, 2011 - Harry Bosch Short Story
- A Fine Mist of Blood, 2012 - Harry Bosch Short Story
- The Gods of Guilt (Mickey Haller #5 – Harry Bosch appeared only briefly), 2013
- Switchblade, 2014 (Harry Bosch #18.5)
- The Burning Room (Harry Bosch #19), 2014
- The Crooked Man, 2014 (Harry Bosch short story, published in In The Company of Sherlock Holmes)
- The Crossing (Harry Bosch #20), 2015

I love the idea of reading them in order. I read my first one in 1997, however, and then skipped around depending upon what I could fine. He was easily the best I had read at that time (I read about one a day); then I read James Lee Burke, who stole the prize in every book. But Connelly is still up there, I'd say second, next to Burke. Strangely, Reichs is not far from them--the TV series is not much by comparison. And I did read her this summer, as you are doing, first to last. I think that the Bosch --family oriented, are less good than the painfully alone Bosh. Try also Silva--brilliant--and a few of the Nesbo (by no means all). Garrison is now on my list, but her Rizzoli and Isles are not nearly as good as her stand alone. She's not warm, and recently, she gushes. Connelly--what a pleasure to have them all before you. I leap at them, when they appear on Amazon (I read by Kindle). Have a great read!!!

Jim wrote: "David wrote: "Reading the Bosch series, and the Lincoln Lawyer series, which are intertwined. So be careful that one is watching both series together..."

A friend of mine mentioned this, too. I'..."

Jim, you may check the chronological order of any mystery author's books by going to: www.stopyourekillingme.com

Harriet wrote: "Jim, you may check the chronological order of any mystery author's books by going to: www.stopyourekillingme.com "

Thanks. Good to know. Unfortunately, they keep all his characters separate & don't list any of the short stories. I think those are the only thing out of order in my list in #19.

Thanks for this reference. Unfortunately, it's not actually complete. Just checked a few authors. But it is very very useful land a bit overwhelming.

Jim wrote: "Harriet wrote: "Jim, you may check the chronological order of any mystery author's books by going to: www.stopyourekillingme.com "

Thanks. Good to know. Unfortunately, they keep all his characte..."

http://www.michaelconnelly.com/otherw...

Carol wrote: "Thanks for this reference. Unfortunately, it's not actually complete. Just checked a few authors. But it is very very useful land a bit overwhelming."

In what way is this list not complete?

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/B_A...

The stopyou'rekililngme.com website

I don't have time to check out more, but Battles is prolific

Carol, I checked out Brett Battles and found lots of books were not listed at least compared to his website. I sent an e-mail to Lucinda (owner). She'll most likely respond. All these years I've accepted what they list as complete. Let you know what she says.

Harriet wrote: "Carol, I checked out Brett Battles and found lots of books were not listed at least compared to his website. I sent an e-mail to Lucinda (owner). She'll most likely respond. All these years I've ac..."

Carol, Lucina responded that the lists do not include self-published books which I assume would include publishing via Amazon and on demand type. She receives her information via publishers: catalogs & ARCs. There has been a huge upsurge of self-publishing and she said she would never be able to keep track of those. Which may explain why I can't find a particular author's name. The author is listed in our college catalog as a mystery writer teaching a mystery writing class. Hmm.

This list is actually about Michael Connelly and just to keep me on track, I should tell you that my favorite mystery writers are two Michaels: Michael Robotham and Michael Connelly. Lucky for me I have all of their books and all personalized. To emphasize how sweet Connelly is, at the Bouchercon in Austin 2002, Connelly had a signing scheduled in the program. Readers lined up for a mile (well, almost) and we waited. Michael never showed up. The following morning, while I was walking back inside the hotel after taking my dog Snoop for her morning constitutional, there was Michael Connelly sitting at a signing table all by himself. I ran up to him and asked what had happened the night before and he said his agent forgot to tell him he was scheduled so he was available all morning. Boy oh boy did Snoop and I beat it up to our room, gathered my books and torn downstairs, telling everyone I saw that Michael was available right now!! Wasn't that a thoughtful act of kindness on his part! Does that make me view his books differently? Maybe, but I have loved them from the get go.

Harriet wrote: "Harriet wrote: "Carol, I checked out Brett Battles and found lots of books were not listed at least compared to his website. I sent an e-mail to Lucinda (owner). She'll most likely respond. All the..."
May I quote? Brett Battles is the author of over twenty novels and several short stories. His novel THE DECEIVED (part of his Jonathan Quinn series) won a Barry Award for Best Thriller. He is one of the founding members of Killer Year, and is a member of Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers. He lives and writes in Los Angeles. More info available at www.brettbattles.com.""

NOT self published, brilliant novels, including some of the best I have ever read--out of at least 1000. Hmmm

Carol wrote: "Harriet wrote: "Harriet wrote: "Carol, I checked out Brett Battles and found lots of books were not listed at least compared to his website. I sent an e-mail to Lucinda (owner). She'll most likely ..."

These are the books listed. Shows his first mystery book was published in 2007. Wonder if some of his books are not considered mysteries? Just asking. That's all I know. I don't read his books. How did he publish over 20 novels since 2007?

Jonathan Quinn, an ex-cop freelancing for the Office, a secret US intelligence agency:


The Cleaner (2007)
Finalist 2008 Barry Award for Best Thriller
Finalist 2008 Shamus Award for Best First Novel

The Deceived (2008)
2009 Barry Award for Best Thriller


Shadow of Betrayal (2009)
APA: The Unwanted (2009)

The Silenced (2011)
Finalist 2012 Barry Award for Best Paperback


Non-series:


No Return (2012)

Exactly my point. At some moment, he would have gotten sufficient funds and enjoyed a sufficient readership so that he did not need to go through the burdensome process of submitting to a publisher, Therefore her decision not to think about self-published books may already be outdated in this field, since these may be the very books we want to read and since they are all advertised and sold on Amazon, where i get my kindle ebooks. Try his Qunn series..quite good.

I need to get back to Harry, I really enjoy these book. J.A. Jance's J.P. Beaumont is in the same vein.

Many authors, starting with Barry Eisler, went the self-published route. He kind of lead the charge and encouraged many fellow authors in the thriller/sy/assassin genre to do the same. He even has the rights to his early books back and is republishing the John Rain series, some with new names.

Given the number of authors who have either had the publishing houses close (Dorchester) or drop them, moving to CreateSpace or a similar platform makes sense for many established writers.The authors also get a much large share of the sales BUT they get none of the publicity or promotion that brick and mortar publishers offer. And frankly, some need more ruthless editors. But that's true in traditional publishing as well. Books are just not as a finely tuned as they were even 10 years ago.

I liked The Crossing. If was fascinating on several levels. Connelly is one of the more reliale authors out there.

I thought J.A. Konrath self-published before Eisler. They had some interesting blogs together when they first did it. Konrath just wrote an interesting blog about independent book stores not carrying his books, too.

He did and I think Eisler thanked him for his help in making the transition himself. Eisler was just the bigger name at that time, the first big name (International bestseller) to transition. They both worked to encourage other authors to make the move - like Brett Battles. (Like his Quinn series)

For some, it pays, for others, not so much, but most of the authors to move over are second and third tier. The big names stayed with publishers because of the size of their advances that often more than offset the lower royalties they get.

Many authors in the paranormal/UF genre do both, they have self-published series and traditional print series with ebook short stories as such. They seem more adventuresome - and are mostly, but not all, women. Some authors cross-over genres using ebooks as a testing ground, like from regency romance to humorous mystery.

I must say this, with some exceptions for lighter mystery, most thrillers and traditional mystery that are self-published on CreateSpace or similar, have not been up to the same standards as the authors previous work (if prior history) or would be second tier, but still good niche authors.

Now I know Fifty Shades of Grey went from fic to ebooks, to self-published, to traditional international bestseller and made James a billionaire, but it was junk and I quit by page 50. The most childish writing ever to see print. I mourn for the tree that died for it. I can't really think of another example though many small press authors made the jump to mainstream - that was mostly in romance and paranormal/UF.

And I apologize for hijacking the thread. I do like Harry Bosch.

Carol wrote: "I love the idea of reading them in order. I read my first one in 1997, however, and then skipped around depending upon what I could fine. He was easily the best I had read at that time (I read abou..."

Carol wrote: "I love the idea of reading them in order. I read my first one in 1997, however, and then skipped around depending upon what I could fine. He was easily the best I had read at that time (I read abou..."

I like Burke also.....especially the Robicheaux series.....
Hackberry and friends not as much, but still like them.

I could use some help placing a Harry Bosch short story in the chronology. The Crooked Man is the story I bought In the Company of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon for. Due to its publication date, I have the story down as #26.1, but I think that is wrong since Harry is working with Edgar. He is also sleeping with Hannah, but he says he is 60 years old. I'm not sure exactly where this fits in the chronology now, but the age seems a bit advanced since I don't think he is 65 yet in The Burning Room. I hadn't thought he was that old when he retired the first time & he hadn't worked with Edgar for a couple/few years prior to that, had he?

Here's my current chronology:
01 - The Black Echo (Harry Bosch #1), 1992
02 - The Black Ice (Harry Bosch #2), 1993
03 - The Concrete Blonde (Harry Bosch #3), 1994
04 - The Last Coyote (Harry Bosch #4), 1995
05 - The Poet (Jack McEvoy #1), (1996)
06 - Trunk Music (Harry Bosch #5), 1997
07 - Blood Work (Terry McCaleb #1), 1998
08 - Angels Flight (Harry Bosch #6), 1999
09 - Void Moon (Cassie Black #1) (2000)
9.5 - Cielo Azul(2001) in Suicide Run: Three Harry Bosch Stories, 2011 Moved because (view spoiler)[TM names his daughter this & she appears in #10 (hide spoiler)]
10 - A Darkness More Than Night (Harry Bosch #7, also Terry McCaleb #2), 2001
11 - City of Bones (Harry Bosch #8), 2002
11.5 - Christmas Even (2002) in Angle of Investigation (2011)
11.6 "Suicide Run"(2007) in Suicide Run: Three Harry Bosch Stories, 2011 was moved from 17.5 to 11.6. I'm not positive that it really belongs there, but that's closer. Harry is working with Edgar out of the Hollywood division in this short story.
12 - Lost Light (Harry Bosch #9), 2003
13 - The Narrows (Harry Bosch #10), 2004
14 - The Lincoln Lawyer (Mickey Haller #1), 2004
15 - The Closers (Harry Bosch #11), 2005
15.5 - Angle of Investigation (2005) in Angle of Investigation (2011)
16 - Echo Park (Harry Bosch #12), 2006
17 - The Overlook (Harry Bosch #13), 2007
17.4 - Father’s Day (2007) in Angle of Investigation (2011) (HB's first investigation?)
17.6 - One Dollar Jackpot(2007) in Suicide Run: Three Harry Bosch Stories, 2011
18 - The Brass Verdict (Harry Bosch #14, also Mickey Haller #2), 2008
19 - Nine Dragons (Harry Bosch #15, Mickey Haller appears briefly), 2009
20 - The Scarecrow (Jack McEvoy #2), 2009
21 - The Reversal (Mickey Haller #3, (Harry Bosch #16), 2010
21.5 - The Perfect Triangle, 2010 Mickey Haller short story, published in The Dark End of the Street: New Stories of Sex and Crime by Today's Top Authors (May 2010)
21.6 - Blue on Black - Harry Bosch Short Story 2010
22 - The Fifth Witness (Mickey Haller #4 – Harry Bosch appeared only briefly, 2011)
23 - The Drop (Harry Bosch #17), 2011
23.5 - Blood Washes Off, 2011 - Harry Bosch Short Story, published in The Rich and the Dead (May 2011)
24 - The Black Box (Harry Bosch #18), 2012
24.5 - A Fine Mist of Blood, 2012 - Harry Bosch Short Story, published in Mystery Writers of America Presents Vengeance(April 2012)
24.6 - The Safe Man: A Ghost Story (2012) (SS) Stand alone, not part of this universe.
25 - The Gods of Guilt (Mickey Haller #5 – Harry Bosch appeared only briefly), 2013
25.5 - Switchblade, 2014 (Harry Bosch #18.5)
26 - The Burning Room (Harry Bosch #19), 2014
26.1 - The Crooked Man, 2014 (Harry Bosch short story, published in In the Company of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon)
27 - The Crossing (Harry Bosch #20), 2015
28 - The Wrong Side of Goodbye (Harry Bosch #21), 2016
28.5 - “Burnt Matches,” featuring Mickey Haller, to be published in The Highway Kind: Tales of Fast Cars, Desperate Drives and Dark Roads (coming October 2016)
* “Nighthawks,” featuring Harry Bosch, to be published in In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper (coming December 2016)

Harry Bosch Wikipedia entry made me decide to put "The Crooked Man" as #23.6, but that's not really the correct chronology due to inconsistencies in the story. He's partnered with Edgar which would put it before #12 Lost Light, but Hannah is his girlfriend (books #23 & 24) & he is 60. This is a new murder & he is in Open-Unsolved, so shouldn't get a live one. I'll settle for #23.6, I guess. Disappointing needing to juggle inconsistencies. Worst of all, it wasn't that great of a story.

The Burning Room by Michael Connelly was excellent, especially being it is the 19th Harry Bosch book & the 26th in the Harry Bosch Universe. I gave it a 4 star review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...