Renée Ballard book 5 · 2022
Desert Star
Renée Ballard has rebuilt the LAPD’s cold case unit with a team of volunteers, and she offers Harry Bosch a place on it. Bosch accepts on one condition: he wants to finish the case that has haunted him for years, the murder of an entire family buried in the desert.
Spoiler-free summary written for The Recurring Cast.
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Book facts
- Author
- Michael Connelly
- Series
- Renée Ballard, book 5 of 6
- Also part of
- Harry Bosch, book 25
- Published
- 2022
- Setting
- Set in Los Angeles
- Characters charted
- 4
- Chart confidence
- Medium
Desert Star on screen
- Bosch: Legacy (2022–2025, series, Prime Video). Retired from the LAPD, Bosch works as a private investigator while his daughter Maddie begins her career as a patrol officer. Watch with Prime
- Ballard (2025–, series, Prime Video). Maggie Q plays Renée Ballard, who leads a new LAPD cold case unit. Watch with Prime
Who is in Desert Star
4 recurring or key characters from Michael Connelly’s chart. Introduces Colleen Hatteras.
Lead 2
- Harry BoschLAPD homicide detective, later retiredJoins Ballard’s Open-Unsolved Unit as a volunteer
- Renée BallardLAPD detective, later head of Open-UnsolvedReturns to run the Open-Unsolved Unit
Major 1
- Colleen HatterasFirst appearanceVolunteer in Open-UnsolvedGenetic genealogy volunteer
Minor and cameo 1
- Maddie BoschBosch’s daughter
Also featuring these characters
Other Michael Connelly books that share the most characters with Desert Star.
- The Night Fire2019 · Renée Ballard · 3 shared charactersBuy on Amazon
- Dark Sacred Night2018 · Renée Ballard · 3 shared charactersBuy on Amazon
- Ironwood2026 · Catalina · 2 shared charactersBuy on Amazon
- Two Kinds of Truth2017 · Harry Bosch · 2 shared charactersBuy on Amazon