Ironwood by Michael Connelly

Twenty-two miles of open ocean separate Catalina Island from the troubles of Los Angeles County. For most residents, that channel feels like a moat against the mainland’s evils. For Detective Sergeant Stilwell, it’s never that simple.

When a midnight plane touches down on a remote mountain airstrip and a drug drop goes catastrophically wrong, Stilwell’s safe haven cracks wide open. Shots ring out. The plane escapes. And Stilwell finds himself benched by an internal inquiry, sidelined from the very investigation unfolding on his own island.

But he can’t let it go. Neither can we, once we start turning the pages.

A forgotten backpack in the lost and found leads Stilwell to a woman who vanished while hiking four years ago. The thread pulls him all the way to the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit and the formidable Detective Renée Ballard. Together, working from both sides of the channel, they’re soon chasing a killer who delights in taunting the law.

This is Michael Connelly doing what he does best. Ironwood continues the Catalina series with what the Washington Review of Books calls his signature “relentless narrative drive…evocative atmosphere, realistic dialogue, and well-developed characters.”

If you love a crime novel that grips from the first chapter and won’t let you up for air, this one belongs on your shelf. Pour a cup of tea, find your favorite reading chair, and let the salty island air pull you in.

A brand-new hardcover release, perfect for a long, rainy afternoon. The kind of book you finish in a weekend and immediately want to talk about.

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