THE CROSSING
By Michael Connelly.  Allen & Unwin.  $32.95

When Michael Connelly was in Canberra earlier this year he told the audience at the National Library that he had no plans to stop writing about his popular LA detective Harry Bosch.

"Whenever I am done writing or whenever I die, I hope I am writing a Harry Bosch story at that time," he said.

Connelly admitted though that he has to take his detective, who has aged in real time throughout the course of series and is now in his mid-60s, in a new direction.

At the conclusion of the last novel, The Burning Room, Bosch got himself suspended from the Los Angeles Police Department on a trumped-up complaint.  Instead of fighting the suspension, which would have entailed months of paperwork and financial discomfort, Bosch capitulated so that he could pay for his daughter's college expenses.

At the beginning of The Crossing, Bosch, like Ian Rankin's Rebus, is coping badly with retirement.  When his half-brother, and hero of Connelly's other popular series, Mickey "The Lincoln Lawyer" Haller offers Bosch a job, he is initially reluctant to cross over onto the dark side and work for the defence: "It'll undo everything I did with the badge."

The slick defence lawyer wants Bosch to find evidence to clear his client of the murder of a woman named Lexi Parks, the wife of a sheriff's deputy, found bludgeoned to death in her bed. The DNA evidence at the scene of the crime points to Haller's client, but the lawyer is convinced of his client's innocence.  After an illegal look at the police file, Bosch also decides that something is not quite right.  Soon he is on the case, but on his terms, not Haller's.

"I don't really care about alternate theories or reasonable doubt," he says.  "To me, it's a simple equation.  If your client didn't do it, then I'm going to find out who did."

Once underway the story moves quickly and Bosch's unravelling of the police's case offers plenty of twists and turns.  Connelly expertly imbues his tale with a sense of menace from the opening pages and the plot smoothly builds to a tense and exciting climax.

As usual, the dialogue is spot-on and convincing, and the writing is sharp and interesting.  The exchanges between Bosch and Haller are witty and amusing, and for regular fans of the books there are also some wry insider references to Matthew McConaughey, who played Haller in the film version of The Lincoln Lawyer.

In all, a very enjoyable read that is sure to delight Bosch's legion of fans.

Jeff Popple is a Canberra reviewer.