A Darkness More Than Night

A DARKNESS MORE THAN NIGHT by Michael Connelly
Little Brown & Co. - January 2001
ISBN: 0316154075 - Hardcover
Police Procedural / Suspense / Thriller

Reviewed by Barbara Buhrer, MyShelf.com
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Terry McCaleb had a heart transplant 3 years ago and retired as a FBI profiler. He is asked by Jaye Winston, an L.A. detective, to profile the vicious killer of a particularly gruesome crime. She is afraid this will be a serial killer. Terry is about to refuse until he reads the murder book and is hooked by the crime. His investigations lead him to a Renaissance painter, Hieronymus Bosch, whose paintings are duplicated in the crime. All aspects of the crime fit Harry Bosch, L.A. detective, for the profile of the killer.

Bosch is a prosecution witness in a high profile trial of David Storey,Hollywood film director, accused of killing an actress during rough sex. Bosch is convinced there is a connection between that killing and that of Winston's unsolved crime. Bosch is embittered and frustrated by the legal system which allows criminals the police have apprehended to go free. When he learns that he is being investigated as the killer he confronts McCaleb and declares his innocence, demanding that McCaleb search further for the killer.

This is one of Connelly's best. The plot is complex, well-developed, but full of twists and turns. The character development is excellent, probing the effects of the pressures of work on the police (Bosch) and the problems of doing what he has to do against destroying the peace of his home life (McCaleb). The courtroom scenes are well done. I thought the amount of time spent on Bosch, the painter, and his art was excessive; that that much wasn't necessary for the development of the plot. Other than that, the action moved surely and quickly, with the climax breathtaking; the resolution satisfying.

Reviews of other titles in this series

The Last Coyote, Trunk Music, Angels Flight, # 4, 5, 6 (Harry Bosch Vol 2)	[book]
A Darkness More Than Night, # 7	[book] [audio]
City of Bones, # 8	[book]
Lost Light, # 9	[book] [audio]
The Narrows, # 10	[book] [audio]
The Closers, # 11	[book] [audio]
Echo Park, # 12	[book] [audio]
The Overlook, # 13	[book] [audio]
The Brass Verdict, # 14 Bosch/Haller	[audio ]
9 Dragons, # 15	[audio]
The Reversal, # 16 Bosch/Haller	[book] [audio]
The Drop, # 17	[book]
Murder and all That Jazz -Bosch Short Story	[book]
The Black Box # 18	[audio]
Angle of Investigation	[audio]
The Burning Room # 19	[book 1] [book 2] [audio]
The Crossing Bosch #20/Haller #6	[audio]
The Wrong Side of Goodbye	[audio]