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In a year when I often wanted to tune out reality and current events, I found myself reading a lot of mysteries and thrillers. Although arguably depressing in their own right, mysteries have a way of transporting me when I read. Even when I end up rating a book 4 stars or less, I often quite enjoy the time I spend reading the book, even moreso than some books that end awesomely but are somewhat slow to get through. I find when I read mysteries, I find more minutes in the day to read. As I made this list and ranked it, I realized rankings these books by my ratings (4, 4.5, or 5 stars) wasn't the right way to go. Ratings are highly subjective and imperfect, but I recommend all of these, for a variety of reasons. Here are my seven favorites,with a three-way tie for first place!) (As always, clicking the book covers will take you to Amazon.) 7. Final Girls  by Riley Sager The premise of this one is bleak but fascinating. It centers on Quincy Carpenter, a young woman who ten years ...

The backstory: Michael Connelly is my favorite mystery writer. I've read and reviewed all twenty-eight (and now twenty-nine) books. The basics: Harry is once again out of the LAPD and working as a private investigator. The case: discover if a very rich and powerful old man fathered a child in his youth and has an heir. At the same time, Harry is working as a volunteer detective for tiny San Fernando PD, where he's putting together pieces of what appear to be a number of crimes committed by the same perpetrator. My thoughts: When I first started reading Michael Connelly, I loved that time passed between his books in real time. Each time we see Harry Bosch, he's a year or two older. But the first Bosch book came out in 1992. It's now 2016, and part of my brain knows Harry Bosch can't live and work forever. Until then, however, I eagerly await and savor each new installment. This one certainly does not disappoint. In all the roles Bosch has served in over the ye...

The backstory: Michael Connelly is my favorite mystery writer. Last year, I read all twenty-seven of his novels. I was thrilled to finally have a new one to read. The basics: The Crossing features both of Connelly's long-running main characters: now retired LAPD detective Harry Bosch and his half-brother, criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. When Haller's client is charged with the brutal murder of a woman, he suspects a set-up and manages to convince Bosch to solve the case as he would if he were still a homicide detective. My thoughts:  The titular crossing is meaningful on two levels. First, it comes from a piece of dialogue between Bosch and Haller: "What's the biggest problem with the prosecution's case?"  "Right now?"  "Based on what you read."  Bosch took a drink while he thought of an answer and composed it properly. "The crossing."  "Meaning?"  "Motive and opportunity." The cross...

Last February, I found myself home alone on a Friday night, pregnant, and wishing for a crime drama to watch. (Now I realize that sounds a lot like my current Friday nights, except instead of being pregnant, I'm home alone with a sleeping baby. Ah, the life of a restaurant manager's spouse!) I decided to watch the pilot for   "Bosch," based on Michael Connelly's series, as part of Amazon's pilot season. I liked it, and so after I finished, I picked up my Kindle and started the first book in the series, The Black Echo, which I purchased four years earlier. I was hooked ( my review ), and I proceeded to read all twenty-seven of Michael Connelly 's novels in 2014 (nineteen of them feature Bosch). I'm been impatiently waiting for season one of "Bosch" to premiere, and this week, we (finally) found out when it will: February 13, 2015 . That day also happens to be the day Hawthorne turns six months old, but I didn't plan to take the day off w...

The backstory: The Burning Room is Michael Connelly's twenty-seventh novel and the nineteenth to feature Harry Bosch. See my reviews for the other twenty-six novels in my Book Review Database . The basics: There are two mysteries at the center of The Burning Room . The first is a warm cold case. A mariachi musician dies nine years after being struck by a stray bullet. After the shooting, he became a political celebrity of sorts, and his death is very big news. Harry Bosch and his new partner Lucia Soto, who has been in the news as a hero cop, have a cold case to solve but a warm body to help. The second is a cold case very personal to Detective Soto, and it lets the reader get to know her through her backstory. My thoughts: It was with some trepidation that I began reading The Burning Room . I read Michael Connelly's first novel in February and proceeded to read all of his novels this year. Beginning this one (before it was published) meant the wait for the next one was r...

The backstory: The Black Box  is the eighteenth Michael Connelly mystery to feature LAPD detective Harry Bosch. My reviews of the previous seventeen (and Connelly's other mysteries) are listed in my Book Review Database . The basics: Twenty years ago, during the L.A. riots, Harry Bosch and his then partner were called to help investigate murders during the riots, when that precinct had too many murder victims to handle alone. With only a few hours at the crime scene of Anneke Jesperson, a young Danish photojournalist, Bosch knew then the crime wouldn't be solved. Now, in 2012, a ballistics match gives a new lead to the puzzling mystery of why a young, white foreigner found herself shot execution style in South Central L.A. during the height of the L.A. riots. My thoughts: The titular black box is a powerful metaphor for Bosch's sense of justice and purpose: "He believed that every case had a black box. A piece of evidence, a person, a positioning of facts that ...

The backstory: The Drop  is the seventeenth title in Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series. I've read and reviewed them all. The basics: Harry Bosch has just learned he has 39 months left before being forced to retire again. Eager for a new case to throw himself into, he gets two in one morning. First, a cold hit on a 1989 rape and murder matches a then eight-year-old; is it a crime lab mistake or could this sex offender really have started so young? Then, the police chief asks Harry to look into the alleged suicide of Irvin Irving's son at the Chateau Marmont. My thoughts: The Drop  features two mysteries, and both were intriguing. Bosch juggles them well, and it never felt like one was the main storyline. This equality, however, led to a somewhat unsatisfying pacing and climax. Both storylines were set in the past and present. It was interesting to see Irving appear again, and his history with Bosch is a key part of the storyline. In quite a different way, the cold...

I've been tearing through Michael Connelly's lengthy backlist, and I often find myself with repetitive things to say about them, so I'll mostly be doing mini-reviews of his titles, unless one compels me to write more deeply. Note: these contain spoilers and references to prior Connelly books. Nine Dragons  is the fifteenth Harry Bosch mystery. When Harry and his partner catch the case of a murdered Chinese-American liquor store owner in South Los Angeles, Harry brings in the Asian Gang Unit to help. He also enlists the help of his daughter, Maddie, who lives in Hong Kong. Soon Maddie is kidnapped, and Harry's focus shifts to Hong Kong and saving her, while trying to figure out the connections between Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Nine Dragons  is perhaps the most personal Harry Bosch novel yet. It's an intriguing mystery, but Maddie's kidnapping is a suspenseful thrill-ride through the chaotic streets of Hong Kong.  Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Source: l...

I've been tearing through Michael Connelly's lengthy backlist, and I often find myself with repetitive things to say about them, so I'll mostly be doing mini-reviews of his titles, unless one compels me to write more deeply. Note: these reviews all contain some spoilers and references to previous Connelly books. The Overlook  is the thirteenth book in Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series. It was originally published as a serial, and this pacing is evident. It's also a short novel, particularly by Connelly standards. Harry Bosch is now working with the Homicide Special unit, and he's called to investigate the murder of Dr. Stanley Kent. The case soon becomes a race against time due to the presence of missing radioactive agents. While the story is still a murder mystery at its core, it's more of a terrorism thriller. The pace is frenetic, and I cannot imagine having the patience to read it in its original serial form. Connelly masterfully, or perhap...

I've been tearing through Michael Connelly's lengthy backlist, and I often find myself with repetitive things to say about them, so I'll mostly be doing mini-reviews of his titles, unless one compels me to write more deeply. Note: the reviews of The Closers and Echo Park contain spoilers from prior Connelly books. The Closers  is the eleventh title in Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series. After being retired, Harry is back with LAPD, and he's working in the Open/Unsolved unit. It's a fascinating turn for Harry, as he and his partner are assigned a series of years, including some from when he was a beat cop. Will he have the chance to solve cases he has seen before? The case that dominates this book is the 17-year-old abduction and murder of Rebecca Verloren, a sixteen-year-old mixed-race teenager. The case benefits from new technology, and the mystery has an urgency to it that surprised me for a cold case. As I read, I found myself hoping Connelly wou...

I've been tearing through Michael Connelly's lengthy backlist, and I often find myself with repetitive things to say about them, so I'll mostly be doing mini-reviews of his titles, unless one compels me to write more deeply.  Note: the reviews of Lost Light and The Narrows contain spoilers from prior Connelly books. Chasing the Dime  is a stand-alone thriller about Henry Pierce, a tech guru whose company is on the verge of making millions. His girlfriend, and now former colleague, breaks up with him, and when his new apartment landline turns out to be the former number of a prostitute named Lilly. The frequent calls are a nuisance, but he soon sets off to track Lilly down and finds himself getting deeper into the sexual underworld--and putting himself, and his company, at risk. Chasing the Dime  is the first Connelly book to have a narrator who is not a criminal nor in law enforcement. As a reader, I often found myself frustrated with Henry and his lack of acce...

I've been tearing through Michael Connelly's lengthy backlist, and I often find myself with repetitive things to say about them, so I'll mostly be doing mini-reviews of his titles, unless one compels me to write more deeply. Find links to all my Michael Connelly reviews in my Book Review Database . Void Moon  is a stand-alone thriller featuring Cassie Black, a con artist. In that sense, it's quite a departure for Connelly to write from the point-of-view of the criminal. it's also a departure to have a female narrator. Connelly does both well. Cassie shares narration with a private investigator hired to recover what she steals. This approach was mostly successful, but it slowed down the fast-pace of this novel a bit. Overall, Void Moon  was a page-turning thriller more than a mystery, and while it lacked the jaw-dropping twists I've come to expect from Connelly, it did keep me on my toes until the last page. Rating: 4 out of 5 Source: library A Darkn...

I've been tearing through Michael Connelly's lengthy backlist, and I often find myself with repetitive things to say about them, so I'll mostly be doing mini-reviews of his titles, unless one compels me to write more deeply. Trunk Music  is the fifth novel in the Harry Bosch series. Harry is back from his disciplinary leave and now has two partners: Kizmin Rider and Jerry Edgar. Their first case as a team of three is the murder of Hollywood producer Tony Aliso, who is found in his trunk in what appears to be a Mafia hit. The real story is a twisty, satisfying and surprising story I've come to expect from Connelly. The novel veers from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and brings a familiar face back to Harry's personal life, Eleanor Wish, from The Black Echo . On the whole, Trunk Music  is a deeply satisfying mystery and also moves Harry's story forward. Rating: 5 out of 5 Source: purchased Blood Work  is a stand-alone novel that introduces Terry McCaleb, an FB...

The backstory: The Last Coyote  is the fourth Harry Bosch mystery by Michael Connelly. Read my reviews of the first three:  The Black Echo ,   The Black Ice , and The Concrete Blonde . The basics: When LAPD detective Harry Bosch is placed on leave for hitting his lieutenant, he takes the time off work as his opportunity to try to solve the murder of his mother, which happened when he was eleven. My thoughts: It's no secret I've been loving (and quickly devouring) Michael Connelly's mysteries the past few months. After The Concrete Blonde  revisited the most infamous case of Bosch's career, The Lost Coyote tackles the most infamous case of Bosch's life: the murder of his prostitute mother. Taken together, these two novels could easily serve as an ending of sorts for this series; instead, Connelly uses them as a end and a beginning. It's not an uncommon trope to have an unsolved case in a detective's personal life (in any media.) It was a pleasant surp...

The backstory: Concrete Blonde  is the third mystery in Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series. Read my reviews of the first two: The Black Echo  and The Black Ice . The basics: Harry Bosch is on trial in civil court for the killing of the Dollmaker serial killer four years ago. Meanwhile, it appears the Dollmaker may not be dead. A new note, presumably from the killer, is received, and it points to a new body, one who died after the Dollmaker. My thoughts: I have an odd fascination for serial killer stories, and Concrete Blonde  is a good one. By re-investigating the murders from four years ago, before the Bosch series begins, the reader gets to know more about this case that demoted Bosch from the prestigious Robbery Homicide Division to Hollywood homicide. In many ways, this book felt allows Bosch and his recent past to come full circle. It's simultaneously an intriguing mystery and a suspenseful legal thriller, as every clue to the new body and note have potentia...

The backstory: The Black Ice  is the second mystery in Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series (read my review of The Black Echo , the first in the series.) The basics: When LAPD detective Cal Moore is found dead of an apparent suicide in a LA hotel room on Christmas, Harry Bosch investigates. My thoughts: After loving the first Bosch novel, I was curious to see if Michael Connelly could write another that was as good. He did. I was foolishly impatient when The Black Ice  began. "Where's the mystery?" I wondered. Soon, the novel was swirling with numerous mysteries that may or may not be connected, and I was enchanted. There are some similarities to The Black Echo  I could foresee becoming tropes, but they work here. Bosch is somewhat of a rogue, but he isn't a rogue for the sake of being one. As the action shifts to Mexico, the action became even more intense. I won't spoil the resolution, but I will say it is beautifully executed. Favorite passage: ...

Happy Sunday! Lately, another Sunday means another city. Today I'm writing from the Orlando airport (cheers to free wifi, Orlando!) I'm heading back home this morning, where the temperatures promise to be below zero when I arrive. As much as I love winter, negative temperatures are too cold even for me. At least my sunburn will help keep me warm! I've been in Orlando since Tuesday. I spent two days at the Information Fluency Conference , where I presented on using documentary films as vehicles to teach information literacy, media literacy and visual literacy. It was a great conference, and when it ended I went to the other side of Orlando to meet up with my three best friends from high school (one of whom lives here), including two six-month old babies. We had a delightfully relaxing few days. I'm having a hard time grasping that our trip next February or March, I'll be the one with the six-month old. As much as I love traveling, I am greatly relieved and excite...

The backstory: After enjoying the Bosch  pilot on Amazon , I decided to finally  start reading the Michael Connelly series so many, including Alafair Burke , one of my favorite crime novelists, rave about. The basics: The Black Echo , the first novel in Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch series, introduces readers to the LAPD homicide detective. When a dead body is discovered in a pipe, Bosch recognizes the victim as a fellow tunnel rat from his days in Vietnam. What otherwise might have been classified as a junkie dead from an overdose turns into a complicated, intriguing mystery stretching back to the Vietnam War itself. My thoughts: Originally published in 1992, The Black Echo  is a delightful time capsule into its time. As close as 1992 seems, the Vietnam War is closer to it than it is to today. This mystery is firmly grounded in the lingering impact of Vietnam, and it even takes its title from a War reference: "Meadows was something else…. Back then, we were all j...

Sundays that follow Saturdays when I work the reference desk are the best, most restful Sundays. And today is one of those blessed Sundays. Reading After work yesterday I started The Black Echo , the first mystery in Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch police procedural series. Friday night I watched the Amazon pilot for Bosch, and I really liked it. I'm often intimidated by long-running series, but so many people have raved about these over the years, I impulsively bought the first six Bosch novels in Kindle bundles when they were on sale.... four years ago . At least I'm finally getting to them! One of the big changes I made when I found out I was pregnant was cutting way  back on review books with specific dates. I wanted to spend these last few childless months reading whatever struck my fancy. I'm really enjoying this freedom to read, and I'm actually reading more. I'm currently three books ahead of my two-book-a-week goal pace. It's also opened up the ...