Harry Bosch
Michael Connelly · first in The Black Echo
Catches the case: the LAPD homicide detective who will not let it go
Matchups: Alex Delaware, Milo Sturgis
Crossover event · Michael Connelly meets Jonathan Kellerman
The Los Angeles Crossover
Two of crime fiction’s great Los Angeles universes share one city, one police department and decades of the same streets, yet their characters have never met. Here is how one case could bring twelve characters from each world together: the detectives, their partners, their investigators and the people they go home to.
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Why it works
Harry Bosch and Milo Sturgis both work homicide for the LAPD. Alex Delaware consults on the city’s strangest cases, and Mickey Haller defends the people they arrest. Renée Ballard and Petra Connor work the same Hollywood Division, and Cisco and Aaron Fox chase the same witnesses for very different clients. If Michael Connelly and Jonathan Kellerman ever cooperated, the crossover would almost write itself.
A Los Angeles where every timeline lines up. These meetings never happen in the books: this is a crossover we would love the writers to try.
Would you read this crossover? Vote for it.
The story in three acts
An original outline, written to keep every book's secrets safe.
Act 1
The child in the hills
A family is found dead in a house above Mulholland Drive, and a child who hid in a closet is the only witness. Bosch and Jerry Edgar catch the case; the child will not speak. Milo calls Alex Delaware, and Robin Castagna brings Blanche to the first session, where the little bulldog does what no adult can. Eleanor Wish, reading the news over a card table in Las Vegas, recognises a name.
Act 2
Two cases, one killer
Petra Connor, Eric Stahl and Isaac Gomez find a pattern linking an older Hollywood death, and Renée Ballard spots the same detail on her night shift. Moe Reed and Sean Binchy track a car to the Catalina ferry, where Terry McCaleb has been reading about the case and has a theory. Kiz Rider and Milo fight the department’s politics to keep the two investigations together, while Rick Silverman’s emergency room receives a witness who should not have survived.
Act 3
The trial
An arrest is made, but Mickey Haller takes the defence. Cisco Wojciechowski and Lorna Taylor dig into the evidence, Aaron Fox is hired by the victims’ family to find the truth, and Maggie McPherson leads the prosecution against her former husband. Jack McEvoy has a source who says the police have the wrong man, Rachel Walling flies in with an FBI file that changes everything, and Allison Gwynn helps Alex hear what the child has been trying to say all along.
Where it happens
- Mulholland Drive Where the case begins
- Hollywood Division Ballard, Petra and Stahl find the link
- West Los Angeles Milo’s patch, and Alex and Robin’s home in the Glen
- The Criminal Courts Building Haller and McPherson go to trial
- Avalon, Catalina Island McCaleb’s boat, and a theory
Who meets whom
Each line is one of the matchups below. Choose a line to open it.
Michael Connelly Jonathan Kellerman
The cast
24 characters from two Los Angeles universes, and the part each would play.
Jerry Edgar
Michael Connelly · first in The Black Echo
Bosch’s Hollywood partner, who works the neighbourhood and the paperwork
Matchups: Eric Stahl
Kiz Rider
Michael Connelly · first in Trunk Music
Bosch’s former partner, now high in the department, who keeps the investigation alive
Matchups: Milo Sturgis
Eleanor Wish
Michael Connelly · first in The Black Echo
Bosch’s former wife, once of the FBI, who recognises a name from her past
Mickey Haller
Michael Connelly · first in The Lincoln Lawyer
Defends the accused from the back seat of his Lincoln
Matchups: Alex Delaware
Cisco Wojciechowski
Michael Connelly · first in The Brass Verdict
Haller’s investigator, who finds the witnesses the police missed
Matchups: Aaron Fox
Lorna Taylor
Michael Connelly · first in The Lincoln Lawyer
Haller’s case manager and second former wife, who keeps the defence running
Maggie McPherson
Michael Connelly · first in The Lincoln Lawyer
The prosecutor, and Haller’s first former wife, on the other side of the courtroom
Renée Ballard
Michael Connelly · first in The Late Show
Spots the link on her night shift in Hollywood
Matchups: Petra Connor
Terry McCaleb
Michael Connelly · first in Blood Work
The retired FBI profiler who reads the case from his boat in Avalon
Matchups: Moe Reed
Jack McEvoy
Michael Connelly · first in The Poet
The reporter whose source says the police have the wrong man
Matchups: Milo Sturgis
Rachel Walling
Michael Connelly · first in The Poet
The FBI agent with a file nobody in Los Angeles has seen
Matchups: Alex Delaware
Alex Delaware
Jonathan Kellerman · first in When the Bough Breaks
The psychologist who must help the only witness to speak
Matchups: Harry Bosch, Mickey Haller, Rachel Walling
Milo Sturgis
Jonathan Kellerman · first in When the Bough Breaks
Brings in his friend Alex, and clashes with Bosch over who runs the case
Matchups: Harry Bosch, Jack McEvoy, Kiz Rider
Robin Castagna
Jonathan Kellerman · first in When the Bough Breaks
Alex’s partner, whose calm helps a frightened child
Rick Silverman
Jonathan Kellerman · first in When the Bough Breaks
Milo’s partner, an emergency room doctor who treats a vital witness
Sean Binchy
Jonathan Kellerman · first in Bones
The detective on Milo’s team who does the legwork without complaint
Moe Reed
Jonathan Kellerman · first in Bones
Tracks the killer’s car to the Catalina ferry
Matchups: Terry McCaleb
Aaron Fox
Jonathan Kellerman · first in Bones
Moe’s half-brother, a private investigator hired by the victims’ family
Matchups: Cisco Wojciechowski
Petra Connor
Jonathan Kellerman · first in Survival of the Fittest
Works the earlier Hollywood death, and will not hand it over
Matchups: Renée Ballard
Eric Stahl
Jonathan Kellerman · first in A Cold Heart
Petra’s quiet, precise partner
Matchups: Jerry Edgar
Isaac Gomez
Jonathan Kellerman · first in Twisted
The graduate student whose statistics reveal the pattern
Allison Gwynn
Jonathan Kellerman · first in A Cold Heart
The psychoanalyst who helps Alex hear what the child is saying
On the page
The years in which each character's books were published.
Alex Delaware1985–2026
Milo Sturgis1985–2026
Robin Castagna1985–2026
Rick Silverman1985–2026
Harry Bosch1992–2026
Jerry Edgar1992–2002
Eleanor Wish1992–2009
Jack McEvoy1996–2025
Rachel Walling1996–2020
Kiz Rider1997–2011
Petra Connor1997–2007
Terry McCaleb1998–2004
Eric Stahl2003–2004
Allison Gwynn2003–2006
Isaac Gomez2004–2004
Mickey Haller2005–2026
Lorna Taylor2005–2025
Maggie McPherson2005–2023
Blanche2007–2026
Cisco Wojciechowski2008–2025
Sean Binchy2008–2026
Moe Reed2008–2014
Aaron Fox2008–2009
Renée Ballard2017–2026
19852026
The matchups
The one-on-one meetings at the heart of the crossover.
Forensics and profilers The Los Angeles Crossover
The homicide detective and the psychologist
Harry Bosch Michael Connelly meets Alex Delaware Jonathan Kellerman
Chemistry8/10
Friction6/10
Both men are loners who cannot let a case go, and both care most about the victims nobody else remembers. Bosch would respect Delaware’s patience; Delaware would find Bosch a fascinating study.
How they would meet, and where they would clash
- How they might meet
- A killing in the Hollywood Hills leaves a frightened child as the only witness. Detective Harry Bosch of the LAPD needs the child to talk, and the department calls in its favourite consulting psychologist, whose friend Milo Sturgis is away.
- What each brings
- Bosch brings a homicide detective’s dogged procedure, a feel for the city’s streets and a refusal to be told no. Delaware brings insight into what makes killers and witnesses tick, and a gift for drawing out the vulnerable.
- Where they would clash
- Bosch distrusts anyone who talks about feelings, and would bristle at being analysed. Delaware would worry that Bosch’s single-mindedness runs roughshod over the people he is meant to protect.
Police detectives The Los Angeles Crossover
Two LAPD homicide veterans
Harry Bosch Michael Connelly meets Milo Sturgis Jonathan Kellerman
Chemistry8/10
Friction6/10
Two of the most experienced homicide detectives in Los Angeles fiction, both outsiders in their own department, both relentless.
How they would meet, and where they would clash
- How they might meet
- A cold case Bosch reopens turns out to share a signature with an unsolved killing on Milo’s patch in West LA, and the department pairs them up to stop two egos from working the same suspect.
- What each brings
- Bosch has the cold case files and a nose for the overlooked. Milo has bulk, wit, political survival skills and a psychologist on speed dial.
- Where they would clash
- Both are used to running their own cases. Milo would tease; Bosch would not laugh; Delaware would end up refereeing over a very large lunch.
Forensics and profilers The Los Angeles Crossover
The Lincoln Lawyer and the expert witness
Mickey Haller Michael Connelly meets Alex Delaware Jonathan Kellerman
Chemistry6/10
Friction9/10
Two clever professionals who read people for a living, from opposite sides of the courtroom.
How they would meet, and where they would clash
- How they might meet
- Mickey Haller’s client says he is innocent, and the prosecution’s star witness is a child Alex Delaware has been treating. Haller needs to know whether to trust the psychologist, or take him apart on the stand.
- What each brings
- Haller knows juries, deals and the weak points in any case. Delaware knows when someone is lying, and why.
- Where they would clash
- Delaware protects the vulnerable; Haller protects his client. In cross-examination, the sparks would fly.
Police detectives The Los Angeles Crossover
Hollywood’s day shift and night shift
Renée Ballard Michael Connelly meets Petra Connor Jonathan Kellerman
Chemistry8/10
Friction6/10
Two tough, independent women detectives working the same Hollywood streets and fighting the same department.
How they would meet, and where they would clash
- How they might meet
- A body found at dawn starts on Ballard’s late show and ends on Petra Connor’s homicide desk, and neither is willing to hand it over.
- What each brings
- Ballard knows the city at night and refuses to let a case go when her shift ends. Petra is methodical, artistic and unflinching.
- Where they would clash
- Ballard does not like handing over her cases; Petra does not like people working hers.
Forensics and profilers The Los Angeles Crossover
The profiler and the psychologist
Rachel Walling Michael Connelly meets Alex Delaware Jonathan Kellerman
Chemistry7/10
Friction7/10
Two experts in the minds of dangerous people, one trained by the Bureau and one in the clinic.
How they would meet, and where they would clash
- How they might meet
- The FBI sends Agent Walling to Los Angeles when a series of letters to the police echoes a case she once worked, and the LAPD’s psychologist has already written his own profile.
- What each brings
- Walling has the FBI’s resources and experience of the worst offenders. Delaware has deep clinical insight and the trust of the LAPD.
- Where they would clash
- Each would think the other’s profile was wrong in one crucial detail.
Police detectives The Los Angeles Crossover
The reporter and the detective who hates reporters
Jack McEvoy Michael Connelly meets Milo Sturgis Jonathan Kellerman
Chemistry6/10
Friction8/10
Both are stubborn investigators who smell a pattern long before anyone else will admit it.
How they would meet, and where they would clash
- How they might meet
- Jack McEvoy is chasing a story about a string of deaths that the police say are unrelated, and the detective on the latest case is Milo Sturgis, who would rather talk to anyone than a journalist.
- What each brings
- Jack has sources, persistence and the power of the press. Milo has the badge, the files and the authority to act.
- Where they would clash
- Milo distrusts the press on principle, and Jack has a habit of printing things before the police are ready.
Forensics and profilers The Los Angeles Crossover
The retired profiler and the young detective
Terry McCaleb Michael Connelly meets Moe Reed Jonathan Kellerman
Chemistry8/10
Friction4/10
An experienced investigator who cannot quite retire, and a young detective learning how to read a case.
How they would meet, and where they would clash
- How they might meet
- A missing woman’s car is found at the ferry terminal in Long Beach, and young Detective Moe Reed takes the boat to Catalina to ask the former FBI profiler who lives there for help.
- What each brings
- McCaleb brings a profiler’s insight and the patience of a man who lives by the sea. Reed brings energy, discipline and Milo Sturgis’s training.
- Where they would clash
- Reed follows procedure; McCaleb follows instinct, and has nothing to lose by bending the rules.
Private eyes The Los Angeles Crossover
The investigators
Cisco Wojciechowski Michael Connelly meets Aaron Fox Jonathan Kellerman
Chemistry6/10
Friction8/10
Two private investigators who know Los Angeles from the street up, working for clients who want very different answers.
How they would meet, and where they would clash
- How they might meet
- Cisco is working for the defence and Aaron Fox for the victims’ family, and both turn up at the same witness’s door on the same morning.
- What each brings
- Cisco is a former biker with contacts in every corner of the city. Aaron is polished, expensive and quietly ruthless about the truth.
- Where they would clash
- They want the same witness for opposite reasons, and neither likes to come second.
Police detectives The Los Angeles Crossover
Two survivors of LAPD politics
Kiz Rider Michael Connelly meets Milo Sturgis Jonathan Kellerman
Chemistry8/10
Friction5/10
Both have learned to work a department that has not always welcomed them, and both put the case first.
How they would meet, and where they would clash
- How they might meet
- The chief’s office wants the case split up, and the only people who can stop it are a former Hollywood detective who rose through the ranks and the West LA lieutenant who knows where the bodies are buried.
- What each brings
- Kiz has rank, polish and the ear of the chief. Milo has decades of results and a reputation nobody wants to test.
- Where they would clash
- Kiz plays the long game; Milo prefers to lean on a door until it opens.
Police detectives The Los Angeles Crossover
The partners
Jerry Edgar Michael Connelly meets Eric Stahl Jonathan Kellerman
Chemistry8/10
Friction2/10
Two partners of brilliant, difficult detectives, who know exactly what that takes.
How they would meet, and where they would clash
- How they might meet
- While Bosch and Petra argue over who owns the case, their partners quietly compare notes over coffee and solve half of it.
- What each brings
- Jerry knows Hollywood’s people and how to keep a case moving. Eric is precise, private and misses nothing.
- Where they would clash
- Very little, which is exactly why they would get things done.