The Concrete Blonde
Encyclopedia
The Concrete Blonde is the third novel
by American crime author Michael Connelly
, featuring the Los Angeles
detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch.
who uses makeup to paint his victims.
He gets a tip from a prostitute
that a recent customer of hers, Norman Church, had a large amount of women's makeup in his bathroom.
Bosch goes to Church's garage, identifies himself as police, breaks in the door. Church is naked and shaved. Bosch tells him to not move, but Church starts to pull something from under his pillow, and Bosch shoots him.
Bosch is investigated by internal affairs
and cleared in the shooting; but, since he did not follow police procedure, he is transferred from the elite Robbery-Homicide Division (RHD) back to the Hollywood table.
The makeup is found to match those of nine of the Dollmaker's victims.
Four years later, Bosch is sued by Church's widow. Her attorney portrays Bosch as a cowboy
and a vigilante
, seeking revenge for the unsolved murder of his mother when he was a child.
During the trial, the police receive a note, purportedly from the Dollmaker, which leads to the discovery of a new victim with the same modus operandi
. This victim was encased in concrete
, unlike the original eleven victims, but all other aspects of the killing are the same, including the signature cross painted on a toenail. The concrete blonde victim, along with two other of the original victims, fit a different pattern: large-breasted blondes in the local adult entertainment industry
who also advertise as high-class prostitutes in the local sex rags. Bosch and his task force suspect that "the Follower" is Detective Mora from Ad-Vice. Mora has ties to the adult video industry, had insider knowledge of the Dollmaker case, and was not at work during the killings not attributed to Norman Church. The task force put Mora under surveillance and Bosch breaks into Mora's house looking for evidence that he is the Follower. Instead he finds that Mora has been making pornographic movies with underage children. Mora returns to his house, finds Bosch and threatens to kill him. The rest of the task force arrive; they search Mora's house and determine that he is not the Follower. Mora does have information on who he believes is the Follower, and makes a deal: he provides the name of Professor Locke, agrees to quit the police force, and all of his crimes will be ignored. Mora got information that Locke had been seen on the set of adult movies where the slain women were cast members.
When Bosch returns to his office he finds another note from the Follower, saying that he will be taking 'his blonde'. Bosch assumes that he means his girlfriend Sylvia; when she does not answer her phone, he sends the police to her house. He arrives to an empty house, when a real estate agent shows up to show the house. Bosch finds Sylvia at his house and takes her to a hotel to protect her. Sylvia tells Bosch that they must have some time apart for her to decide if she can live with him and his dangerous job.
The next day Bosch returns to court as the jury
is to restart their deliberation
s. Honey Chandler, the widow's attorney
, does not appear. Bosch sends the police to her house as she is also a blonde. The jury reaches a verdict for the plaintiff
and awards compensatory damages of one dollar
and punitive damages of one dollar to Church's widow. When Bosch finally arrives at Chandler's house she has been dead 48 hours, killed in the same manner as the other Dollmaker killings, except that she also has burn and bite marks all over her body. Locke, who had been missing for several days, shows up at the crime scene. Bosch and Edgar interrogate him but discover that he has a solid alibi
and dismiss him as a suspect. Bosch follows Bremmer from the crime scene to his house. He asks Bremmer if he can come in for a drink to discuss his court case. When Bremmer returns with two beers Bosch confronts him as being the Follower. Bremmer fights Bosch and gets control of his gun. Bosch, playing on Bremmer's pride, gets him to confess. Bosch had found a note that the Follower had mailed to Chandler, which mentioned an article in the Los Angeles Times
. Bosch had noticed that it had been mailed before that article was published, which led him to suspect Bremmer. Bremmer had tortured Chandler to find out where she had hidden the note and envelope. Bremmer attempts to shoot Bosch but the gun is empty; Bosch grabs the magazine he had hidden in his sock, hits Bremmer with it and arrests him. Bosch had hidden a recording device in the room while Bremmer was getting the beer.
The next day Bosch forces the district attorney
's office to charge Bremmer with first degree murder, as the filing attorney is not satisfied with the amount of evidence. The police then obtain a warrant to obtain blood, hair and teeth molds of Bremmer; and they match his bite marks on the body of Chandler, as well as his pubic hair
to those found on two of the original Dollmaker victims. A woman who owns a storage locker company recognizes Bremmer as having rented a locker under a false name and the police find video tapes of Bremmer's killings. Bremmer makes a deal for life without parole in exchange for leading police to the bodies of his other victims. Harry takes two weeks off work to make some home improvements. Eventually Sylvia returns and they re-unite and head off for a weekend together.
form of crime fiction. This is the most realistic form of mystery and detective novels. In this style the detective interacts with a wide range of individuals who assist in the investigation.
said that The Concrete Blonde was "a classic in Connelly's Harry Bosch detective series--and one of my favorites." The Weekly Standard
said that Connelly "proved himself a master of courtroom give-and-take in The Concrete Blonde". The Library Journal
review in 1994 said "slick plot twists, fast action and fine suspense mark this excellent thriller and courtroom drama."
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by American crime author Michael Connelly
Michael Connelly
Michael Connelly is an American author of detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. His books, which have been translated into 36 languages, have garnered him many awards...
, featuring the Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch.
Background
Connelly said that he obtained the seed idea for The Concrete Blonde by reading a book detailing actual cases, written for forensic professionals.Plot summary
Detective Harry Bosch is pursuing "the Dollmaker", a serial killerSerial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
who uses makeup to paint his victims.
He gets a tip from a prostitute
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
that a recent customer of hers, Norman Church, had a large amount of women's makeup in his bathroom.
Bosch goes to Church's garage, identifies himself as police, breaks in the door. Church is naked and shaved. Bosch tells him to not move, but Church starts to pull something from under his pillow, and Bosch shoots him.
Bosch is investigated by internal affairs
Internal affairs (law enforcement)
The internal affairs division of a law enforcement agency investigates incidents and plausible suspicions of lawbreaking and professional misconduct attributed to officers on the force...
and cleared in the shooting; but, since he did not follow police procedure, he is transferred from the elite Robbery-Homicide Division (RHD) back to the Hollywood table.
The makeup is found to match those of nine of the Dollmaker's victims.
Four years later, Bosch is sued by Church's widow. Her attorney portrays Bosch as a cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
and a vigilante
Vigilante
A vigilante is a private individual who legally or illegally punishes an alleged lawbreaker, or participates in a group which metes out extralegal punishment to an alleged lawbreaker....
, seeking revenge for the unsolved murder of his mother when he was a child.
During the trial, the police receive a note, purportedly from the Dollmaker, which leads to the discovery of a new victim with the same modus operandi
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
. This victim was encased in concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
, unlike the original eleven victims, but all other aspects of the killing are the same, including the signature cross painted on a toenail. The concrete blonde victim, along with two other of the original victims, fit a different pattern: large-breasted blondes in the local adult entertainment industry
Sex industry
The sex industry consists of businesses which either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment...
who also advertise as high-class prostitutes in the local sex rags. Bosch and his task force suspect that "the Follower" is Detective Mora from Ad-Vice. Mora has ties to the adult video industry, had insider knowledge of the Dollmaker case, and was not at work during the killings not attributed to Norman Church. The task force put Mora under surveillance and Bosch breaks into Mora's house looking for evidence that he is the Follower. Instead he finds that Mora has been making pornographic movies with underage children. Mora returns to his house, finds Bosch and threatens to kill him. The rest of the task force arrive; they search Mora's house and determine that he is not the Follower. Mora does have information on who he believes is the Follower, and makes a deal: he provides the name of Professor Locke, agrees to quit the police force, and all of his crimes will be ignored. Mora got information that Locke had been seen on the set of adult movies where the slain women were cast members.
When Bosch returns to his office he finds another note from the Follower, saying that he will be taking 'his blonde'. Bosch assumes that he means his girlfriend Sylvia; when she does not answer her phone, he sends the police to her house. He arrives to an empty house, when a real estate agent shows up to show the house. Bosch finds Sylvia at his house and takes her to a hotel to protect her. Sylvia tells Bosch that they must have some time apart for her to decide if she can live with him and his dangerous job.
The next day Bosch returns to court as the jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
is to restart their deliberation
Deliberation
Deliberation is a process of thoughtfully weighing options, usually prior to voting. In legal settings a jury famously uses deliberation because it is given specific options, like guilty or not guilty, along with information and arguments to evaluate. Deliberation emphasizes the use of logic and...
s. Honey Chandler, the widow's attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, does not appear. Bosch sends the police to her house as she is also a blonde. The jury reaches a verdict for the plaintiff
Plaintiff
A plaintiff , also known as a claimant or complainant, is the term used in some jurisdictions for the party who initiates a lawsuit before a court...
and awards compensatory damages of one dollar
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
and punitive damages of one dollar to Church's widow. When Bosch finally arrives at Chandler's house she has been dead 48 hours, killed in the same manner as the other Dollmaker killings, except that she also has burn and bite marks all over her body. Locke, who had been missing for several days, shows up at the crime scene. Bosch and Edgar interrogate him but discover that he has a solid alibi
Alibi
Alibi is a 1929 American crime film directed by Roland West. The screenplay was written by West and C. Gardner Sullivan, who adapted the 1927 Broadway stage play, Nightstick, written by Elaine Sterne Carrington, J.C...
and dismiss him as a suspect. Bosch follows Bremmer from the crime scene to his house. He asks Bremmer if he can come in for a drink to discuss his court case. When Bremmer returns with two beers Bosch confronts him as being the Follower. Bremmer fights Bosch and gets control of his gun. Bosch, playing on Bremmer's pride, gets him to confess. Bosch had found a note that the Follower had mailed to Chandler, which mentioned an article in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
. Bosch had noticed that it had been mailed before that article was published, which led him to suspect Bremmer. Bremmer had tortured Chandler to find out where she had hidden the note and envelope. Bremmer attempts to shoot Bosch but the gun is empty; Bosch grabs the magazine he had hidden in his sock, hits Bremmer with it and arrests him. Bosch had hidden a recording device in the room while Bremmer was getting the beer.
The next day Bosch forces the district attorney
District attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
's office to charge Bremmer with first degree murder, as the filing attorney is not satisfied with the amount of evidence. The police then obtain a warrant to obtain blood, hair and teeth molds of Bremmer; and they match his bite marks on the body of Chandler, as well as his pubic hair
Pubic hair
Pubic hair is hair in the frontal genital area, the crotch, and sometimes at the top of the inside of the legs; these areas form the pubic region....
to those found on two of the original Dollmaker victims. A woman who owns a storage locker company recognizes Bremmer as having rented a locker under a false name and the police find video tapes of Bremmer's killings. Bremmer makes a deal for life without parole in exchange for leading police to the bodies of his other victims. Harry takes two weeks off work to make some home improvements. Eventually Sylvia returns and they re-unite and head off for a weekend together.
Characters in The Concrete Blonde
- Harry Bosch - Detective in the Los Angeles Police DepartmentLos Angeles Police DepartmentThe Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
- Honey "Money" Chandler - Lawyer for the plaintiff
- Rodney Belk - Assistant City attorney, lawyer for the City of Hollywood
- Lieutenant Harvey "Ninety-Eight" Pounds - Bosch's supervisor
- Joel Bremmer - Writer for the Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
; he wrote a book about the Dollmaker after Church's death - Jerry Edgar - Bosch's partner
- Dr. John Locke - USCUniversity of Southern CaliforniaThe University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
psychologist who helped the police on the Dollmaker case - Hans Rollenberger - Assistant Lieutenant in charge of the Follower task force.
- Alva Keyes - US District Court Judge, in charge of the trial
- Sylvia Moore - Bosch's girlfriend, a high school English teacher
- Irvin Irving - Assistant Chief of the LA police department
Style
The Concrete Blonde is written in the police proceduralPolice procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
form of crime fiction. This is the most realistic form of mystery and detective novels. In this style the detective interacts with a wide range of individuals who assist in the investigation.
Reception
Author Janet EvanovichJanet Evanovich
Janet Evanovich is an American writer. She began her career writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall, but gained fame authoring a series of contemporary mysteries featuring Stephanie Plum, a lingerie buyer from Trenton, New Jersey, who becomes a bounty hunter to...
said that The Concrete Blonde was "a classic in Connelly's Harry Bosch detective series--and one of my favorites." The Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard
The Weekly Standard is an American neoconservative opinion magazine published 48 times per year. Its founding publisher, News Corporation, debuted the title September 18, 1995. Currently edited by founder William Kristol and Fred Barnes, the Standard has been described as a "redoubt of...
said that Connelly "proved himself a master of courtroom give-and-take in The Concrete Blonde". The Library Journal
Library Journal
Library Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...
review in 1994 said "slick plot twists, fast action and fine suspense mark this excellent thriller and courtroom drama."