Ticket 2 Ride

From the writer of Bosch, Ballard and The Lincoln Lawyer, comes the third book in the Catalina series, Ironwood. The book involves four new cases of Detective Sergeant Stilwell of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Stilwell is the lead Sheriff’s deputy on the island of Catalina, a place with a reputation for being the dumping ground for problem deputies.

I’ve never been to Catalina Island, but I feel like I now know the place.

Michael Connelly may be the best crime novelist today. He’s certainly my favorite writer, and I follow some excellent writers. In Ironwood, Connelly has Sgt. Stilwell teaming up with Renee Ballard of the LAPD to identify and apprehend a serial killer. There are brief appearances by Harry Bosch and young LAPD officer Maddy Bosch, but the focus is on mainly Stilwell or “Stil” as he is called by nearly everyone.

As in many Connelly books, there are multiple storylines going on, and one of them involves the murder of a deputy who works for Stil, and how the clues lead inside the Sheriff’s Department. The final pages will make your blood pressure kick up a notch or two.

The Catalina series is becoming one of Connelly’s best. Stil has many qualities of Harry Bosch, he’s a veteran investigator, has a difficult relationship with authority and his department, is dogged in cases, and can’t completely check out at the end of his shift. I’ve known cops like Bosch and Stil, that’s what rings so true as characters – Connelly avoids stereotypes.

One thing I’ve frequently noted about Connelly’s books is how much information he provides about clues or investigative methods. He explains how he gathers facts as he navigates the system.

For example, Stil is looking for a suspect’s boat. Every boat with an engine of any size had to be registered and licensed. Every operator of a boat with an engine had to have a boater card, which was much like a driver’s license and carried the same information about its holder.

He also explains that the law requires boat trailers to be registered too. Stilwell went back to the DMV database and ran Deborah Blackmore’s name. Sure enough, in addition to her driver’s license, she had a boat-trailer registration.

The next example is something I’ve never heard of or read about.

Okay, it was an MIP round. That means metal-impregnated polymer. That’s a polymer matrix mixed with metal particles — in this case, copper. The composition of the recovered fragment is consistent with MIP projectiles manufactured by a company called MIPCO Ammo. Frangible ammo is well-known; its purpose to disintegrate upon impact. Usually, it’s used in training and close contact operations to avoid ricocheting and collateral damage. In Connelly’s book, the intent is something different.

And finally, what is an ironwood tree? Strong wood and durable, protected on Catalina, and known for its shared underground root system. Multiple trees might have one common root. “Everything is connected.”

That last statement applies to other discoveries for Stil

Read the book.