Stranger than fiction and every bit as gripping, this non-fiction collection contains an introduction by Michael Connelly and an afterword by Michael Carlson.

'Death is my beat.' Those words, spoken by the narrator and hero of The Poet, could also apply to Michael Connelly. He was an award-winning journalist before he became one of the leading crime writers of his generation, the creator of the detective Harry Bosch.

Crime Beat is a riveting collection of true stories which reveals, time and again, the connection between Connelly the crime reporter and Connelly the novelist:

One morning an editor called me and told me to swing by a murder scene on my way to the office. Just like that, like I was picking up a coffee on the way to work... I went as instructed and got the story. I also got the place where I would put the home of the fictional detective I had secretly begun writing about...

The cops. The killers. The cases. A must for all Connelly fans.