Read @ Joe’s

Title: Nightshade (2025) Author: Michael Connelly Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Book jacket: Michael Connelly introduces a new cop relentlessly following his mission in the seemingly idyllic setting of Catalina island. Joe says: Nightshade is serviceable. Entertaining, even. But it never surprises, never stings. Nightshade is not a terrible novel. But it is terribly mediocre.

Nightshade is the latest from master crime fiction author Michael Connelly, and while it promises new ground, it mostly treads the same familiar path. This time out, Connelly steps away from his Bosch/Ballard/Haller mainstays and introduces a fresh setting and a new lead. But Nightshade offers a new locale and a new protagonist but it also falls into the same old procedural that has been seen countless times before. This paint job might be fresh but the engine hums with the same well-worn procedural Connelly’s been riding on for years. Nightshade is not a terrible novel. But it is terribly mediocre. 

Nightshade is set in the tourism paradise of Catalina Island. But once the sailboats have been moored and the last call bell has been rung, Connelly falls into his usual one–two rhythm of murder, deception, routine dialogue. Nightshade opens with the slaughter of a protected buffalo that gets the attention of LA County Detective Stilwell. That investigation soon leads Stil to the disappearance, and eventual murder of Leigh Anne Moss, a smooth operator who waits on tables and members alike from the exclusive Black Marlin Club. Stil is a good and honorable man who takes his job seriously. He also has potential. But Connelly seems content in backfiring that potential with a by-the-numbers investigation. The plot unfolds like a checklist: generic gangsters, bought-and-sold politicians, a weary romance subplot, and the obligatory police captain barking about jurisdiction. This is more a fill-in-the-blank template than an irresistible mystery. You know this play. You’ve seen the rerun.

Stil is good. The bad guys are bad. And Nightshade is woefully underwhelming as a result.

Michael Connelly goes out of his way to make Stilwell a worthy and noble contemporary to Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller. He builds this setting of the beach town of Avalon on Catalina as a unique placement for murder most foul. And it all runs as smoothly as freshly laid asphalt. No jarring bumps. No hazardous curves. Avalon should feel like vibrant territory for Connelly, but instead it comes off like vacation scribbles—easy, breezy, and sun-dazed. This isn’t steak-and-scotch storytelling from Musso & Frank. This is a poolside margarita that goes down all sugary and leaves without a buzz. Nightshade entertains just enough to keep the pages turning, but when it’s done, there’s nothing left to chew on.

Nightshade is serviceable. Entertaining, even. But it never surprises, never stings. The master is still in the building but the tunes he’s singing are all karaoke covers.