Michael Connelly coming to Sebastopol

Local mystery fans will have the chance to get up close and personal with one of the genre’s stars when bestselling author Michael Connelly comes to Sebastopol on Sunday.

Connelly, whose series heroes – LAPD detective Harry Bosch and defense attorney Mickey Haller – were successful on screen, will appear Sunday with Bay Area radio and podcast host Michael Krasny at the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center.

“He interviewed me a few years ago, then reached out,” Connelly said of Krasny. “There is a relaxed nature to his interview that leads to a more personal discussion.”

A former crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times, Connelly is the author of 38 novels, with more than 74 million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into 40 languages.

Connelly’s newest novel, “The Waiting,” stars one of his other characters, Renee Ballard, a detective and former Los Angeles Times crime reporter who teamed with Bosch on five previous books.

Bosch also appears in the novel, as does his daughter Maddie, now a young police officer, who readers have seen grow up throughout the Bosch series.

“In my world, Maddie is very special,” Connelly said. “As she grew, my daughter grew too. In my future writings, I want to expand on what I write about Maddie Bosch. I waited for Maddie to grow up.”

In addition to her success with her books, Connelly has also had luck with screen adaptations of her work.

In 2002, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the film adaptation of Connelly’s 1997 novel “Blood Work.” In March 2011, the film adaptation of Connelly’s novel “The Lincoln Lawyer” starred Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller.

Connelly, 68, is the executive producer of “Bosch,” which ran from 2014 to 2021, and “Bosch: Legacy,” two Amazon Studios television series based on his character Harry Bosch, starring Titus Welliver, about to start your third and final series. season next year.

He is also the executive producer of the series “The Lincoln Lawyer” on Netflix, starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Mickey Haller, which has been renewed for a fourth season.

Like some of Connelly’s previous novels, “The Waiting” concerns a long-unsolved “cold case.”

“I’m fascinated by cold cases,” Connelly said. “I call them time travel stories.”

Building your story around a long-unsolved crime allows you to tell the story in two settings: the year the crime originally occurred and the present, with a renewed investigation underway, he explained.

Like her fictional character, Renee Ballard, Connelly is a former crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times. After working for two newspapers in Florida, he began working at the Los Angeles Times in 1987 and continued there until 1995.

His first published novel, “The Black Echo,” which introduced the character Harry Bosch, was released in 1992, and the durable detective continues to be an essential part of the stories.

“I got into this world of writing crime fiction with Harry Bosch, and 32 years later I still write about him,” Connelly said. “He has characteristics that most people can aspire to.”

The author admires the character Bosch for his resilience, tenacity and courage.

“These stories lead to a time when a person needs to step up and do the right thing,” Connelly said. “I hope to be the guy to step forward.”

Unlike some fictional detective characters, Bosch has the respect of many real police officers.

“I was at a book signing in Columbus, Ohio, and several police officers were there,” Connelly said. “I can’t say I write for cops, but I always try to be accurate, so when one of them comes up and says, ‘Hey, man, you got it right,’ that’s the best you can do.”

You can contact staff writer Dan Taylor at [email protected] or 707-521-5243. No X @danarts.