Onyx reviews: The Dark Hours by Michael Connelly

Reviewed by Bev Vincent, 12/08/2021

It's New Year's Eve 2020 and morale is at an all-time low for the LAPD. In the wake of the Black Live Matters movement and chants to defund the police, members of the department have withdrawn into their shells like startled turtles, trying to stay out of public scrutiny and criticism, becoming reactive instead of proactive.

At the same time, the world is in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and many officers, including series regular Detective Renée Ballard of the Hollywood Division, have been afflicted by the virus. Hope is on the horizon with the gradual rollout of vaccines, but Ballard still has to deal with people who refuse to mask or ignore social distancing guidelines. The Dark Hours is very much a snapshot of the early 2020s, including references to the events of January 6th, 2021 in D.C.

A dangerous tradition leads to Ballard's first call-out of the New Year—people who are oblivious to the laws of physics firing guns into the air in celebration. At first it seems like the shooting victim might have been an unfortunate victim of the rain of lead, but forensic evidence indicates he was shot at close range and not by a bullet falling from the sky. By all rights, Ballard should pass the case—which potentially has gangland ties—off to West Hollywood homicide division, but they are backed up with a high-profile double murder, so her bosses give her the green light to pursue the investigation until homicide is ready to take it off her hands.

At the same time, she and her malingering partner are trying to identify a pair of serial rapists who they call the Midnight Men because of their M.O. Ballard discovers details that make her re-think their belief about the way the victims are selected, and the team grapples with the decision about whether or not the public should be informed about the danger these men present.

The bullet casing retrieved at the shooting scene matches with another open case, one that was investigated by former detective Harry Bosch, who has been an occasional mentor to Ballard. The "murder book" for that earlier crime is missing, so Ballard consults with Bosch to find out what he remembers about the case. Bosch is working as a private detective and obsessing over his roster of unsolved murders, but he takes time to assist Ballard as she walks the tightrope of LAPD bureaucracy in an attempt to keep the investigation going and in her hands, often placing herself in harm's way. Though this book is billed as a Ballard and Bosch novel, it is very much Ballard's book. Bosch is mostly there as backup.

The pandemic has caused a change in Ballard's living conditions. The beach where she once stayed in a tent so she could go surfing at will has been closed and, for the first time in years, she is living indoors in an apartment complex. Her longtime canine companion died of cancer, so she is truly alone. However, that is about to change when she crosses path with a handsome EMT and acquires a new dog. Although she has learned many bad habits from Bosch, she isn't quite the lone wolf that her mentor is. She's also more attuned to the contemporary world, so she's comfortable delving into the Dark Web to get information, for example. But even Harry Bosch can evolve—Ballard catches him listening to jazz recorded in the 21st century.

However, Ballard's attitude toward policing is very much aligned with Bosch's, and she's as willing to take risks and cut corners as the retired detective. This puts her at odds with her supervisors on a regular basis and threatens to derail her career. Most comfortable working the "late show" shift when she's mostly outside of the regular scrutiny of the police department's hierarchy, Ballard will stop at nothing to bring her targets to justice. Her emergence to the foreground breathes new life into this long-running series.