Michael Connelly Launches a New Series Set on Catalina Island
Santa Catalina Island, 22 miles long and eight miles wide, sits in the Pacific Ocean about 29 miles from Long Beach, California. Despite its size, Catalina is quite diverse, with canyons, sandy beaches, and the 2,097-foot Mount Orizaba. The island’s beauty is a magnet for the rich and famous. The perfect place for a new mystery series crafted by bestselling author Michael Connelly.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Stilwell (we don’t learn his first name) has much in common with Connelly’s iconic LA Detective Harry Bosch. They are skilled detectives who have little patience for department politics. Bosch’s conflicts with the police brass often meant he was suspended and forced to solve cases while going rogue. Stilwell’s missteps landed him on Catalina, viewed as a post where nothing much happens. But as Connelly regulars know, detectives like Bosch have a habit of attracting crime.
Much to his surprise, Stilwell likes living on Catalina. A skilled boater and diver, he’s drawn to the water. He’s found romance with Tash Dano, a longtime Catalina resident who shares his love for the water. Although she works in the harbormaster’s office and often interacts with Stilwell, they manage to keep their relationship under the radar. But the next case that comes Stilwell’s way places her in danger that jeopardizes whatever future he had envisioned.
The body of a young woman is found in the harbor. Stilwell believes she didn’t die where she was found but was taken downstream by the currents. Because Catalina is within the jurisdiction of the LAPD, detectives from the mainland are sent to investigate, including Stilwell’s nemesis, Detective Ahearn. Although warned off the case, Stilwell finds a way to continue looking into the young woman’s murder.
Charles Crane, the general manager of the Black Marlin, a private club on the island, reported the theft of a small black-jade sculpture of a black marlin rising from the ocean’s surface. The sculpture was displayed on a pedestal in the club’s entry hall. Crane had told police that he noticed the sculpture was missing shortly after he fired an employee named Leigh-Anne Moss for inappropriate behavior. Known by her nickname, “Nightshade,” Moss became too friendly with some of the club’s members, which Crane said was frowned upon. After several warnings, he tells Stilwell, he had to let her go. He believes before she left the club, she took the sculpture with her. What interests Stilwell is her description – a purple streak in her hair, matching that from the woman’s body in the harbor.
Although Stilwell is ahead of the LAPD, he’s also poked a bear. Powerful forces on the island, poaching on a protective reserve, are working to keep their secrets hidden. To bring justice to Moss, he will have to work fast and, at the same time, ward off violence that will affect those he cares about. Connelly once again creates flesh and blood characters and plot lines that unfold slowly but deliver a punch. This new Stilwell series doesn’t disappoint and fans will eagerly be waiting for book two.
Connelly is having a big year. The Amazon Prime series, Bosch Legacy, starring Titus Welliver as the LAPD detective, is streaming its final episodes, launching on July 9 another series, Ballard, starring Maggie Q, as Renée Ballard, a cold case detective who often works with Bosch. (Welliver will be making guest appearances.) The Proving Ground, eighth in the Lincoln Lawyer series, will be published on October 21. And season four of The Lincoln Lawyer, starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo in the title role, will stream on Netflix in the fall. Will a Stilwell series soon be on the drawing boards? Let the guessing begin on who will star and where and when the series will land.
Nightshade
Michael Connelly
Top photo: Bigstock
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