Los Angeles detective Renée Ballard is making the best of the "late show," the long, lonely overnight shift that turns over cases to other detectives. One night, she discovers none other than retired detective Harry Bosch going through cold-case files. Bosch, now a back-up investigator with the tiny San Fernando Police Department, knows as well as Ballard that he shouldn't be there. But their unerring sense of justice is powerful, and they unofficially team up to solve the murder of a 15-year-old girl.
Daisy Clayton was one of countless runaways disposed of on the mean streets of L.A., but Bosch made a promise to Elizabeth, Daisy's mother, a recovering opioid addict struggling to stay sober and to find meaning in life. He has even taken Elizabeth in, straining his relationship with his daughter, Maddie. Meanwhile, Ballard juggles multiple cases on the night shift and Bosch finds himself the target of a violent San Fernando gang that leaves one witness dead--with Bosch's business card stuffed in the victim's mouth.
Dark Sacred Night is a magnificently complex thriller and an outstanding entry for both lead characters. Ballard, introduced in The Late Show last year, is still paying the price for filing a sexual harassment complaint. And Bosch believes he saved Elizabeth from the throes of addiction, only to be "left with the question of whether he had rescued her at all." Ballard's willingness to bend the rules and Bosch's propensity to break them make for a gripping police procedural with surprises at every turn. --Frank Brasile, librarian