Reading order · 27 books · 1992 to 2026 · Set in Los Angeles
Harry Bosch Books in Order
Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch is a Vietnam veteran and LAPD homicide detective who lives by one rule: everybody counts or nobody counts. Across more than three decades the series follows him from Hollywood Division to the cold case unit, into retirement and private work, and into crossovers with Mickey Haller and Renée Ballard.
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Series facts
- Books
- 27
- Published
- 1992 to 2026
- First book
- The Black Echo
- Latest out
- The Waiting (2024)
- Next
- The Hollow (2026, forthcoming)
- Setting
- Set in Los Angeles
The reading order
Every Harry Bosch book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary. Books marked Crossover also belong to another series.
27 books · Set in Los Angeles
- 1The Black Echo1992With Harry BoschA body found in a storm drain near the Mulholland Dam looks like an overdose, but Harry Bosch recognises the dead man as Billy Meadows, a fellow tunnel rat from Vietnam.Buy on Amazon
- 2The Black Ice1993With Harry BoschOn Christmas night Harry Bosch hears that a narcotics officer has been found dead in a Hollywood motel, apparently by his own hand.Buy on Amazon
- 3The Concrete Blonde1994With Harry BoschHarry Bosch is in court, defending a lawsuit over his fatal shooting of the Dollmaker, a serial killer, four years earlier.Buy on Amazon
- 4The Last Coyote1995With Harry BoschSuspended after pushing his lieutenant through a window, Harry Bosch is ordered into therapy.Buy on Amazon
- 5Trunk Music1997With Harry BoschBack on homicide after his leave, Harry Bosch catches the case of a small-time film producer found shot in the boot of his Rolls-Royce, a killing that looks like a mob hit.Buy on Amazon
- 6Angels Flight1999With Harry BoschHoward Elias, a lawyer who has made a career of suing the LAPD, is found shot on the Angels Flight funicular days before a major trial against the police.Buy on Amazon
- 7A Darkness More Than Night2001CrossoverWith Harry Bosch and Terry McCaleb · Also a Terry McCaleb bookSheriff’s detective Jaye Winston asks Terry McCaleb to look at a strange murder scene, and the clues point to the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch, and then to Harry Bosch himself.Buy on Amazon
- 8City of Bones2002With Harry BoschA dog brings home a bone from the hills above Laurel Canyon, and it belongs to a child buried there twenty years earlier.Buy on Amazon
- 9Lost Light2003With Harry BoschRetired from the LAPD, Harry Bosch cannot let go of a case that haunts him: the murder of a young production assistant, Angella Benton, linked to a two million dollar robbery on a film set.Buy on Amazon
- 10The Narrows2004With Harry BoschHarry Bosch, now working as a private investigator, agrees to look into a death as a favour to someone he owes.Buy on Amazon
- 11The Closers2005With Harry BoschHarry Bosch returns to the LAPD and joins the Open-Unsolved Unit with his old partner Kiz Rider.Buy on Amazon
- 12Echo Park2006With Harry BoschHarry Bosch has never given up on the 1993 disappearance of Marie Gesto.Buy on Amazon
- 13The Overlook2007With Harry BoschA medical physicist is found shot at a lookout above the Hollywood Reservoir, and the radioactive material he could reach is missing.Buy on Amazon
- 14Nine Dragons2009With Harry BoschHarry Bosch investigates the shooting of a Chinese shopkeeper in South Los Angeles, a case that points to a Hong Kong triad.Buy on Amazon
- 15The Reversal2010CrossoverWith Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller · Also a Lincoln Lawyer bookMickey Haller crosses the aisle to act as special prosecutor in the retrial of Jason Jessup, convicted of killing a twelve-year-old girl twenty-four years ago and freed on new DNA evidence.Buy on Amazon
- 16The Drop2011With Harry BoschHarry Bosch has been given a few more years on the job when two cases land at once: a cold case DNA match that points to someone who would have been a child at the time of the killing, and a fatal fall from a Hollywood hotel by the son of councilman Irvin Irving.Buy on Amazon
- 17The Black Box2012With Harry BoschDuring the 1992 Los Angeles riots Harry Bosch was called to the body of Anneke Jespersen, a Danish photojournalist, but the chaos meant the case was never solved.Buy on Amazon
- 18The Burning Room2014With Harry BoschNear the end of his time on the force, Harry Bosch is paired with a young detective, Lucia Soto.Buy on Amazon
- 19The Crossing2015CrossoverWith Harry Bosch · Also a Lincoln Lawyer bookForced out of the LAPD, Harry Bosch reluctantly agrees to work for the other side.Buy on Amazon
- 20The Wrong Side of Goodbye2016With Harry BoschHarry Bosch now volunteers for the small San Fernando police department and takes private work on the side.Buy on Amazon
- 21Two Kinds of Truth2017With Harry BoschHarry Bosch is investigating the murders of a father and son at a San Fernando pharmacy, a case that takes him undercover into the opioid trade.Buy on Amazon
- 22Dark Sacred Night2018CrossoverWith Harry Bosch and Renée Ballard · Also a Renée Ballard bookWorking the night shift, Renée Ballard finds Harry Bosch going through old files at Hollywood Division.Buy on Amazon
- 23The Night Fire2019CrossoverWith Harry Bosch and Renée Ballard · Also a Renée Ballard bookAt the funeral of his old mentor, John Jack Thompson, Harry Bosch is handed a murder book Thompson took with him when he retired.Buy on Amazon
- 24The Dark Hours2021CrossoverWith Renée Ballard · Also a Renée Ballard bookOn New Year’s Eve a man in Hollywood is killed by what looks like celebratory gunfire, but Renée Ballard finds a link to an older murder.Buy on Amazon
- 25Desert Star2022CrossoverWith Harry Bosch and Renée Ballard · Also a Renée Ballard bookRenée Ballard has rebuilt the LAPD’s cold case unit with a team of volunteers, and she offers Harry Bosch a place on it.Buy on Amazon
- 26The Waiting2024CrossoverWith Renée Ballard · Also a Renée Ballard bookRenée Ballard’s badge and gun are stolen from her car while she is out surfing, and she sets out to get them back without telling her superiors.Buy on Amazon
- 27The Hollow2026With Harry Bosch · ForthcomingBuy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Each Bosch novel has a case that ends within the book, but his partners, enemies and private life carry over from one book to the next, so publication order is best. The Lincoln Lawyer and Renée Ballard books he appears in sit in the same timeline and are listed here in their place.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Harry Bosch | Renée Ballard | Mickey Haller | Terry McCaleb | Maddie Bosch | Irvin Irving | Jerry Edgar | Kiz Rider |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 The Black Echo | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | |||||
| 2 The Black Ice | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | |||||
| 3 The Concrete Blonde | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | |||||
| 4 The Last Coyote | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | |||||
| 5 Trunk Music | LLead | ·Minor | MMajor | MMajor | ||||
| 6 Angels Flight | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | ||||
| 7 A Darkness More Than Night | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | ||||
| 8 City of Bones | LLead | ·Minor | MMajor | ·Minor | ||||
| 9 Lost Light | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | ·Minor | ||||
| 10 The Narrows | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | |||||
| 11 The Closers | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | |||||
| 12 Echo Park | LLead | MMajor | ||||||
| 13 The Overlook | LLead | |||||||
| 14 Nine Dragons | LLead | ·Minor | MMajor | |||||
| 15 The Reversal | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | |||||
| 16 The Drop | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | MMajor | ||||
| 17 The Black Box | LLead | MMajor | ||||||
| 18 The Burning Room | LLead | ·Minor | ||||||
| 19 The Crossing | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | |||||
| 20 The Wrong Side of Goodbye | LLead | ·Minor | ·Minor | |||||
| 21 Two Kinds of Truth | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | |||||
| 22 Dark Sacred Night | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | |||||
| 23 The Night Fire | LLead | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor | ||||
| 24 The Dark Hours | MMajor | LLead | ||||||
| 25 Desert Star | LLead | LLead | ·Minor | |||||
| 26 The Waiting | MMajor | LLead | MMajor | |||||
| 27 The Hollow | LLead | ·Minor |
Characters in the Harry Bosch books
32 characters from Michael Connelly’s chart, with the number of Harry Bosch books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Harry BoschLAPD homicide detective, later retired | 27 | The Black Echo 1992 |
| Renée BallardLAPD detective, later head of Open-Unsolved | 5 | Dark Sacred Night 2018 |
| Mickey HallerDefence lawyer who works from his Lincoln | 7 | Nine Dragons 2009 |
| Terry McCalebRetired FBI profiler | 2 | A Darkness More Than Night 2001 |
| Maddie BoschBosch’s daughter | 14 | Lost Light 2003 |
| Irvin IrvingDeputy chief, later city councilman | 10 | The Black Echo 1992 |
| Jerry EdgarBosch’s Hollywood partner | 8 | The Black Echo 1992 |
| Kiz RiderPartner, then senior LAPD officer | 8 | Trunk Music 1997 |
| Eleanor WishFBI agent, later Bosch’s wife | 6 | The Black Echo 1992 |
| Grace BilletsHollywood Homicide lieutenant | 4 | Trunk Music 1997 |
| Rachel WallingFBI agent | 4 | The Narrows 2004 |
| David ChuDetective, later Bosch’s partner | 3 | Nine Dragons 2009 |
| Cisco WojciechowskiHaller’s investigator | 3 | The Reversal 2010 |
| Hannah StoneTherapist; Bosch’s girlfriend | 3 | The Drop 2011 |
| Lucia SotoBosch’s last LAPD partner | 3 | The Burning Room 2014 |
| Bella LourdesSan Fernando PD detective | 3 | The Wrong Side of Goodbye 2016 |
| Frankie SheehanRobbery-Homicide detective, old partner | 2 | The Concrete Blonde 1994 |
| Marjorie LoweBosch’s mother | 2 | The Last Coyote 1995 |
| Roy LindellFBI agent | 2 | Trunk Music 1997 |
| Graciela RiversMcCaleb’s wife | 2 | A Darkness More Than Night 2001 |
| Buddy LockridgeMcCaleb’s boat neighbour and sidekick | 2 | A Darkness More Than Night 2001 |
| Abel PrattOpen-Unsolved supervisor | 2 | The Closers 2005 |
| Ignacio FerrasBosch’s partner | 2 | The Overlook 2007 |
| Lorna TaylorCase manager; Haller’s second ex-wife | 2 | The Reversal 2010 |
| John JenkinsBallard’s night-shift partner | 2 | Dark Sacred Night 2018 |
| Colleen HatterasVolunteer in Open-Unsolved | 2 | Desert Star 2022 |
| Honey ChandlerCivil rights lawyer | 1 | The Concrete Blonde 1994 |
| Jack McEvoyCrime reporter | 1 | A Darkness More Than Night 2001 |
| Robert BackusThe Poet; FBI agent turned killer | 1 | The Narrows 2004 |
| Maggie McPhersonProsecutor; Haller’s first ex-wife | 1 | The Reversal 2010 |
| Hayley HallerHaller’s daughter | 1 | The Reversal 2010 |
| Jennifer AronsonAssociate lawyer | 1 | The Crossing 2015 |
Crossovers with Michael Connelly’s other series
- Lincoln Lawyer: 2 books shared (The Reversal, The Crossing); Harry Bosch also appears in 4 of its books; Mickey Haller also appears in 7 of its books
- Renée Ballard: 5 books shared (Dark Sacred Night, The Night Fire, The Dark Hours, Desert Star, The Waiting); Renée Ballard also appears in 1 of its books
- Terry McCaleb: 1 book shared (A Darkness More Than Night); Terry McCaleb also appears in 1 of its books
- Catalina: Harry Bosch also appears in 1 of its books; Renée Ballard also appears in 1 of its books