NIGHTSHADE by Michael Connelly

5 stars!

Connelly introduces us to an awesome new police detective hero Harry Stilwell, who much like Harry Bosch, gets himself in frequent trouble with the upper brass in pursuing justice but stands resolute in his quest for the truth.

Harry Stilwell has been transferred as punishment by his superiors to Santa Catalina Island off the coast from L.A.- an outpost to which the L.A. County Sheriff’s department exiles political troublemakers. In Harry’s case, in L.A. he continued to pursue and expose the true murderer in a murder involving police corruption after his superior deemed the case closed based on a conveniently blamed, but innocent suspect. And even with his department exile, Harry holds true to the high moral principles that drive his work.

Harry has actually overcome his exile resentment and come to love working in Catalina, partially due to interesting criminal cases unfolding and mostly his budding romance with Tash, a deputy in charge of the island’s harbor operations. Harry finds himself with two new cases on his hands, first with the felonious decapitating of a buffalo on Catalina’s nature preserve and then with the dead body of a young woman that gotten twisted in the chain of an anchor in the harbor.

Harry focuses on the murder investigation and the exclusive wealthy boat club where the missing woman worked, only to find the case swept out from under him and handed to a mainland team of police investigators to handle. This team includes the lazy and hostile investigator who got Harry exiled to Catalina to the first place. Harry doesn’t trust the team for good reason, and continues to pursue island-based leads that ultimately lead him to mainland based suspects. Harry risks even further disciplinary action by refusing to stop investigating, when the mainland ignores what really was going on and how an island based crime boss may be in the thick of things.

Like the launch of Harry Bosch, hopefully we can eagerly anticipate many more Harry Stilwell adventures, where we learn more about his back story, root for his relationship with Tash and him staying on Catalina, and get him stubbornly holding out for justice in the cases that come his way and in his political power struggles with the mainland politicos in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Thanks to Little, Brown and Company as well as NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.