Last time I read a Harry Bosch novel, it was picked from the shelves of my holiday accommodation. In fact, back then I read three in quick succession and enjoyed them all.
A Darkness More Than Night happened to be another holiday read.
The plot, initially, seems disparate, though over time the strands come together to produce a satisfying conclusion.
Ex-FBI profiler, McCabe, lives on an island with his wife. He's given up the world of investigation to concentrate upon his family and his fishing boat. Much to the chagrin of his wife, McCabe is lured back into a new case by a local cop who believes she may have a serial killer on her hands.
In the meantime, Bosch is leading up a major court case that's the talk of the town. He's working to put away a suspect in the killer of a young actress.
As McCabe digs into the case, he's drawn to call upon Bosch because of a shared history involving a previous case where the suspect is now the victim.
McCabe delves into the study of the artist Hieronymus Bosch and into the deep darkness of his work.
When he does his sums, he puts two and two together and makes seven or eight. I'm not sure if his line of thinking has been created to generate tension in the book, but for me all it served to do was to have me shaking my head in disbelief (a you-really-expect-me-to-take-that-seriously? kind of shake).
The book is engaging enough. The characters are strong and the overlapping of times and cases works well.
It's also a little bloated. The dialogue could be slicker. There's a lot of repetition of words in short spaces of time that a decent editor should have cut. Throw in some navel gazing and a dash of exaggeration of conflict and motivation and it's not a smooth ride.
No doubt great for Bosch fans and for those who soak up crime fiction from the airport shelves, it's ideal for helping to spice up a beach break or a long journey.
All-in-all, less enjoyable than the Scudder I finished before reading this.
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