California's newest private investigator, Harry Bosch, searches for a reclusive billionaire's possible heir, a case with odd links to his own past, and volunteers to find a serial rapist for a small, cash-strapped police department.

"A much loved woman's dead body is found in her apartment, victim of horrendous overkill even as her dining room table is perfectly set for a romantic dinner. Turns out her devoted boyfriend has an alibi and, with few clues leading to a suspect, LAPD's Lieutenant Milo Sturgis calls in psychologist Alex Delaware for help. Then another woman's shot execution style; three bullets in the back of her head leave her husband with a profitable business. He's...

Psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware meets beautiful and emotionally fragile TV actress Zelda Chase when called upon to evaluate her five-year-old son, Ovid. Years later, Alex is unexpectedly reunited with Zelda when she is involuntarily committed after a bizarre psychotic episode. Shortly after Zelda's release, an already sad situation turns tragic when she is discovered dead on the grounds of a palatial Bel Air estate. Having experienced more than enough...

Detective Harry Bosch investigates a cold case and the murder of a city councilman's son. The cases are unrelated but they twist around each other like the double helix of a DNA strand. One leads to the discovery of a killer operating in the city for as many as three decades; the other to a deep political conspiracy that reached back into the dark history of the police department.