No angel so pure

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No angel so pure (English: City of Bones) is the 11th novel by the American crime novelist Michael Connelly , the 8th novel in the Harry Bosch series. It was published in 2002 (in German 2003). The book received the 2003 Anthony Award in the "Best Novel" category and the Barry Award in the "Best Novel" category.

action

On New Year's Day 2002, a dog digs up a bone in the bushes of Laurel Canyon near Wonderland Avenue and obediently retrieves it from its owner. He, a doctor by trade, immediately sees that it is a human bone and alerts the police. Harry Bosch is on holiday and takes over the case. It turns out that a boy of about 13 was murdered. When examining the bones, the forensic scientist from the LAPD found that the boy had been severely abused from an early age.

When Bosch comes to Wonderland Avenue, patrolmen are already there. There is a crackling between the police officer Julia Brasher, new to the police, and Harry Bosch. Under the pretext, Bosch borrows Brasher's flashlight to have a reason to see her again. The crackling turns into a love affair within a few days, although the rules of the LAPD actually prohibit relationships between different ranks. Bosch is Detective III, five ranks above Julia Brasher. But Bosch doesn't really care about the rapidly spreading rumor mill in the LAPD; he is fascinated by Julia Brasher.

Bosch searches databases for previous convictions of residents of Wonderland Avenue and actually finds what he is looking for: Nicholas Trent, a scene decorator, was convicted in 1966 of molesting children. Bosch and his partner Edgar question Trent, who protests his innocence. When the two detectives leave Trent's house, they are harassed by a horde of journalists. That evening, Channel 4 airs a report exposing Trent's criminal record and accusing him of murder. Trent then commits suicide. A LAPD detective leaked information about Trent's criminal record to Channel 4. Bosch exposes the leaker . Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Irvin Irving would like to see Trent's suicide taken as evidence of his guilt in order to avoid a scandal over indiscretion. Bosch defends himself against this request, because he is by no means convinced that Trent killed the boy.

After a public appeal, a Sheila Delacroix answers and it turns out that her brother Arthur Delacroix was actually the murdered boy. Bosch and Edgar suspect their father. To substantiate the suspicion, they want to speak to a childhood friend of Arthur Delacroix, a Johnny Stokes, now a petty criminal. When they approach Stokes, who works in a car wash, he escapes. Other police officers are also involved in the persecution, including Julia Brasher. She provides the fugitive. When arrested, she uses her weapon. A shot is fired - Julia Brasher shoots herself in the shoulder, the bullet ricochets off a bone and injures her heart. Bosch joins them, but cannot see exactly what happened. He tries to stop the bleeding on Julia's wound. She dies on the way to the hospital. Her funeral takes place just two days later.

Since the interrogation of Johnny Stokes did not reveal any further information, Bosch and Edgar obtain a search warrant for the trailer of Arthur's father, Samuel Delacroix. He immediately confesses to the act. But Bosch doubts whether the admission is true. When he tries to search the trailer again late at night, he meets Sheila. He discovers photos that show that the father abused the daughter. Bosch confronts Sheila about this, and she admits that it was she who hit her little brother, not the father. So the father wasn't the murderer; he confessed because he thought his daughter had killed her brother and he wanted to protect her out of guilt.

The investigation is at the beginning again. Bosch and Edgar systematically try to find out who lived on Wonderland Avenue in 1980. Bosch discovered that Johnny Stokes was temporarily staying with a family there and had Arthur Delacroix's skateboard. The police find out that Stokes is in an abandoned hotel building and want to arrest him there. When arrested, Stokes is shot. The only police officer who fired a shot was Julia Brasher's partner.

Bosch expects that after this case, he could be forced into retirement. On January 12, 2002, however, Bosch was promoted back to the LAPD's headquarters in the Parker Center in downtown Los Angeles by Vice President Irving of the Hollywood division. Irving says this would allow him to keep a closer eye on Bosch. However, on the evening of January 14th, Bosch left the LAPD by locking his police ID and service weapon in his desk and opening the key to Lt. Leaves Billets desk.

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  1. ↑ For ranks in the Los Angeles Police Department, see Los Angeles Police Department .

Cross references

At Julia Brasher's funeral, Harry Bosch meets Dr. Carmen Hinojos, a LAPD psychologist. In The Last Coyote , Harry Bosch was “ordered” by his superiors to hold regular meetings with Dr. To visit Honojos, who, contrary to Bosch's prejudice, turned out to be an empathetic conversation partner.

reception

Kirkus Review concludes that “City of Bones” (original title) is a “bone”, “thrown at the loyal followers while they wait for another case that can keep up with ' Darker Than the Night '. “The novel earned more praise in the review in Publishers Weekly , in which“ Bosch at its best ”is seen. In complete contrast to Kirkus Review, the reviewer of the Los Angeles Times finds 'No angel so pure' is far superior to the previous novel 'Darker than the Night' and sees Bosch as a “credible incarnation of Chandler's modern knight”. The Krimicouch misses the rough side of Harry Bosch in this novel a bit, but comes to the overall verdict: “'No angel so pure' (the original title 'City of Bones' is much better and also justified by the author) cannot catch every concern avoid, doesn’t win any new pages from its topic. What remains is by no means the best Bosch novel, but a neatly constructed thriller that entertains over the entire distance. "

expenditure

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kirkus Review: City of Bones by Michael Connelly
  2. ^ Publishers Weekly: City of Bones
  3. ↑ Jack Nessel: Just Say Noir LA Times, April 7, 2002
  4. ↑ Michael Drewniok: Does not win any new pages from the topic, but is a neatly constructed thriller Krimi couch.de, January 2003