Trunk Music by Michael Connelly

 

It was a routine case, if murder can ever be called routine.  The victim was Tony Alisio and he was found on Mulholland Drive near his home in the hills, shot and stuffed in the trunk of his car.  Harry Bosch gets the call.  It's his first murder in a while as he has been in another department and has just come back to Homicide.  He leads a team of two other detectives, Jerry Edgar and Kiz Rider.  

The victim is returning from a trip to Las Vegas.  As the detectives start to investigate they discover that Tony is often in Vegas.  His wife is a cold beauty who doesn't seem that upset by her husband's demise and it soon emerges that Tony went to Vegas to gamble and have other women.  It's also quickly apparent that the source of his wealth is not the low-rent porn movies he makes but laundering money for the mob.  Was this a robbery of mob cash or was his wife finally tired of Tony's disrespect and catting around?

Bosch investigates the case in both Los Angeles and in Las Vegas.  While there, he runs into someone he thought he'd never see again.  Eleanor Wish had been an FBI agent the first time she and Harry had met.  They had a love affair but Eleanor ended up caught up in crime.  She lost her job and served time in federal prison and Harry feels that it was partly his fault.  Although he is still interested, he doesn't know if they can ever get past what happened before.  

This is the fifth novel in the Harry Bosch series.  For those following the series, this one fills in more of Bosch's background and introduces the woman who will be so important in Harry's life going forward.  The murder involves not only a twisted plot line but insights into the criminal world of gambling, the inner politics of the police force and the interrelationships between various police forces and other agencies such as the FBI.  There are multiple surprises and this novel is recommended for mystery readers.