Two Kinds of Truth (Harry Bosch Series #20). By Michael Connelly, Narrator: Titus Welliver.

Two Kinds of Truth (Harry Bosch Series #20). By Michael Connelly, Narrator: Titus Welliver. 2017. Hachette Audio. ASIN: B071FJF4S4 (Unabridged audiobook, 9 hrs 54 mins)

When Harry Bosch is asked by the San Fernando Police Department to work an active homicide case involving two murdered pharmacists, he finds himself infiltrating the dangerous world of pill mills. Meanwhile, an old case from Bosch's LAPD days has been resurrected by the newly created Conviction Integrity Unit with the claim that Bosch framed a man who has been on death row for the last 30 years. With his relationship with the LAPD strained, it is up to Harry, with a little help from the Lincoln Lawyer, to clear his name and prevent the release of a killer. By way of the two cases, Bosch discovers that there are two kinds of truths that will forever haunt him. This story can be read as a stand-alone and recommended to readers new to the series.

This engaging thriller is narrated by Titus Welliver, who portrays Bosch in the TV adaptation of Connelly’s series. Not surprisingly, Welliver has no trouble in voicing the hardboiled Harry and setting the tone immediately, but listeners will find he voices the other characters to perfection as well.

417 pages 

MOBIUS

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

After Storm of Swords I needed something short and sweet so I finally picked up this book that has been sitting on my shelf for at least a year. I really liked it! You can tell that this is the inspiration for the typical P.I. noir. Street smart Phillip Marlowe takes on a case with the rich Sternwood patriarch and the mysteries unfold. It has a great pace and the action kept my attention. It was really hard to put the book down! Recommend for anyone who loves a good detective story. Now I need to watch the movie with good ol' Bogart.

Rating 4/5
Pages: 231

"Cover Me" by L.A. Witt

Nick Swain is a paramedic answering a call in a bad neighborhood where several people have been shot when he has a gun shoved in his face and threatened with death for trying to treat one of the victims.  Although he makes it through the call, the friend of another victim who died at the scene labels him a racist and threatens to kill him, too.  The media then steps in to publicize all of this, and Nick's normal life is turned upside down.  He begins to have panic attacks and feels like he's being followed.  Andrew Carmichael, a police detective whose wounded partner Nick treated at the shooting, tries to help him cope while tracking down the two men who threatened Nick.  But Nick is becoming unwound, and when a bullet is left on the dashboard of his car, he feels doomed.

This was an exciting and well written story, especially the descriptions of Nick's anxiety and fear when he has to go back into the bad neighborhood to answer another emergency and is nearly mobbed.  He and Andrew connect with their high stress and dangerous jobs, and the author did well in explaining the helplessness both men feel in their situations.  I'd like to read more since this is the first book in a series.  325 pages (Kindle edition).

The Keeper of Lost Causes: Department Q, Book 1, By Jussi Adler-Olsen

I turned to this from a Goodreads recommendation after reading The Girl in the Spider's Web, for Jussi Adler-Olsen is a Danish author who writes intricate mysteries, just as Steig Larsson did.  This was a worthy choice.  It introduces Carl Mørck, a detective who has just survived an ambush in which one of his colleagues is killed and the other is paralyzed.  Carl hesitated a moment and did not draw his weapon, so he is wracked with guilt; the last thing he expects is a promotion, but the promotion to Department Q is really to get rid of him.  It is a department of one, save the Syrian immigrant who is assigned to clean, but there is much more to Assad than initially meets the eye.  Carl is assigned very cold cases, which no one really expects him to solve, but then they didn't really know Carl Mørck.

His first case is a female member of parliament who disappeared while on a cruise five years earlier.  It is a fine procedural detective novel with twists and turns that will keep the reader guessing until its surprising conclusion.

Translated from Danish,  416 pages