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Bosch Universe: Michael Connelly's "Ironwood" Teams Stilwell & Ballard

Shortly after the release of a new "The Lincoln Lawyer" novel, we've got details on Michael Connelly's Stilwell/Ballard team-up, Ironwood.

Mere weeks after the release of the latest The Lincoln Lawyer novel, The Proving Ground, author Michael Connelly revealed that he has already written the second book in his new Catalina-set series starring Detective Sergeant Stilwell, entitled Ironwood. The first Catalina novel, Nightshade, was released earlier this year, and Ironwood is scheduled for publication next spring (in May 2026). Here's a look at the official overview that was released on Connelly's website, which includes intel on the role that LAPD's Open-Unsolved Unit and Detective Renée Ballard (making it clear that Stilwell's cases will be taking place within the "Bosch-verse").

Ironwood: A Catalina Novel by Michael Connelly Featuring Detective Stilwell

"Sworn to protect a scenic island meant to be far from the evils of the mainland, Detective Sergeant Stilwell can feel danger closing in. Stilwell knows that his posting on Catalina Island is no paradise, but to most residents, it seems blissfully separated—by twenty-two miles of ocean—from the troubles of Los Angeles County. But now a threat is coming to his safe haven.

Acting on a tip from a confidential informant, Stilwell and his deputies watch a plane land in the middle of the night at the Airport in the Sky, a remote airstrip in the mountains. A duffel bag of drugs is dropped and the deputies move in, but things quickly go sideways. While Stilwell chases the fleeing pickup man into the mountainside brush, shots are fired on the runway and the plane flies off.

An internal inquiry follows, putting Stilwell on the bench until he is cleared of responsibility for the disastrous operation. But he is determined to find out who brought deadly violence to his island, and begins his own secret investigation into the drug deal gone wrong.

While under orders to remain in the sheriff's substation, he finds in the lost and found a valuable backpack that was never claimed. He traces it to a woman who disappeared while hiking on the island four years ago. But then why was the pack only turned in two months back? Now thoroughly intrigued, he follows the mystery all the way to the LAPD's Open-Unsolved Unit and Detective Renée Ballard.

Stilwell and Ballard work the case from both sides of the channel, and soon realize they are on the trail of a criminal who revels in taunting the authorities. Meanwhile, frustrated at being shut out of an investigation on his own island, Stilwell risks his already shaky standing in the department to pursue a case whose reach is wider than he ever imagined."

It will be interesting to see if Stilwell finds his way over to the live-action "Bosch Universe" anytime soon – stay tuned? Published by Little, Brown and Company, "Bosch Universe" creator Michael Connelly's Ironwood: A Catalina Novel is out on May 19th, 2026.

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