BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:

Jul 10, 2025 at 1:07:13 PM PDT, Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com>: >>2025-07-10 1:27 PM, BTR1701 wrote:

. . .

Haven't watched the show but in the book, they're all volunteers. It's
a cold case squad and they each pick a case out of the archives of all >>>the old unsolved cases and work on it. They're only required to work one >>>day per week but most come in more often because they're all retirees or >>>people with nothing else to do, so they treat it like a full-time job.

I'm six episodes into the series and it isn't clear exactly how much
each person works although it certainly appears that all of them are >>working full time. Given that there are plenty of cold cases to work, I >>can't see how they'd ever have to worry about not having any work to do. >>Mind you, the cold case squad in the series is brand new and largely >>dedicated to solving a specific cold case - a 25 year old murder of a
city councilman's sister - so there's lot of political pressure on them
to focus on that one case while Ballard and crew are simultaneously
trying to solve others. There are also regular threats to shut down the >>unit if it doesn't solve the councilman's sister's case. Obviously, ALL
of their jobs are in jeopardy if that happens.

That's definitely the plot of the book "Desert Star". Although Bosch is
also a main character in the book. Bosch and Ballard are like co-main >characters.

She convinces Bosch to join the squad by giving him the opportunity
to work on the one case he was never able to solve-- the murder of
an entire family ten years earlier. All he had to do was prioritize
helping her solve the councilman's case and she'd give him all the time
(and official resources) he wanted to work on his case. Sounds like they
axed that part of the book's plot if Bosch isn't in the show.

I've just finished watching Bosch: Legacy season 3. That part of the
Desert Star novel was adapted for one of the major story arcs that
season. Ballard was not part of it. She showed up in the final episode
which had no relation to the rest of the season. One of Bosch's cold
cases from 13 years earlier was solved in teaming up with Ballard. It
was super easy, not even a problem.

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