Ironwood

 

Connelly is the king of thrillers and the men at MenReadingBooks have read most of his 40+ novels. Just one year ago, I read and reviewed the first book in a new series, Nightshade, which I rated very highly. The author is able to keep his stories and characters very interesting and believable.

In Ironwood, Detective Stilwell suspects that one of his new deputies on Catalina Island is a serial killer. A murder has occurred, but it happened a few years earlier, and this became a thing when the woman's bones were uncovered in a remote area of Catalina Island. It turned out that there have been a series of murders of women who were hiking alone through wilderness trails in California. Stilwell continues to get flack from his captain who works out of his office in Long Beach. When the protagonist is trying to set a trap, another one of his new deputies is murdered, and a second officer is shot in the throat but survives. It seems corruption is rampant on Catalina.

Once again, Stilwell, or "Stil" as he is called by most people he knows, has found life on Catalina as highly desirable, compared to his life on the mainland, or "overland" as the people on Catalina call it. Usually, as was initially the case with Stil, a transfer to Catalina was a punishment for having done something wrong. However, he began to realize that being sent to the island was just what he needed. His girlfriend Tasha has been promoted to acting Harbor Master, and their relationship is evolving. The story involves corruption, cartel murders, small crime, and Stil's relentless pursuit of clues in the face of a captain who is mostly focused on any publicity that would make his operation look bad. 

I consumed this story in audiobook format, and the reader was excellent. Like nearly all of Connelly's books, it gets a highly favorable review from me. You won't be disappointed.