Book Review: The Wrong Side of Goodbye, Michael Connelly

This book is from the Harry Bosch series by Connelly and comes at a critical time. Detective Bosch has left the cold crimes unit in the LAPD, so how can the author continue to provide him with a stream of crimes to investigate? Take on some private investigator work and volunteer for the San Fernando Police Department – that’s how. This gives an interesting mix and new dilemmas – Bosch is forbidden from using police resources (such as databases) for his private work, but will he abide by the rules?

In this thriller, Bosch investigates whether a billionaire industrialist has an heir to his fortune (a private assignment) and is hot on the tracks of a serial rapist he calls ‘The Screen Cutter’ (police work). Meanwhile, his daughter Maddie has started at university, giving a glimpse of Bosch ‘the man’ as well as the detective. I loved his attempts to improve her security by putting a dog bowl (full of water) outside the kitchen door. There’s also a cameo for Bosch’s half-brother, Micky Haller, on the inheritance case.