For many years Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch police detective series has almost come to define the police procedural crime novel. He always wanted to be a crime novelist and took work a reporter Florida and later in Los Angeles to gain experience. His protagonist, is a Vietnam vet, an experience that gives the character a backstory and an attitude. He is a good but cynical cop, who frequently finds the ‘authorities’ – be they the police department, the FBI, the judiciary or media – to get in the way of an investigation. The Bosch books are not mysteries in the conventional sense, they are suspense narratives within a police procedural framework; they have interesting characters, and like some of his contemporaries he likes to give them a credible feel. It is not surprising that Connelly once rented an apartment near where Raymond Chandler lived. Inspiration and that feel are all important. Both Connelly and Bosch quality to be in our category of ‘Legends and Heroes’.

Plotline: When the body of high profile black lawyer Howard Elias is found inside one of the cars on Angels Flight, a cable railway in downtown Los Angeles, there’s not a detective in the city who wants to touch the case. For Elias specialized in lawsuits alleging police brutality, racism, and corruption, and every LAPD cop is a possible suspect in his killing. Detective Harry Bosch is put in charge. Elias’s murder occurred on the eve of a major trial: on behalf of black client, Michael Harris, Elias was to bring a civil case against the LAPD for violent interrogation tactics that had caused his client the partial loss of his hearing. Harris had been acquitted of the rape and murder of a twelve-year-old girl, but many, including Bosch, believe him guilty. Elias had let it be known that the trial would serve a dual purpose — to target and bring down the guilty cops and to expose the real murderer of the little girl. Post Rodney King, the 1992 riots, and the trial of O.J. Simpson, the City of Angels is living on its nerves. To discover the truth Harry must dig deep in his own backyard — except that it’s a minefield of suspicion and hate that could detonate in his face. And as if he didn’t have enough on his mind, his happiness with Eleanor Wish looks to be short-lived. Five cards on the felt are pulling her back to a place where Harry cannot follow, back to herself.

Angel’s Flight (1998) was issued in a run of 115 numbered and signed copies together with 16 specials for presentation. They all sold prior to publication. Indeed, Michael Connelly has been a crime author with a strong following with collectors since Black Echo won the Edgar for Best First Novel. It was fortune for them that we were able to have the creator of several important crime series and screenwriter on ‘The Wire’, George Pelecanos to do the appreciation. Collectors may also wish to note that Michael Connelly also wrote appreciations of James Lee Burke, Robert Crais, and Jeffrey Deaver.