Angels Flight

Connelly%E2%80%99s novel follows series hero Harry Bosch%E2%80%99s investigation into the murder of an African-American defense attorney who made a career of courtroom victories at the expense of the Los Angeles Police Department. This installment in the series is especially dark, and narrator Peter Giles%E2%80%99s reads in a voice that echoes with the dry croaking of a lifelong smoker%E2%80%94something that establishes a noirlike mood from the get-go. The narrator ably matches Bosch%E2%80%99s downbeat mood, shifting from anger at having to deal with racism, not just in his city but within the ranks of the LAPD, to weariness, sadness, and frustration at his inability to stop the disintegration of his marriage. Giles sands some of the roughness from his voice and pitches it slightly higher for the book%E2%80%99s female characters, like the detective%E2%80%99s soon-to-be-separated wife and his partner, Kiz Rider. But there%E2%80%99s still an edge rough enough to remind us we%E2%80%99re not listening to an Agatha Christie cozy. A Grand Central paperback. (June)