A Protest On Connelly's Use of Vigilante Justice

I ended my review of Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly, my last post, by referring to my disappointment in the ending involving vigilante justice.

Reading about the LAPD being vigilantes and Ballard and Bosch deliberately breaking the law, let alone the rules of police conduct, left me discouraged.  Connelly, a great writer, is resorting to investigations being solved by misconduct not skilled investigations. Such an approach supports a view that justice in America is meted out by the police investigating, judging and punishing those persons they determine are guilty.

Integrity is rare enough in the world.

The means justifies the ends inevitably leads to vigilante justice and disrespect for the Rule of Law.

Apparently I am a minority of one in the reviewing world at having regret over Connelly having Bosch and Ballard disregarding procedure and the laws of the land. Threatening torture to gain confessions is popular in crime fiction but erases the lines between bad guys and good guys.

We do not need trials if the police can mete out punishment for those they find guilty.

Centuries of hard won rules of proper conduct are at risk.

Maybe there are police officers we can rely on to only break the rules with regard to evil men and women.

Bosch would say to trust him. What about the thousands of L.A. police officers who do not get every case right? Who sometimes focus on the wrong person? Should police get to unilaterally decide punishment? What happens when the police engage in misconduct?

Harry’s signature phrase of “everybody counts or nobody counts” means respect for all victims of murder whether good or bad people. It is not always a popular creed. I wish he had the same regard for the laws of America.

Connelly resorted to an easy conventional solution of police misconduct for the greater good. Such an ending is a waste of his talent. I despair when intelligent sleuths cease using skill and resort to violence and illegal actions.

****

Connelly, Michael – (2000) - Void Moon; (2001) - A Darkness More than Night; (2001) - The Concrete Blonde (Third best fiction of 2001); (2002) - Blood Work (The Best);  (2002) - City of Bones; (2003) - Lost Light; (2004) - The Narrows; (2005) - The Closers (Tied for 3rd best fiction of 2005); (2005) - The Lincoln Lawyer; (2007) - Echo Park; (2007) - The Overlook; (2008) - The Brass Verdict; (2009) – The Scarecrow; (2009) – Nine Dragons; (2011) - The Reversal; (2011) - The Fifth Witness; (2012) - The Drop; (2012) - Black Echo; (2012) - Harry Bosch: The First 20 Years; (2012) - The Black Box; (2014) - The Gods of Guilt; (2014) - The Bloody Flag Move is Sleazy and Unethical; (2015) - The Burning Room; (2015) - Everybody Counts or Nobody Counts; (2016) - The Crossing; (2016) - Lawyers and Police Shifting Sides; (2017) - The Wrong Side of Goodbye and A Famous Holograph Will; (2017) - Bosch - T.V. - Season One and Titus Welliver as Harry Bosch; (2018) - Two Kinds of Truth; (2019) - Dark Sacred Night; Hardcover

Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly

Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly - Harry Bosch and Connelly’s newest detective, Reneè

Ballard, become partners in Dark Sacred Night.

Harry has started investigating the cold case of Daisy Clayton. Nine years ago the 15 year old girl had been taken from the streets of Hollywood and killed. She had been a runaway from Modesto caught up in drugs and prostitution.

He had met her mother, Elizabeth, while working undercover as a pill shill in Two Kinds of Truth. She had drifted into being a pill shill after she become a drug addict and indifferent to life. She was consumed by guilt. Bosch provided her with money for treatment. Having completed rehab she is staying in his home while he investigates Daisy’s murder. The unorthodox relationship has had an unexpected consequence in that Maddie, Bosch’s daughter at university, has sharply limited contact with Bosch in disapproval.

Ballard, in her well established on the night show (the overnight shift), catches Harry looking in an LAPD file cabinet. She cleverly deduces his interest in the old files and joins him in the tedious cold case investigation.

Poetic summaries of interviews of street people from years past by an officer, Tim Farmer, catch her attention and mine:

This is not first nor the last time we will cross paths with

“Eagle.”

A deep, cancerous river of hate and violence courses

through his veins

I can feel it.

He waits, He hates. He blames the world for its betrayal of

all hope.

I fear for us.

At the same time Harry, still working as a volunteer with the San Fernando Police Department, is attempting to solve a cold case there.

The intriguing aspect of the investigation was a forensic attempt to solve the crime by digging out of a wall in a garage a pair of bullets test fired by the killer who was using a homemade silencer.

Bosch is more vulnerable than I can recall. He wants a deeper longer personal relationship instead of the short term affairs of recent years. He acknowledges making a serious error in the San Fernando case.

Ballard and Bosch work together better than Haller and Bosch. With Ballard a fellow police officer there is none of the tension inherent in the relationship between Haller, a lawyer, and Bosch, a detective.

Not many of Bosch’s past partners can match his obsession and stamina. Ballard is just as driven. As well, she is bored from being sidelined to the night shift after filing a complaint of sexual misconduct against another officer.

As Bosch considers his future there is a dramatic situation. To say more would be a spoiler. It has been awhile since Connelly has written a chase against time. He is brilliant at building tension. I was racing through the pages.

After a brilliant opening and powerful investigation the resolution was disappointing. Connelly can do better than vigilante justice.

****

Connelly, Michael – (2000) - Void Moon; (2001) - A Darkness More than Night; (2001) - The Concrete Blonde (Third best fiction of 2001); (2002) - Blood Work (The Best);  (2002) - City of Bones; (2003) - Lost Light; (2004) - The Narrows; (2005) - The Closers (Tied for 3rd best fiction of 2005); (2005) - The Lincoln Lawyer; (2007) - Echo Park; (2007) - The Overlook; (2008) - The Brass Verdict; (2009) – The Scarecrow; (2009) – Nine Dragons; (2011) - The Reversal; (2011) - The Fifth Witness; (2012) - The Drop; (2012) - Black Echo; (2012) - Harry Bosch: The First 20 Years; (2012) - The Black Box; (2014) - The Gods of Guilt; (2014) - The Bloody Flag Move is Sleazy and Unethical; (2015) - The Burning Room; (2015) - Everybody Counts or Nobody Counts; (2016) - The Crossing; (2016) - Lawyers and Police Shifting Sides; (2017) - The Wrong Side of Goodbye and A Famous Holograph Will; (2017) - Bosch - T.V. - Season One and Titus Welliver as Harry Bosch; (2018) - Two Kinds of Truth; Hardcover

I Have Been Wondering Moira?

Dear Moira:

After reading Friends and Traitors I was looking around and found your review of the book and the amazing photo of a bright red dress to accompany the quote from the book about the spectacular dress. (Here is a link to your post - http://clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2017/10/friends-and-traitors-by-john-lawton.html

While I liked the dress it did not fit my image of a gown that was clasped by a single button that created an erotic scene when released.

After searching for photos of red dresses I found the image that is at the top of this post. It appears it could be held together by a single button.

Continuing my quest I found another striking red gown to the right which has the possibility of a solo button.

The dress image you chose is of a 1955 dress. I did wonder whether the dresses I chose are unlikely to have been like dresses created in the late 1950’s. If they are not 1950's style dresses I expect Lawton’s description of the red dress of his book was equally improbable.

Whether historically accurate I believe the red dresses of this post are fictionally accurate.

Reflecting on red dresses further set me to thinking of red Mandarin dresses. Xiu Xiaolong wrote an Inspector Chen book, Red Mandarin Dress. The iconic Chinese dress played an important role in the book.

I thought how striking it would have been for Venetia to have worn a red Mandarin dress in her London mansion though in looking at the form fitting dress for which I have an image it would have been difficult to walk down, let alone make a sensual descent of her staircase in this red Mandarin dress. (There I go again letting practical thoughts interfere with fashion and romance.)

Still with wealth at her command I expect she could have purchased such a dress. It would have been a dramatic addition to the book.

In a reply to a comment on your post you spoke of wanting to wear the red Balenciaga gown featured in you post.

Thus I have been wondering would you want to wear the dresses shown in this post?

You continue to be an inspiration on the importance of clothes in books.

All the best.

Bill

****

Friends and Traitors by John Lawton

Friends and Traitors by John Lawton

Friends and Traitors by John Lawton - What a start. One of the Cambridge Five spies, Guy Burgess, is a friend of Inspector Frederick Troy and his family in the mid-1930’s. It was a surprising and intriguing opening. Burgess creates an immediate impression as a heavy drinker with a “high-pitched snort” of a giggle. He is also known as “one of the most notorious buggers in London”.

They muddle through the war with Burgess living a flamboyant lifestyle.

In 1951 Burgess leaves for Russia. Troy describes him as “a queer buffon”. It is ill-suited to the grim life of Soviet Russia.

The plot was drifting until Burgess approaches Troy in Vienna about wanting to return to England. In a brilliant passage Lawton evokes the longing of an exile:

“I miss it all. I miss London. I miss the pubs. I miss the Dog & Duck. I miss the Salisbury. I miss the Reform. I miss the RAC. I miss the Gargoyle. I miss that bloke in the pub in Holborn who could farth the national anthem. I miss Tommy Trinder. I miss Max Miller. I miss Billy Cotton. I miss Mantovani. I miss my mother. Oh God. I miss my mother. I miss my flannelette stripy pyjama. I miss the weather. I miss fog. I miss drizzle. Who would ever think anyone in their right mind could miss drizzle? I miss Penguin books. I miss the pelicans in St. James’s Park. I miss the blow jobs in St. James’s Park. I miss the News of the World. I miss The Daily Mirror. I miss sniffing the fresh inkiness of the late edition London evening papers. I miss The Beano. I miss Desperate Dan. I miss Wilfred Pickles and Mabel. I miss Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh. I miss Kenneth Horne. I miss Stinker Murdoch. I miss Arthur Askey. I miss Mrs. Dale’s Diary. I still worry about Jim. I miss Pathe News. I miss Bob Danvers-Walker. I miss the Proms. I miss Malcolm Sargent. I miss Pomp and Circumstance. I miss the Gang Show. I haven’t had a “ging gang goolie goolie wotcha” in years. I miss nipping down east for jellied eels and a bit of rough …..”

Burgess professes to want a quiet life of anonymity. Troy is unconvinced Burgess has the personality to ever fade away from public attention.

Jordan Younghusband from MI5 muses can a spy de-defect?

Does England want him back?

British spies would love to know if he will provide the identities of other Russian spies. Troy gains some information. Burgess names of all of the Cambridge Five. When Troy moves to the question of a Sixth spy Burgess drunkenly avoids an answer. (I discussed the question of the potential Sixth spy in a post I wrote after reading Trinity Six by Charles Cumming. Here is a link (https://mysteriesandmore.blogspot.com/2015/11/trinity-six-by-charles-cumming.html). What might he say if he were properly de-briefed?

Later there is a name for a Sixth spy. It appears to be a fictional name unlike the names of the other actual spies.

Back in London Prime Minister Harold MacMillan succientely advises that he does “not want Burgess back - at any price”.

I had not thought about the challenges of a defector intent on return. He is a traitor. Should he be prosecuted? What will be the public reaction to the return of Burgess? More important what will the Establishment, of which Burgess was a member, think of their betrayer returning to England?

And then there is a killing of a British agent in Vienna.

In official England officialdom focuses on Troy. Could he be a spy? Paranoia has risen after the embarrassment of the Cambridge Five.

It is a spy story with no spying. Friends and Traitors sets out the everyday lives of spies and those who chase them. For these spies and spycatchers it is the routine of ordinary folk who are members of the British Establishment. There is no discussion of secrets obtained and passed on. There is no analysis of mole hunting.

Based on this book few in MI5 would catch a spy. Many are aptly called “plods”. There is precious little of the ruthless subtlety set out by John Le Carre. There is one nondescript spycatcher who is actually a master interrogator. As with the best questioners he gathers all the information possible about the subject before starting an interrogation.

Late in the book there happens to be a murder.

Lawton is a gifted writer. I enjoyed the book but did not find it compelling. Burgess disappears much too early from the plot.

2019 Arthur Ellis Award Winners for Canadian Crime Fiction

It is the best night of the year with the announcement by the Crime Writers of Canada of the winners of the 2019 Arthur Ellis Awards.

CONGRATULATIONS

to the Winners of the

2019 ARTHUR ELLIS AWARDS

BEST CRIME NOVEL

Anne Emery
Though the Heavens Fall  
                                                                                  ECW Press

BEST FIRST CRIME NOVEL
Sponsored by Rakuten Kobo

A.J. Devlin
Cobra Clutch
NeWest Press

BEST CRIME NOVELLA
The Lou Allin Memorial Award

John Lawrence Reynolds
Murder Among the Pines
Orca Book Publishers

BEST CRIME SHORT STORY
Sponsored by Mystery Weekly Magazine

Linda L. Richards
Terminal City
Vancouver Noir, 
Akashic Books

BEST CRIME BOOK IN FRENCH

Hervé Gagnon
Adolphus - Une enquête de Joseph Laflamme
Libre Expression

BEST JUVENILE/YOUNG ADULT CRIME BOOK

Linwood Barclay
Escape
Puffin Canada

BEST NONFICTION CRIME BOOK

Sarah Weinman
The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel that Scandalized the World
Alfred A. Knopf Canada

BEST UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT (aka The Unhanged Arthur)
Sponsored by Dundurn Press

Liv McFarlane
The Scarlet Cross

Of the winners I have read and enjoyed and reviewed Cobra Clutch. Devlin is a talented new crime fiction writer and Jed "Hammerhead" Ounslow a memorable sleuth.

I have not read Anne Emery and intend to read Though the Heavens Fall.

There is a lot of good Canadian crime fiction being written. 

On the Up by Shilo Jones

On the Up by Shilo Jones - A stream of character consciousness. Totally absorbed in themselves.

Jasminder Bansal role playing. Journalist. Now sales associate Marigold Group in Vancouver - It is one of “the largest development firms in the country” -  motive is not money. Wanting evidence. Seeking to exposing of Vincent Peele, a director of Marigold, and Clint Ward, the killer of her brother. Clint now part of Marigold. Aging gangster making the move from drugs to real estate. She will write corruption inside Marigold. Will get her a career in journalism.

Peele bicycle riding young executive. Relentlessly studding speech “progressive” cliches. Still has traditional approach to business.

Mark Ward, Clint’s brother, back in town. Ex-army. Wounded by a bomb in Afghanistan. Clint loves him - wants to dominate him - have him join Clint in crime. Has ex-wife and a child. Was in Thailand. Wants out of Vancouver.

Carl “Blitzo” Reed. Head of successful investment firm. Ethical investing. Loves recreational drugs. High during a business meeting. Mind racing. Thoughts veer in and out of reality. In Tesla. Imaginary pet pig, Holdout, in car. Good conversation with Holdout. Pig has solid investment advice. Call with estranged wife. Is she a robot? Challenging call. Wife no drugs. Concern over daughter. Holdout advising on personal relationships. Flying higher and higher. Blitzo surreal.

From Mark:

Saturday, six-o-fucking-clock in the a.m., twelve hours after landing in

Vancity. Driving one of Clint’s work trucks toward the Cash Corner, early

2000s Ford, not as sick as the Cummins but still dandy, feels good being

behind the wheel, eating an overripe apple I bought at 7-Eleven, dark

outside, winshield wipers on, work boots on, missing Thailand’s sunshine

but not the humidity, should I call Daree? Otherwise feeling flat, wonder

what next-level dope comes after the Oxys, which at this point are mainly

maintenance. Lots of crap careening through my head, jumbled, mostly

excited to get to work, smell fresh-dug dirt, cut lumber, diesel exhaust

form the Bobcat.

Or Carl:

Brand strategy meeting at an as-yet-unnamed organic hop farm/craft

brewery in a valley sideways from Pemberton. Huddled inside

voluminous orange robes, carrying a carved cedar staff adorned with

tinsel, sitting at the head of a table made of rough-hewn planks, under a

threatening sky, whispering incantations, brooding on the politics of the

street. Thinking about liberation in the form of a brick. Smashed

windows, simpler times. Black bloc. Infiltration. Worried my robes make

me look like a sunburned scrotum. Worried about toxins, off-gassing,

fluoride. Worrying that I should be worrying about formaldehyde. Brain

in a jar? Worried that fluoride and formaldehyde rhyme, is someone

trying to tell me something? Worrying about what to worry about next ….

Every character consumes multiple recreational drugs in mind altering quantities. Hard to be convincing. If satire too subtle for me. Who would trust any of them with an investment dollar?

Murder incidental to the plot.

Found hard to read. Normally no review of book not completed. On the Up exception. Post in style of the book.