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Bosch Universe Will Include "Nightshade" Hero Det. Stilwell: Connelly

Bestselling author Michael Connelly confirmed that Det. Stillwell, the lead in his novel Nightshade, will connect with the Bosch universe.

Bosch creator Michael Connelly has a new novel out, this time introducing a new cop hero named Stillwell who has been exiled to become the one detective at the police station on the seemingly idyllic island of Catalina off the coast of Los Angeles. Nightshade is Detective Stillwell's debut novel before Connelly's latest book, The Lincoln Lawyer, comes out in October. In a Q&A about the new book, Connelly confirmed that Detective Stillwell exists in the same world as his other heroes Harry Bosch, Renée Ballard, Micky Haler and journalist Jack McEvoy (who will appear in the upcoming TV series adaptation of Connelly's novel The Poet).

In Nightshade, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Detective Stilwell was "exiled" to a low-key post policing rustic Catalina Island after department politics drove him off a homicide desk on the mainland. But while following up on the usual drunk-and-disorderlies and petty thefts that come with his new territory, Detective Stilwell gets a report of a body found weighed down at the bottom of the harbor—a Jane Doe identifiable at first only by a streak of purple dye in her hair. At the same time, a report of poaching on a protected reserve turns into a case fraught with violence and danger as Stilwell digs into the shady past of an island bigwig. Crossing all lines of protocol and jurisdiction, Stilwell doggedly works both cases. Though hampered by an old beef with an ex-colleague determined to thwart him at every turn, he is convinced he is the only one who can bring justice to the woman known as "Nightshade." Soon, his investigation uncovers closely guarded secrets and a dark heart to the serene island that was meant to be his escape from the evils of the big city.

Stillwell is Part of the Same Universe as Harry Bosch and Renée Ballard

"I like Stilwell, and about halfway through writing Nightshade, I knew I would come back to him," said Connelly. "I really love connecting characters and view my books as all just one big story. So next time out with Stilwell, I think you will see him connect in some way with one of the established characters. It's a little bit tricky because he is stationed out on an island and I will have to figure out a way for him to connect with Ballard or Bosch or Haller. I have been thinking about it a lot lately, and the character that keeps coming to mind is Ballard, because of her working cold cases. I think that might be the way to go. That, perhaps, out on Catalina, Stilwell comes up with something that connects with one of Ballard's cold cases. We'll see how that goes."

The funny thing is, Connelly hasn't revealed Stillwell's first name yet in the first book. "I am not sure what his first name is yet. But I can give a hint. The name was inspired by a longtime friend of mine named Steve Stilwell. So that would be the default, unless I come up with something exotic like Hieronymus." Don't be surprised if a TV series featuring Detective Stillwell is announced for development in the near future.

Nightshade is out in bookstores.

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