Harry Bosch, LAPD detective, was bored. He and his partner hadn’t had a new case for a while. Just as his partner was about to leave early, their boss came in with a case for them. A liquor store owner had been the victim of a robbery, and was shot in the process. No one knew who killed the man, but John Li was dead behind the counter of his store. His wife was there, and she was in shock. Their son, Robert Li, arrived while Bosch and a detective named Chu were questioning the wife. Chu was there because the lady did not speak English. Chu spoke both Mandarin and Cantonese proficiently and knew five Chinese dialects.

Bosch found out that Mrs. Li hadn’t been there when the shooting occurred. She had gone to pick up their dinner. When she returned, she found Mr. Li dead and called her son, who in turn called the police.

Bosch checked the surveillance system and the disc for that day had been removed. But Li had the discs for the last two months including the week he had paid the Triad. When Bosch discovered the identity of the man who was collecting protection money, he arrested him. That’s when his daughter in Hong Kong was kidnapped.

9 Dragons is a well written, well-plotted story. Harry Bosch is the epitome of police detectives. He’s scared to death, but he does his job anyway. He goes full speed ahead, especially when his loved ones are in danger. The other characters are fully human, even though they commit inhumane actions. The story has a well-defined plot and takes unexpected twists and turns. If you love mysteries, this is a good one.

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