Michael Connelly

Michael Joseph Connelly (born July 21, 1956) is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller, including 10 (as of 2025) with both those characters.

Connelly is the bestselling author of 42 novels and one work of non-fiction (as of May 2026), with over 74 million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into 40 languages. His first novel, The Black Echo, won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. In 2002, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie adaptation of Connelly's 1997 novel, Blood Work. In March 2011, the movie adaptation of Connelly's novel The Lincoln Lawyer starred Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller. Connelly was the President of the Mystery Writers of America from 2003 to 2004.

Early life

Connelly was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second eldest child of W. Michael Connelly, a property developer, and Mary Connelly, a homemaker. He is of Irish ancestry. According to Connelly, his father was a frustrated artist who encouraged his children to want to succeed in life and was a risk taker who alternated between success and failure in his pursuit of a career. Connelly's mother was a fan of crime fiction and introduced her son to the world of mystery novels. where Raymond Chandler's character Philip Marlowe had lived (in his 1942 novel The High Window), and Robert Altman had used for his film The Long Goodbye (1973). Connelly got the manager of the building to promise to phone him if the apartment ever became available. Ten years later the manager tracked Connelly down and Connelly decided to rent the place. This apartment served as a place to write for several years.

After three years at the Los Angeles Times Connelly wrote his first published novel, The Black Echo (1992), after previously writing two unfinished novels that he did not attempt to get published. The book is partly based on a true crime and is the first one featuring Connelly's primary recurring character, Los Angeles Police Department Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch,

Connelly wrote another book featuring Bosch, Angels Flight (1999), before writing Void Moon (2000), a free-standing book about Las Vegas thief Cassie Black. In 2001 A Darkness More Than Night was published, in which Connelly united Bosch and McCaleb to solve a crime together, before releasing two books in 2002. The first, City of Bones, was the eighth Bosch novel, and the other, Chasing the Dime, was a non-series novel. a non-fiction book about Connelly's experiences as a crime reporter, Connelly went back to Bosch with Echo Park (2006). was published in November 2011. The next Bosch novel was The Black Box (2012). Connelly's subsequent novel, a legal thriller, was a return to Haller: The Gods of Guilt (2013). His next book returned to Bosch in The Burning Room (2014), and then Connelly used Haller as a main supporting character in the Bosch novels The Crossing (2015) and The Wrong Side of Goodbye (2016).

In 2017, Connelly's first novel featuring Detective Renée Ballard, The Late Show, was published. Like Bosch, she works in Hollywood, but on the night shift. Ballard and Bosch appeared together in five subsequent novels: Dark Sacred Night (2018), The Night Fire (2019), The Dark Hours (2021), Desert Star (2022) and The Waiting (2024).

Film and television

Connelly was one of the creators and executive producers of Level 9, an action TV series that aired for 13 episodes in the 2000–2001 season on the UPN television network.
His novel Blood Work was adapted into a 2002 film with a screenplay by Brian Helgeland and direction by Clint Eastwood, who also played the lead role.
Connelly is the subject of the video documentary Blue Neon Night: Michael Connelly's Los Angeles (2004).
He occasionally made guest appearances as himself in the ABC comedy/drama TV series Castle. Along with fellow crime authors James Patterson, Dennis Lehane, and Stephen J. Cannell, he was one of Castle's poker buddies.
Connelly's novel The Lincoln Lawyer was made into a film in 2011, with Matthew McConaughey playing defense lawyer Michael "Mickey" Haller.
In 2022, A&E Studios developed Connelly's second novel in The Lincoln Lawyer series, The Brass Verdict, into a 10-episode series simply titled The Lincoln Lawyer (TV series). The series was cancelled by CBS and picked up by Netflix. The series was positively received by critics and audiences, reaching #2 on the most viewed series on Netflix in its first three days. A second season based on The Fifth Witness was released in 2023, and a third season based on The Gods of Guilt was released in 2024. A fourth season based on The Law of Innocence was released in February 2026, and it has been renewed for a fifth season to be based on Resurrection Walk.
Connelly is the executive producer of Sound of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story, a documentary about the jazz saxophone player, Frank Morgan.
Connelly produced a TV series for Amazon Studios called Bosch, based on Connelly's Harry Bosch novels. It began streaming on Amazon Prime in early 2014, and ran for seven seasons on Amazon, concluding in 2021. A spin-off called Bosch: Legacy, also produced by Connelly, began streaming on Amazon Freevee in 2022. It ended in April 2025, after three seasons.
Connelly's short story Avalon is being adapted into a television series by David E. Kelley and Connelly for ABC.
In 2024, Connelly hosted and wrote The Wonderland Massacre & The Secret History of Hollywood, a documentary series for MGM+ that adapted his 2021 true crime podcast about the Wonderland murders.
In 2025, Ballard premiered on Prime Video starring Maggie Q as Renée Ballard, leading a team of volunteers on the LAPD cold case unit. Season 1 was based on Desert Star with elements from The Late Show and The Dark Hours. The series was renewed for a second season in October, 2025.

Awards and honors

Connelly has won nearly every major award given to mystery writers, including the Edgar Award, Anthony Award, Macavity Award, Los Angeles Times Best Mystery/Thriller Award, Shamus Award, Dilys Award, Nero Award, Barry Award, Audie Award, Ridley Award, Maltese Falcon Award (Japan), .38 Caliber Award (France), the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière (France) and Premio Bancarella Award (Italy). In 2012, The Black Box won the world's most lucrative crime fiction award, the RBA Prize for Crime Writing worth €125,000.

He received the Cartier Diamond Dagger in 2018 from the Crime Writers' Association.

Writing techniques

When starting a book, he says, the story is not always clear, but Connelly has “a hunch” as to where it is going. David Geherin states that Connelly "deliberately avoids ornate language, the kind that makes the reader stop and savor the choice of words or elegant phrasing. He doesn't want anything to inhibit the forward momentum he is working to create."

Detective Bosch's life usually changes in harmony with Connelly's own life. When Connelly moved 3,000 miles across the country, Bosch's experiences sent him in a new direction in City of Bones, written at that time. According to Connelly, his "real" job is to write about Bosch,

Joel Bremmer - Keisha Russell's predecessor on the LA Times crime beat. In The Concrete Blonde, it is established that Bremmer wrote a novel about a string of murders committed by a serial killer known as "The Dollmaker." Bremmer used this pattern as a cover to commit several murders of his own.
Earl Briggs – Haller's regular driver until The Gods of Guilt, when he is killed in a car crash.
Elizabeth Clayton – a drug addict who helps Bosch in Two Kinds of Truth; in return he tries to help find the murderer of Elizabeth's daughter Daisy. Elizabeth commits suicide in Dark Sacred Night.
John Chastain – former LAPD Internal Affairs detective, killed during the events of Angels Flight.
David Chu – Bosch's partner in RHD Special Homicide. Was with LAPD's Asian Gangs Unit (AGU) during the events of 9 Dragons.
Teresa Corazon – Bosch's love interest in The Black Ice, appears later in City of Bones and A Darkness More than Night; medical expert examiner.
Jerry "Jed" Edgar (aka J. Edgar) – Bosch's former partner in Hollywood Homicide squad; appears in Two Kinds of Truth as a member of the Medical Board of California.
Ignacio "Iggy" Ferras – Bosch's former partner in the RHD Homicide Special Unit, killed during the events of 9 Dragons.
Hayley Haller – Daughter of Mickey Haller and Maggie McPherson; Harry Bosch's niece.
Aaron Hayes – A lifeguard at the beach Ballard often surfs or sleeps at. He has a casual sexual relationship with Ballard.
Carmen Hinojos – LAPD psychologist; first appears in The Last Coyote, Bosch later contacts her upon returning from Hong Kong to help Maddie cope with the events of 9 Dragons.
Irvin S. Irving – former LAPD Deputy Chief and Bosch's chief nemesis in the department, later an L.A. city councilman.
John Iverson - Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Detective in Trunk Music, appears later in Void Moon.
Thelma Kibble – Cassie Black's parole officer.
Howard Kurlen – detective in Van Nuys Division and frequent opponent of Haller's on the stand
Janis Langwiser – former prosecutor, now a criminal defense attorney.
Raul Levin – Mickey Haller's private investigator in The Lincoln Lawyer. Killed during the events.
Roy Lindell (aka "Luke Goshen") – FBI agent who first appears in Trunk Music.
Buddy Lockridge – McCaleb's friend and business associate.
Lola – Ballard's dog, a rescue, appears in every book Ballard appears in.
Bella Lourdes – Bosch's partner at the San Fernando Police Department; appears in The Wrong Side of Goodbye and assists Bosch and Ballard in Dark Sacred Night.
Oscar Luzon – A colleague of Bosch's at the San Fernando Police Department; appears in Two Kinds of Truth. In Dark Sacred Night Luzon is discovered to have tipped off gangster friends about an investigation, and attempts to commit suicide while being detained, resulting in Bosch's dismissal from the department.
Maggie "McFierce" McPherson – A prosecutor in the Van Nuys Division, Haller's first ex-wife.
Robert Olivas – Lieutenant of RHD in The Late Show who sexually harassed Ballard. Her complaint resulted in her transfer to the Late Show when no one backed her up. Has been promoted to Captain by the time of The Night Fire.
Lucius Porter – Hollywood Homicide Detective (The Black Echo and The Black Ice).
Harvey "Ninety-Eight" Pounds – Bosch's ex-supervisor in Hollywood Homicide squad, murdered in The Last Coyote.
Abel Pratt – LAPD Open-Unsolved Unit supervisor.
Kizmin "Kiz" Rider – Bosch's former partner in Hollywood Homicide squad and the RHD Open-Unsolved Unit; now an aide to the L.A. chief of police. When introduced, she was in a same-sex relationship with her commanding officer, Lt. Grace Billets.
Graciela Rivers-McCaleb. Terry McCaleb meets Graciela and her nephew Raymond at the beginning of Blood Work. In A Darkness More Than Night Terry and Graciela are married and living on Catalina Island, and they have a young daughter and have adopted Raymond. In The Narrows she moves back to the mainland with the children.
Keisha Russell – Los Angeles Times reporter, started on the Los Angeles crime beat, Now based in D.C., and occasionally provided information for Bosch. Jack McEvoy's ex-wife.
Larry Sakai – Coroner technician with the LAPD.
Francis "Frankie" Sheehan – Bosch's original partner in Robbery-Homicide Division.
Lucia "Lucky" Soto – Bosch's partner in The Burning Room. Assists Ballard in Dark Sacred Night.
Lorna Taylor – Mickey Haller's current secretary and second ex-wife.
Ed Thomas – Hollywood Homicide Detective (mentioned in The Poet, appears later in The Narrows).
Steven Vascik – A process server in Angels Flight, based on a real-life acquaintance of the author. Vascik is credited with photos of Hong Kong on the author's website (photo gallery 15–17).
Jaye Winston – Detective with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, works alongside both Bosch and McCaleb in Blood Work and A Darkness More Than Night.
Eleanor Wish – ex-FBI agent, ex-con and Bosch's ex-wife, mother of Bosch's daughter Maddie; moved to Hong Kong. Killed during the events of 9 Dragons.
Dennis "Cisco" Wojciechowski – Mickey Haller's private investigator. Formerly associated with the Road Saints motorcycle gang who bestowed him with the nickname Cisco in reference to The Cisco Kid. (Wojciechowski is named after Connelly's real-life investigator, who, like Bosch, is a Vietnam veteran.)

Published works

Novels

Author

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="margin-right: 0;"

! Title

! Book number

! Publication date

! Featuring

! Also featuring

| The Black Echo

| style="text-align:center"| 1

| style="text-align:center"| 1992

| Harry Bosch (1)

| Eleanor Wish

| The Black Ice

| style="text-align:center"| 2

| style="text-align:center"| 1993

| Harry Bosch (2)

| rowspan="3" |

| The Concrete Blonde

| style="text-align:center"| 3

| style="text-align:center"| 1994

| Harry Bosch (3)

| The Last Coyote

| style="text-align:center"| 4

| style="text-align:center"| 1995

| Harry Bosch (4)

| The Poet

| style="text-align:center"| 5

| style="text-align:center"| 1996

| Jack McEvoy (1)

| Rachel Walling

| Trunk Music

| style="text-align:center"| 6

| style="text-align:center"| 1997

| Harry Bosch (5)

| Eleanor Wish, Roy Lindell

| Blood Work

| style="text-align:center"| 7

| style="text-align:center"| 1998

| Terry McCaleb (1)

| Jaye Winston

| Angels Flight

| style="text-align:center"| 8

| style="text-align:center"| 1999

| Harry Bosch (6)

| Eleanor Wish, Roy Lindell

| Void Moon

| style="text-align:center"| 9

| style="text-align:center"| 2000

| Cassie Black (1)

| A Darkness More Than Night

| style="text-align:center"| 10

| style="text-align:center"| 2001

| Terry McCaleb (2), Harry Bosch (7)

| Jaye Winston, Jack McEvoy

| City of Bones

| style="text-align:center"| 11

| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" | 2002

| Harry Bosch (8)

| rowspan="2" |

| Chasing the Dime

| style="text-align:center"| 12

| Henry Pierce (1)

| Lost Light

| style="text-align:center"| 13

| style="text-align:center"| 2003

| Harry Bosch (9)

| Eleanor Wish, Roy Lindell

| The Narrows

| style="text-align:center"| 14

| style="text-align:center"| 2004

| Harry Bosch (10)

| Rachel Walling, Eleanor Wish

| The Closers

| style="text-align:center"| 15

| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" | 2005

| Harry Bosch (11)

| Kiz Rider

| The Lincoln Lawyer

| style="text-align:center"| 16

| Mickey Haller (1)

|Maggie McPherson

| Echo Park

| style="text-align:center"| 17

| style="text-align:center"| 2006

| Harry Bosch (12)

| Rachel Walling

| The Overlook

| style="text-align:center"| 18

| style="text-align:center"| 2007

| Harry Bosch (13)

| Rachel Walling

| The Brass Verdict

| style="text-align:center"| 19

| style="text-align:center"| 2008

| Mickey Haller (2)

| Harry Bosch, Jack McEvoy

| The Scarecrow

| style="text-align:center"| 20

| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" | 2009

| Jack McEvoy (2)

| Rachel Walling

| Nine Dragons

| style="text-align:center"| 21

| Harry Bosch (14)

| Eleanor Wish, Mickey Haller, David Chu

| The Reversal

| style="text-align:center"| 22

| style="text-align:center"| 2010

| Mickey Haller (3)

| Harry Bosch, Maggie McPherson, Rachel Walling

| The Fifth Witness

| style="text-align:center"| 23

| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" | 2011

| Mickey Haller (4)

| Maggie McPherson

| The Drop

| style="text-align:center"| 24

| Harry Bosch (15)

| David Chu, Kiz Rider, Dr Hannah Stone

| The Black Box

| style="text-align:center"| 25

| style="text-align:center" | 2012

| Harry Bosch (16)

| David Chu, Dr Hannah Stone

| The Gods of Guilt

| style="text-align:center"| 26

| style="text-align:center"| 2013

| Mickey Haller (5)

| The Burning Room

| style="text-align:center"| 27

| style="text-align:center" | 2014

| Harry Bosch (17)

| Rachel Walling, Lucia Soto

|The Crossing

| style="text-align:center"| 28

|style="text-align:center" | 2015

| Harry Bosch (18)

| Mickey Haller, Lucia Soto

|The Wrong Side of Goodbye

| style="text-align:center"| 29

|style="text-align:center" | 2016

|Harry Bosch (19)

|Mickey Haller

|The Late Show

| style="text-align:center"| 30

| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" | 2017

|Renee Ballard (1)

|Two Kinds of Truth

| style="text-align:center"| 31

|Harry Bosch (20)

|Mickey Haller

|Dark Sacred Night

| style="text-align:center"| 32

|style="text-align:center" | 2018

|Renee Ballard (2), Harry Bosch (21)

|The Night Fire

| style="text-align:center"| 33

|style="text-align:center" | 2019

|Renee Ballard (3), Harry Bosch (22)

|Mickey Haller

|Fair Warning

| style="text-align:center"| 34

| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" | 2020

|Jack McEvoy (3)

|Rachel Walling

|The Law of Innocence

| style="text-align:center"| 35

|Mickey Haller (6)

|Harry Bosch

|The Dark Hours

| style="text-align:center"| 36

|style="text-align:center" | 2021

|Renee Ballard (4), Harry Bosch (23)

| rowspan="2" |

|Desert Star

| style="text-align:center"| 37

|style="text-align:center" | 2022

|Renee Ballard (5), Harry Bosch (24)

|Resurrection Walk

| style="text-align:center"| 38

|style="text-align:center" | 2023

| Mickey Haller (7)

| Harry Bosch

|The Waiting

| style="text-align:center"| 39

|style="text-align:center" | 2024

|Renee Ballard (6), Harry Bosch (25)

|Maddie Bosch

|Nightshade

| style="text-align:center"| 40

| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" | 2025

|Stilwell (1)

|The Proving Ground

| style="text-align:center"| 41

|Mickey Haller (8)

|Jack McEvoy

|Ironwood

| style="text-align:center"| 42

| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center" | 2026

|Stilwell (2)

|Renee Ballard

|The Hollow (upcoming)

| style="text-align: center;" |43

|Harry Bosch (26)

|Mickey Haller

Novel collections:

The Harry Bosch Novels, Volume 1 (2001), includes "The Black Echo", "The Black Ice" and "The Concrete Blonde"
The Harry Bosch Novels, Volume 2 (2003), includes "The Last Coyote", "Trunk Music" and "Angels Flight"
The Harry Bosch Novels, Volume 3 (2010), includes "A Darkness More Than Night", "City of Bones" and "Lost Light"

Editor

The Best American Mystery Stories 2003 (2003) – collected short stories.
Murder in Vegas (2005) – collected short stories.
The Blue Religion (2008) – collected short stories.
In the Shadow of the Master (2009) – collected short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, with observations by current mystery writers including Sue Grafton and Stephen King.

Short stories

Harry Bosch series:

Collections:
Angle of Investigation (2011), collection of 3 short stories:
: "Christmas Even", "Father's Day", "Angle of Investigation"
Suicide Run (2011), collection of 3 short stories:
: "Suicide Run", "Cielo Azul", "One Dollar Jackpot"
Mulholland Dive (2012), collection of 3 short stories:
: "Cahoots", "Mulholland Dive", "Two-Bagger"
Uncollected short stories:
"Blue on Black", in Hook, Line & Sinister (2010); with Rachel Walling
"Blood Washes Off", in The Rich and the Dead (2011)
"Homicide Special", in The Drop (2011); written exclusively for copies of The Drop sold in Waterstones stores
"A Fine Mist of Blood", in Vengeance (2012)
"Switchblade" – an ebook companion to The Gods of Guilt, published on 14 January 2014
"Red Eye", in "FaceOff" (2014), co-written with Dennis Lehane; with Patrick Kenzie
"The Crooked Man", in "In the Company of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon" (Nov 2014)
"Nighthawks", in "In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper" (Dec 2016)
"The Guardian", in "Tampa Bay Noir" (Aug 2020)
All short stories:
"Two-Bagger", in Murderers' Row (2001) and The Best American Mystery Stories 2002 (2002)
"Cahoots", in Measures of Poison (2002)
"Christmas Even", in Murder...and All That Jazz (2004), partner: Jerry Edgar
"Cielo Azul", in Dangerous Women (2005); backstory to A Darkness More than Night
"Angle of Investigation", in Plots with Guns (2005) and The Penguin Book Of Crime Stories (2007) – continuation of The Closers; partner: Kiz Rider
"Mulholland Dive", in Los Angeles Noir (2007), Prisoner of Memory (2008), The Best American Mystery Stories (2008), and A Prisoner of Memory and 24 of the Year's Finest Crime and Mystery Stories (2008)
"Suicide Run", in Hollywood and Crime (2007)
"One Dollar Jackpot", in Dead Man's Hand (2007)
"Father's Day", in The Blue Religion (2008), and The Best American Mystery Stories (2009); partner: Ignacio Ferras
"Blue on Black", in Hook, Line & Sinister (2010); with Rachel Walling
"Blood Washes Off", in The Rich and the Dead (2011)
"Homicide Special", in The Drop (2011); written exclusively for copies of The Drop sold in Waterstones stores
"A Fine Mist of Blood", in Vengeance (2012)
"Switchblade" – an ebook companion to The Gods of Guilt, published on 14 January 2014
"Red Eye", in "FaceOff" (2014), co-written with Dennis Lehane; with Patrick Kenzie
"The Crooked Man", in "In the Company of Sherlock Holmes: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon" (Nov 2014)
"Nighthawks", in "In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper" (Dec 2016)
"The Guardian", in "Tampa Bay Noir" (Aug 2020)

Mickey Haller series:

"The Perfect Triangle", in The Dark End of the Street (2010)
"Burnt Matches", in "The Highway Kind: Tales of Fast Cars, Desperate Drives and Dark Roads" (Oct 2016)

Stand-alones:

"After Midnight", in Men from Boys (2003)
"The Safe Man", published anonymously in The Secret Society Of Demolition Writers (2005)
"The Third Panel", in "Alive In Shape And Color" (Dec 2017)
"Avalon", in "When a Stranger Comes to Town" (Apr 2021)

Children's short stories

"Short Cut" published in Half-Minute Horrors (2009), for kids ages 9–12

Non-fiction

Crime Beat (2004), collected journalism from the Sun-Sentinel and Los Angeles Times

Filmography

Television

Level 9 (2001) – co-creator and co-executive producer
Castle (2009–2011) – actor (cameo)
Bosch (2015–2021) – co-creator, writer and executive producer
The Lincoln Lawyer (2022–present) – writer and executive producer
Bosch: Legacy (2022–2025) – co-developer, writer and executive producer
Ballard (2025–present) – executive producer
Bosch: Start of Watch (TBA) – executive producer

Features

Sound of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story (2014)–executive producer

Adaptations

Blood Work (2002), film directed by Clint Eastwood, based on novel Blood Work
The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), film directed by Brad Furman, based on novel The Lincoln Lawyer
Bosch (2014–2021), series developed by Eric Overmyer, based on novel series Harry Bosch
Bosch: Legacy (2022–2025), series developed by Michael Connelly, Tom Bernardo and Eric Overmyer, based on novel series Harry Bosch
The Lincoln Lawyer (2022–present), series created by David E. Kelley, based on novel series Mickey Haller
Ballard (2025–present), series developed by Michael Alaimo and Kendall Sherwood, based on novel series Renée Ballard
Bosch: Start of Watch (TBA), a prequel series focusing on a young Bosch.

References

External links

Michael Connelly's official web site
"Newspaper Noir", The Washington Post, June 22, 2009.
Connelly Interview by identitytheory.com
Interview on The Next Track podcast about music in the Harry Bosch novels
Interview with Michael Connelly, Speaking of Mysteries TV Series (2001)