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Monday 17 July 2017

Harry Bosch, one great detective series

In the many years that I have been reading crime the two stand out characters are Rebus and his creator Ian Rankin and Harry Bosch written by Los Angeles ex crime reporter Michael Connelly. The Last Coyote is no 4 in the series and to me one of the best, in it Detective Bosch tries to finally solve the case of who murdered his mother Marjorie Lowe. The Last Coyote is a lovely thoughtful title and one that Bosch thinks he has an affinity to. One evening he sees a mangled bedraggled coyote and he uses this imagery in his conversations with his psychiatrist Carmen Hinojos, she adds her timely interpretation...."For what it's worth I think it's clear you identify with the coyote, there are not so many policemen like you left and you feel some threat to your existence or your mission."....

Connelly's portrayal of Bosch as a lonely maverick of a man using his nonconformist methods to fight crime is nothing short of brilliant..."Loneliness had been the trash can fire he huddled around for most of his life."..."It was always in the silences that Bosch felt most comfortable with the women who had moved through his life."....."He felt the numbness of disappointment that comes from broken hopes and wondered if he would ever talk to her again."..  Bosch is able to devote his time to this case as he has been temporarily suspended following an incident with Lieutenant Pounds and the story naturally plays out in a political arena where the perpetrator has been able to stay undetected for many years. The ending when it occurs will surprise you in a beautifully constructed  study of a detective loathed by many, loved by a few, a man not always at peace with himself on an endless search for atonement...."The sex created a world without intrusion. One so vital that it could have lasted an hour or maybe only a few minutes and he wouldn't have known the difference."

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