What to read AFTER Harry Bosch?

[Linda R,]

Bicky wrote: " I remember liking the Arkady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith as being very good. Like Harry he needs to solve every murder and office politics is just one obstacle that has to be overcome. Of course it is set in Moscow so you can feel perversely happy about it being even colder!

I've never read Smith. Any particular book you recommend?

[Linda R,]

TomMuc wrote: "i tried to read the first book but lee childs prose is like from an untalented 16 year boy from middle-school ..."

I would chalk it up to having a bad translation except I have heard similiar remarks from others who read him in English. Sorry, but I enjoy his writing style.

[Bicky]

Linda R, wrote: "Bicky wrote: " I remember liking the Arkady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith as being very good. Like Harry he needs to solve every murder and office politics is just one obstacle that has to be o..."

Gorky Park. I normally start with the first in the series but here it is essential.

[Bicky]

Linda R, wrote: "TomMuc wrote: "i tried to read the first book but lee childs prose is like from an untalented 16 year boy from middle-school ..."

I would chalk it up to having a bad translation except I have hear..."
I also happen to love/like all the Reacher books and perhaps because of the fast pace I have never found them to be ill-written. I will try to pay more attention with the next novel due sometimes later this year. I love the fact that Reacher just chooses to get involved on the side of the underdog or victims etc.

[Janet]

I have read all of the Bosch books and loved them. My only recommendation at this point on what to read next might be C.J. Box. Loved those too!

[William]

I'm on book #8 of the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald, initially set in the early 1960s. The prose is superb, and the detective is great fun. Most of the books are 5-stars, but there are some duds. See my reviews for more info.

Book #1 The Deep Blue Good-by (my review)

[Bicky]

William wrote: "I'm on book #8 of the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald, initially set in the early 1960s. The prose is superb, and the detective is great fun. Most of the books are 5-stars, but there are s..."

I have been a great fan of McGee in the past but now I am ambivalent about the portrayal of women in the books.

[William]

Yes. I agree. For the early 1960s, McGee is quite advanced in both attitude and behaviour. His sometimes conflicted thoughts do indicate a true desire to improve himself.

Compared to today, he's still better than half the men I know.

The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.
- Charles de Gaulle

[Bicky]

William wrote: "Yes. I agree. For the early 1960s, McGee is quite advanced in both attitude and behaviour. His sometimes conflicted thoughts do indicate a true desire to improve himself.
Compared to today, he's still better than half the men I know. "

On that, I agree.

[Linda]

Harry Bosch Season 5 will be on Netflix April 19, 2019

[Catherine]

I’m not sure my original post made it through, so here goes one more time!
I am new to Harry Bosch and haven't read every book in the series (in fact I am listening to most on Audible) so am not mourning the loss of Harry...is the series over?
No one has mentioned the Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson. I love the setting in Wyoming/Colorado and the interface with the Native American community. David Baldacci has “a series of series” but not enough to keep you going for years! I have only read one true Mickey Haller and 2 of the Jack MacEvoy books, all good, but without the in depth exploration of a character like Bosch. Sorta wish I hadn't started watching the TV series as now I can’t get Titus Welliver’s image out of my head.

[Jeff]

- Loren Estleman's PI Amos Walker series set in Detroit. If you like Raymond Chandler's prose, you will get a fix here.

- Ace Atkin's Mississippi sheriff Quinn Colson, another great series to be read in order. Atkins was a crime reporter like Connelly and also writes the new Robert Parker/Spencer novels (for my money, much better than Parker's last books in the franchise in which Spencer took cases for Krispy Kreme donuts).

- Barry Eisler's John Rain and Livia Lone books (with great conflicted characters). Rain is a Japanese-American assassin with a sense of ethics. Livia Lone is a Seattle police detective who was trafficked from Thailand as a child and moonlights giving traffickers and serial rapists a dirt nap. Separate series with overlapping characters that should be read in order.

- Anything by George Pelicanos. I once saw Pelicanos and Connelly read together for an event at a local bookstore. They are fans of each other's work. He was also a writer/producer for three HBO series, The Wire, The Deuce and Treme.

[Eric]

If you like Bosch books, read the Lucas Davenport novels by John Sandford.

[William]

Eric wrote: "If you like Bosch books, read the Lucas Davenport novels by John Sandford."

While I did not like the Davenport novels much (after the first), I did very much enjoy most of Sandford's Vigil Flowers series.

[Scott]

Walter Mosley. His character Easy Rawlins is half detective, half fixer. He walks a very grey line, and has his own complex set of ethics. He functions in two worlds, one white, the other black.

It's timely, it's set primarily in LA, and it's very good.

[Scott]

I also recommend Joe Ide's IQ. Isaiah Quintabe is more Sherlock Holmes than Bosch: he's smart and he's outside the legal system. He's friends with grifters, lowlifes, rap stars, and other bad people: yet he's got a very strong sense of Justice, and the pain of family lost.

[Merle]

A good police series is the one by Tyler Dilts about the Long Beach Police Department. One book is called The Pain Scale and one is called A Cold and Broken Hallelujah. Well written and the main character, Danny Beckett, is well drawn, too. I believe there are four books in this contemporary series.

[Shauna]

I had this same thought. After finally getting the last of the Bosch / Ballard series, what could hold a candle? I also read / listened to all his other books along the way over the course of about a year.

I loved getting to know the city of LA and Hollywood through the sense of place Michael Connelly expresses. So I tried the C J Box Highway series as Linda suggested. Couldn’t stop! Since I grew up in neighboring states, it really resonated with me. I also loved how the landscape is like a character. Box also has an amazing way of painting pictures with words. If I ever write a novel, I hope it will be like his.

When I got all the Cloud Library audiobook freebies I could from that series (have not located any Cassie Dewell books past Paradise Valley to check out for free), I tried to find something else and couldn’t. The next two books I chose from the popular audiobook selections that I started, I found too shallow.

Kudos to Connolly (the King of detective thrillers) and Box (close second) on writing fiction you can’t put down (or turn off in my case) that makes you feel like you are right there yet keeps you second guessing throughout.

[Jeff]

It's hard to beat Michael Connolly. I've read almost all of them so I get what you are saying. You may want to try John Verdon's series on retired NYPD detected Dave Gurney. There are six or seven all good. Michael Robotham's Joseph O'Loughlin series may interest you too. Both them give that "being there" feeling. Hope this helps, Jeff

[Chuck]

Merle wrote: "A good police series is the one by Tyler Dilts about the Long Beach Police Department. One book is called The Pain Scale and one is called A Cold and Broken Hallelujah. Well written and the main ch..."

Scott wrote: "I also recommend Joe Ide's IQ. Isaiah Quintabe is more Sherlock Holmes than Bosch: he's smart and he's outside the legal system. He's friends with grifters, lowlifes, rap stars, and other bad peopl..."

Thanks for these recommendations - I just finished the first Long Beach PD book and found it very similar in approach to a Bosch book. Strong on procedurals and "melancholy" characters, but without the gritty clinical details or snarky detective attitudes of a lot of detective/crime books. Will definitely be reading the others. And I've also checked out Joe Ide's first book

[Al]

I like the Prey series by John Sandford, Louise Peeny's Chief Inspector Gamache .