After a decade-long run across two critically acclaimed series, Bosch and Bosch: Legacy, author Michael Connelly is coming to terms with the end of his long-running on-screen detective — but fans of Harry Bosch might want to brace for even more finality. In a new interview, Connelly admits that while he’s not ready to say goodbye just yet, killing off Bosch is not off the table. When asked if killing off his most famous character was a possibility, Connelly admitted:
“I don’t think so. I mean, never say never. I hope the last book I’m writing has Bosch in it. Now, whether that’s just his final book or his final story, I don’t know yet.”
That’s right. The creator of one of the most iconic crime characters in fiction — who’s appeared in over 20 novels and the longest-running streaming character on TV — is considering closing the book for good.
With Amazon’s Bosch: Legacy now officially wrapped after Season 3, Connelly said he had no complaints about the show’s 10-season journey, though he does wish they had known it was the end while making it.
“I just wish we knew we were ending it when we were writing it and filming it, and I think we would have gone out in a slightly different way,” he explained. “There were a couple of loose ends and luckily the last episode was an introduction to [Renée] Ballard.”
Ballard, of course, will take center stage in a new cold case series led by Maggie Q, arriving this summer. Despite the streaming door closing (for now), Bosch isn’t disappearing completely. Connelly confirmed that Bosch will be back in his next book, likely in 2026 — though the question of whether it will be the last looms larger than ever.
Michael Connelly Has a New Character
Connelly’s latest release, Nightshade, marks his 40th book and introduces a brand-new protagonist: Detective Stilwell, a former mainland cop banished to the quiet (but soon deadly) Catalina Island. With a romantic partner and a more stable life than Bosch or Mickey Haller (The Lincoln Lawyer), Stilwell offers a sharp tonal shift for Connelly — and possibly a more personal connection.
“This is the first main character I’ve ever written who has a reasonably healthy and stable relationship with a partner,” Connelly said. “Harry Bosch, Renée Ballard, Mickey Haller, they all have fraught relationships… I was thinking, isn’t it about time I wrote about someone who is more like me in that regard?”
Nightshade is available now from Orion Publishing. Stay with Collider for more updates on Michael Connelly’s crime universe.
Source: Yorkshire Post