Michael Connelly is well known for his gritty crime novels but I discovered more about this bestselling author when we chatted during his just completed ‘Fifth Witness’ book tour of Australia. At the time Michael was looking forward to some R and R in Tasmania.
Michael has visited Australia 3 times now and has been twice to Tassie On his last visit to our island he only saw a little of Hobart, Moorilla comes to mind but this time he wanted to see and explore more! I asked Michael about the possibility of one his novels being set in Tassie and although he seemed to veer to the negative (his major detective character Harry Bosch is very much an LA centred detective) you just never know when we might find ourselves referred to one of Michael’s novels.
Michael is most well-known for his series of novels featuring detective Harry Bosch. Most readers will know that the detective is named for the Renaissance artist Hieronymus Bosch, ahead of his time in depicting what we would now say were surrealist landscapes peopled by tortured individuals.
Michael’s dad was an artist so Michael was exposed to art’s influence and the Bosch paintings gave him just the landscape he wanted for his characters His novels deal with the heavy themes of sin and redemption and so naturally lend themselves to Bosch’s startling and confronting visions.
Not being a great fan of the crime novel I was intrigued to ask Michael some questions relating to the genre. I wanted to know Michael’s opinion of why so many people like to read crime novels, is it that desire to explore the dark side of the human person and what prompts it to take prominence.
Michael took the explanation further; he explained a crime novel is dealing with ‘high stakes’ that lives are in danger. If a detective is not quick to solve a case then the criminal might strike again.
Crime is a transgression of the rules we live by and so this transgression unsettles our belief of how things should be and so we crave for a neat ending to make things right again. We crave justice to be served. Sometimes the real world doesn’t offer us these neat solutions so we can believe again in justice and fairness by (hopefully), the resolution in a crime novel.
It’s well known to Michael’s fans that he keeps a painting by the artist Bosch in his office. The one we often hear about as being that painting, is part of Bosch’s triptych the one of the depiction of hell. It was quite a relief to hear that Michael took that disturbing painting down when his daughter was born and replaced with it with ‘the garden of earthly delights’ to give us a more balanced view. Even though there is the sin there is also the innocence.
I had read before that Michael had often been asked what actor would he envisage playing Bosch and Michael replied that he didn’t see Bosch as looking a particular type but he also added that quite a few actors would have the ability to play him including George Clooney, Tom Hanks and our own Russell Crowe.
Michael is not averse to acting himself, appearing occasionally on television series’ The Castle’ as a poker player demonstrating another place where the stakes are high.
I asked Michael if he might ever consider writing another genre but he is committed to writing the genre he knows best and doesn’t envisage leaving it, a fact which should make his fans very happy. He intends to continue to develop fan favourites like Bosch, and already Michael has tested the waters in introducing the compliment of multimedia to his writing, by giving away a co selection of jazz music that inspires his writing and a DVD of the sites around LA where his novels are set.
Michael doesn’t know if these giveaways impact on increased sales but it is part of his desire to flesh out Bosch and his environment making him a fully formed character.
The great joy to Michael is knowing that he can write about a character over 16 million miles away and make a difference in someone’s life, like encouraging someone who hasn’t read a book for a decade or more to return to reading.
Michael is passionate about reading but he’s also passionate about organisations such as Make a Wish and he might incorporate a mention into his novels from time to time showing us that his hard-nosed investigators have a softer side.
Michael’s book The Fifth Witness is out now
Paula Xiberras
