A review by mackenzierm
The Night Fire by Michael Connelly

4.0

Detective Harry Bosch had an inspiring mentor when he was a rookie detective who taught him to take the work personally and be relentless with every case. After his mentor’s funeral, Bosch is handed a murder book that was taken after his mentor left the LAPD twenty years earlier. It’s an unsolved killing of a troubled young man in an alley used for drug deals. Bosch teams up with Detective Renee Ballard to help him find what about this case had lit his mentor up all those years ago. 

THE NIGHT FIRE marks the third book in the Renee Ballard series which is set within the Harry Bosch Universe. Ballard is a great protagonist for this novel, and this series; she’s smart, strong, and curious. Her work ethic is excellent, with a deep need to get to the truth.

I enjoyed Ballard’s collaboration with Bosch in book two, and was thrilled to see their teamwork grow here as they continue to work on cold cases ‘under the wire’. The cases they work are interesting, layered, and twisty. I loved trying to figure out how the seemingly unconnected cases tied together as key information was revealed. 

I can’t wait to see what Ballard and Bosch will get up to next!