Renée Ballard is out surfing, when disaster strikes - her badge and gun are stolen from her car, and she cannot tell a soul due to her reputation as a maverick. When her open-unsolved unit find a DNA hit on a cold case, they strike gold - until they realise that the Pillowcase Rapist may be the sort of person you don't want to accuse falsely. Ballard brings in Bosch to help her, but this time it's both Harry & Maddie who could help.

This is another fantastic book - whilst it is officially "Ballard & Bosch" (or should that be "Bosches" at this point?), it's very much more Ballard than Bosch for the first time in a while. 5*.

Another brilliant read by the genius that is Michael Connelly!!!

Detective Renée Ballard works the open unsolved unit. When there is a DNA connection from a man who was recently arrested to a cold case The Pillowcase Rapist Renée and the team are on the hunt to find the who the pillowcase rapist is.
There is also a new addition to the team Maddie Bosch daughter of the legendary Harry Bosch.

This is the latest in Michael Connelly's superb series featuring LAPD Detective Renée Ballard, head of the Open Unsolved Unit, overseeing a varied team of volunteers, that include a former prosecutor, an ex-FBI agent, and a genealogy expert specialising in the law enforcement field. However, now Maddie Bosch, Harry's daughter, expresses a desire to join, which Ballard is delighted by as it gives her another badge holder in her team, although it soon emerges Maddie has her own agenda, with information on the darkest, coldest, bleak and most notorious of murder cases from the library of lost souls, triggering a intriguing investigation into history. We are provided with personal details of Ballard's traumatic background, her connections with Hawaii, as she visits a therapist.

To Ballard's horror, her badge, gun, and ID are stolen during her surfing session, but she is reluctant to report this, fearing that her enemies will use this to push her out of the force, not to mention that such crimes are no longer looked into by the police. She instigates her own below the radar inquiries, only to find herself stumbling on something so much bigger, a potential nightmare that has her roping in Harry, a cancer sufferer, to help her. Then DNA information gathered from a recent arrest points to a familial genetic link to the serial Pillow Case rapist and killer from 2 decades ago. This ushers in one of the most dangerous investigations ever undertaken by the unit.

Once again, Connelly provides us with his trademark intricate details of police procedures and location, along with his impeccably plotted and gripping storylines. You get a real feel for the characters, the interactions and the relationships, their support, commitment and loyalty to each other, there are no lines they will not cross when it comes to one of their own. We see Ballard surrounded by the politics of the force, but she is a sharp cookie, certainly no pushover, holding her nerve when matters get dicey, and seeing paths forward when decisions are made that are not to her liking and fail to address injustice. A brilliant addition to what is a fantastic series. I am eagerly awaiting the next in the series! Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I’m a big fan of Michael Connelly and the Ballard and Bosch thrillers are always enjoyable and entertaining books that I look forward to reading.
Renee Ballard is running her unsolved crimes unit, staffed by civilian volunteers. When some dna evidence links a sitting judge to an unsolved rapist and murderer, Renee and her team have to follow the science to find out if he is really the person they want without upsetting the powers that be, a task that proves to be extremely difficult.
Bosch’s daughter Maddie who is now a police officer wants to volunteer in the unsolved team as she has come across some information about a serial killer who operated in the 1940s, the Black Dahlia case, murdering many women.
As if these two investigations are not enough, Renee is robbed whilst she is surfing on the beach and loses her police badge. Whilst trying to get it back she uncovers a terrorist plot!
I raced through this book, there was so much going on I really did not want to put it down. I liked getting reacquainted with Renee Ballard who is a bit of a maverick, doing whatever she can to solve the old cases. She has difficulties with her boss who does not like her unorthodox approach but is gradually working out how to handle him.
I thought it was a great idea to have Bosch’s daughter join the team but was glad that Harry also made an appearance, helping to solve one of the cases. Two Boschs for the price of one is definitely an advantage!
Michael Connolly is so good at plots and characters- I really felt I got to know Renee in this book. She is having issues with her estranged mother who has gone missing in Hawaiian fires. She is so disturbed that she decides to visit a counsellor and this is a good method for the author to build up her back story.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy.