The world-weary but unrelenting detective has starred in 24 of the author’s 37 thrillers, which have sold more than 80 million copies worldwide. The exploits of a Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective have also been adapted into the popular Bosch series on Amazon TV – as well as the spin-off Bosch Legacy – starring Titus Welliver and Madison Lentz as his daughter Maddie.
But Connelly says after 30 years of writing about the Vietnam veteran — now 72 years old as he ages in real time in the books — he’s starting to think about his best way out.
“I’ve been thinking for the last decade or so about how to end the series,” said the 66-year-old author. “I’ve been very lucky… I’ve been able to write about this character in real time for 30 years. From start to finish.
“So there is a theme of death in the new novel Star of the Desert but I hope there are still stories to tell about Harry Bosch.”
Desert Star sees a retired Bosch recruited as a volunteer for the recently reopened LAPD cold case unit, which is headed by his friend and protege Renee Ballard.
She convinces him to join him for the opportunity to work on an unsolved case that has haunted him for years – the murder of a family of four buried in the Mojave Desert. The chase takes Bosch to Key West and Chicago, and with hard-to-find clues gets him considering crossing the line.
Connelly also created the Lincoln Lawyer series – starring Los Angeles defense attorney Mickey Haller – which is currently filming a second series of its Netflix adaptation. He understands that fans would be upset by talk of Bush’s potential demise.
He said: “Harry is a real character to a lot of people so I have to be very careful with these kinds of things. But at the same time, I have to be true to the character and his development.”
“At one point, I could have, for lack of better words, killed Harry Bosch, but go back and write stories about him from earlier in his life.
“But Harry has always been at the center of what I do. I kind of hope that Bosch’s last book will be my last book, too.”
- Desert Star by Michael Connelly (Orion, £22) is out now. For a free UK P&P on orders over £12.99, call Express Bookshop on 02031763832 or visit Expressbookshop.com
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