This fifth book in the series by Michael Connelly centered around Hollywood Homicide Detective Harry Bosch picks up the series quite nicely and brings him back to form.  Bosch was always the kind of detective that did things his own way.  His superiors generally looked the other way because he got results.  It was easy to see him as the underdog.

However, sometimes those actions come with unforeseen consequences and there’s a price to pay.  At the end of the previous book, The Last Coyote, Harry seemed to be at a low point in his career.  He’d been suspended from the force.  His personal life was pretty much a shambles and he was feeling some guilt about the consequences of his single-minded determination to solve the murder of his mother nearly thirty years before.

Trunk Music has Harry back working Hollywood Homicide.  There’s a new boss in town. Lieutenant Grace Billets is actually a lot like Harry.  She’s got her own ideas on how to do things and although she’s one to exert her authority, she’s competent and fair.  Throughout the book she grows in Harry’s estimation, and what’s even better is she’s not his love interest.  One of the things she’s done is reorganized the Homicide Division into teams of three, so although Harry is still working with his old partner Jerry Edgar, there’s also an up-and-coming female officer working with them, Kizmin Rider.

One evening during a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, their team is called to investigate a Rolls Royce in the hills above the amphitheater with a body in the trunk.  The man is identified as Tony Aliso, a Hollywood Producer who’s short on talent and long on schemes.  The hit looks professional, hence the title “Trunk Music”.

As the three investigate it seems to be a cut and dried case involving organized crime, only the organized crime division of the police department doesn’t seem to want to touch it.  Nothing seems to add up.  Harry follows the trail to Las Vegas where he runs into a former flame who also seems to be involved in the case.  The problem is, the more he digs, the more resistance he seems to get.

Trunk Music is an excellent mystery that had me guessing until the end.  There are so many twists and turns that just when I thought I’d had it figured out something sends it in a new direction.  These aren’t frustrating “convenient” plot twists either.  They make sense in the context of the story and how things unfold.

The characters are excellent.  With so much time between novels and changes, it was a challenge at first.  The new characters are excellent.  Connelly manages to bring the reader along on Harry’s journey to warming up to his new partner and boss.  I started as skeptical as he was about them, but they grow into their roles.  Kizmin in particular seemed like she was going to be a one-note character but by the end I was hoping I would see much more of her in the future.

Harry’s evolving too, but it’s nice to see him coming back.  At the end of The Last Coyote he almost seemed beat down.  In Trunk Music the old Harry is back, although not all at once.  His confidence in his abilities and his assessment of situations and people is there, but I could sense the hesitation from having everything pulled out from under him.  By the end of the book, though, I knew for certain he’d found himself again in a sense.

To really appreciate the characters and all they’ve been through, I’d read the previous books in Connelly’s series.  However, if all you are interested in is a good mystery, Trunk Music is great in that regard.  It’s a page-turner with great characters that kept me guessing until the end.

Previous book in the series:

Next book in the series: