Every Bosch Season and the Books They're Based On (2024)

Bosch is a police procedural and drama series produced by Amazon Studios that follows the titular detective Harry Bosch. The series is based on the many detective novels by author Michael Connelly. The Harry Bosch book series consists of almost thirty books, which began with Connelly's first book, The Black Echo. But Bosch doesn't follow the same order as Michael Connelly's novels and even adapts multiple books for a single season.

Bosch follows a different criminal case each season and sees Detectives Harry Bosch and Jerry Edgar investigate. However, there are many overarching plots throughout the series' seven-season run. Each season takes bits and pieces of each Michael Connelly book to create a single unique storyline for television, with Connelly himself as a writer and executive producer on the show. And while the main case for each season is based on a single Michael Connelly book, other details and background storylines are taken from different books in the Harry Bosch book series.

Season 1: The Concrete Blonde, City of Bones, Echo Park

The first season of Bosch set the tone for the rest of the series and proved the series could adapt multiple books at the same time successfully. In this season, the main case is the murder of a young boy many years ago. After a dog finds a human bone in the Hollywood Hills, Harry Bosch and Jerry Edgar investigate. This main case is taken from the book City of Bones.

Meanwhile, Harry is facing trial for a questionable shooting of a suspect. The suspect's widow sues Bosch, and Honey Chandler works as her defense attorney. The events of the book The Concrete Blonde inspire this trial. The third book used for Bosch Season 1 is Echo Park, the book that introduces serial killer Raynard Waits. City of Bones and Echo Park aren't as connected as in Bosch Season 1, as Waits never claims to have killed the young boy found in the Hollywood Hills. However, Raynard Waits does lie about killing another victim, and most of the events of Season 1, including "Fugazi" and "The Magic Castle," are inspired by Echo Park.

Season 2: The Last Coyote, Trunk Music, The Drop

Season 2 of Bosch follows Harry and J. Edgar as they investigate the murder of a man found in a trunk who seems to have connections with the mafia. This is the main case from Michael Connelly's book Trunk Music. The case takes Harry to Las Vegas in Bosch and Trunk Music, leading to Eleanor Wish's involvement in the case. The first episode of Season 2 is aptly titled "Trunk Music."

However, while most of the storyline and case in Bosch Season 2 is taken from Trunk Music, one of the biggest twists and shocking deaths in Season 2 is based on Connelly's book The Drop. The Last Coyote is the third book used for inspiration in Season 2, and it deals with Harry investigating the murder of his mother. And while this plays a big role in multiple seasons of Bosch, Season 2 is when Harry gets a new lead in the case. The Last Coyote is also the inspiration behind Boch Season 4.

Season 3: The Black Echo, A Darkness More Than Night

The Black Echo is Michael Connelly's first novel, as well as the first one in the Harry Bosch book series. This book deals with the investigation of the murder of Billy Meadows, a veteran that Harry knew from the war. However, Bosch Season 3 changes most of the details surrounding the investigation, including the fact that Harry and Eleanor Wish met for the first time while working together in The Black Echo. In Bosch: Legacy, Harry tells Maddie he met Eleanor while working together on a case that was later turned into a movie, The Black Echo.

A Darkness More Than Night is the second book used for inspiration in Bosch Season 3. This is the book where Bosch is set up for the murder of Ed Gunn, which also happens in Season 3. The general story in Bosch Season 3 and A Darkness More Than Night is almost the same. However, in Connelly's book, FBI profiler Terry McCaleb is the one trying to clear Bosch's name, while J. Edgar takes this role in Bosch Season 3. Terry McCaleb is a recurring character in the Michael Connelly novels, first introduced as the lead in the book Blood Work, which was turned into a movie starring Clint Eastwood as McCaleb in 2002.

Season 4: Angels Flight, Nine Dragons, The Last Coyote

Much like Bosch Season 2, Season 4 also deals with the murder of Harry's mother. In this season, Bosch finally apprehends her killer, and the basis for this is taken again from the book The Last Coyote. However, the main case is based on the book Angels Flight. In this book, Harry investigates the murder of Howard Elias, a prominent African-American lawyer. Bosch Season 4 also deals with Elias' murder but significantly changes the ending of Angels Flight.

Nine Dragons is mostly used as the basis for Eleanor Wish's storyline in Bosch Season 4. In Nine Dragons, Eleanor and Maddie Bosch are living in Hong Kong and become involved with the Chinese crime syndicate after Maddie is kidnapped. While this doesn't happen in Bosch Season 4, key elements from Nine Dragons are used for one of the most shocking twists in Bosch.

Season 5: Two Kinds of Truths

Bosch Season 5 adapts Two Kinds of Truth, the twentieth book in the Harry Bosch book series. This is the only book used as the source for the season. However, many details from Michael Connelly's book are different in Season 5. Most notably, in Two Kinds of Truth, Harry Bosch is already retired from the LAPD, but he's still a homicide detective in Bosch Season 5.

Two Kinds of Truths follows the investigation of a double homicide at a pharmacy connected to a network of criminals dealing with prescription drugs. At the same time, Bosch finds out that an old case he worked on is being reopened due to new evidence. Bosch Season 5 adapts most of the storyline in Two Kinds of Truth, being one of the two seasons of Bosch that take inspiration from a single book. The first episode of Season 5 is titled "Two Kinds of Truth."

Season 6: The Overlook, Dark Sacred Night

Bosch Season 6 centers on the murder of a medical physicist, and the FBI believes his murder is connected with a possible terrorist threat. However, Harry disagrees and tries to pursue his own line of investigation, suspecting the physicist's wife of orchestrating the entire crime. This is the basis for Michael Connelly's book The Overlook.

Dark Sacred Night is a Michael Connelly book that brings together two characters featured in his novels: Harry Bosch and Reneé Ballard. Bosch and Ballard work together to investigate the murder of Daisy Clayton. Daisy is the daughter of Elizabeth, a woman Harry met while undercover in Bosch Season 5. While most of the story around Daisy Clayton's murder is seen in Bosch Season 6, Reneé Ballard's involvement in the case isn't mentioned in Bosch.

Season 7: The Burning Room

The final season of Bosch sets the stage for Bosch: Legacy. Bosch Season 7 deals with a building fire that kills a family, including a young girl called Sonia. Harry works tirelessly to find justice for Sonia, but he meets several roadblocks that complicate his investigation. Harry eventually resigns from the LAPD and becomes a private investigator, and he continues working as a PI in Bosch: Legacy.

Most of the storyline from Bosch Season 7 is taken from Michael Connelly's book The Burning Room. However, while the basis of the case is in the book, Bosch Season 7 changes most of the details. The building fire in The Burning Room happened years before the events of the book, unlike in Season 7. And while Harry also retires from the LAPD in The Burning Room, he does so under much different circ*mstances than in Bosch Season 7.

Bosch

TV-MA

Drama

Crime

Release Date

February 6, 2014

Cast

Titus Welliver , Jamie Hector , Amy Aquino , Lance Reddick , Madison Lintz

Main Genre

Drama

Seasons

7