IRONWOOD by MICHAEL CONNELLY

In Ironwood, (Allen & Unwin, 19 May 2026), Michael Connelly successfully returns to Catalina Island for the second book in his series about Detective Stillwell.

Last year Connelly started a new series about Stilwell, no first name, from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, who had been ‘exiled’ to a low-key post, policing rustic Catalina Island, after departmental politics drove him off the homicide desk on the mainland. The first book, Nightshade, was quite good and was considerably enhanced by Connelly’s description of Catalina Island, which sits off the coast from Los Angeles.

Ironwood opens with Stilwell more settled on Catalina and setting up a nighttime operation. Acting on a tip that one of his deputies received from a confidential informant, Stilwell and crew watch a plane land in the middle of the night at a remote airstrip in the Catalina 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 bush, 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.
 
Meanwhile crime continues on the small island, and Stilwell finds himself involved in a steady stream of cases involving petty offences, acts of vandalism and sabotage at a local vineyard. While under orders to remain in the sheriff’s substation, he finds in the lost and found room a valuable backpack that was never claimed. He traces it to a woman who disappeared while hiking on the island four years ago. However, the pack was only mysteriously turned in two months back. Intrigued, Stilwell follows the clues across to the mainland and an active investigation by the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit headed by Detective Renée Ballard.

Connelly does his usual efficient job of steadily unfurling the various plotlines and keeping the story ticking along at a good pace. It is easy to keep across the various elements, and Connelly effectively builds up a convincing picture of the tapestry of policing on the island. The investigations into the murder of Stilwell’s deputy and the missing hiker hold central stage, and both of these proceed in interesting ways, and build to an unexpected climax that suggests that further books are coming!

Ironwood is well supported by an interesting and richly developed set of characters who help to the progress the plot and add flavour to the story. Little vignettes flesh out the plot and provide insights into island, while also colouring in Stilwell’s character in more detail. Adding to enjoyment are convincing details around policing, and Connelly’s usual sharp, and timely, social and political observations. The involvement of Ballard in the story is also fun, and there is a fleeting glimpse of Bosch. In all, a very good read. I am keenly looking forward to the next book in the series!

Ironwood is released in Australia and the United States on 19 May 2026. I particularly like the evocative cover on the Australian edition, which captures the eye and gives a good sense of the expanse of the island.