In "The Dark Hours," Michael Connelly's latest tour de force, the author gets to showcase Detective Renee Ballard, Harry Bosch's protégé, in the usual Connelly format: she's working two separate, unrelated cases; she's up against a male dominated LAPD, which interjects as many obstacles as possible; like Bosch, she needs to step outside the formal rules to solve the cases; she's more cunning and competent than the bad guys; and she solves the cases but is punished by her superiors for showing the public what a great cop does.The two cases in this Connelly gem are totally different in every respect: two men are breaking into homes and raping the single women there, serial rapists; and a former gang member gone straight is assassinated on New Year's Eve by a former cop fronting a group of dentists who are part of a criminal business conspiracy. Different characters, different parts of Los Angeles, different techniques, but the same Connelly-given drive to solve the crime, protect the public, and be the cops who actually "protect and serve."Connelly is the ultimate police procedural auteur. His background as a crime reporter for several newspapers in Florida and mostly for the Los Angeles Times put him in the center of the criminal justice system, from the cops to the prosecutors to the courts and judges and lawyers. He obviously retained everything he learned and saw, because he skillfully gives us all the relevant details, motivations and nuances of every action, every development and every outcome, while keeping the plot moving forward at a healthy clip. We always know what's going on with Ballard and Bosch every stop along the way, and we get to learn so much from them, and from Connelly.Like Bosch, Ballard is working in the LAPD, where systemic degradation is happening almost daily, and where many of the officers are either lazy, jealous, are waiting to retire, or are just dead wood. And then there's the ones who, like our protagonists, are also competent, motivated to do good, and a welcome development in the plot line. Connelly knows just how to guide Ballard and Bosch through the swamp, and makes sure that they get the bad guys and overcome the defects and rotting segments in this big city police department.Harry Bosch plays a minor role in this one… but he's always the mentor, the solid rock Ballard needs occasionally. Ballard is Bosch in a female body, and Connelly has set up a new series featuring her. Bosch is in retirement, so it is questionable if he will ever be featured in future Connelly books. If the reader is encountering Michael Connelly for the first time with this book, it is advised to go back to the start, Connelly's first published book, "The Black Echo," and follow Bosch and the other interesting characters Connelly gives us in over thirty novels. This is one of the better ones; that Connelly can keep his books lively and fresh (there's Covid and Jan. 6th elements in this one) after thirty-plus outings is a testament to his greatness as the pre-emanant author in this genre of police procedural mysteries. Highly recommended for all readers.