Echo Park Reading Guide & Discussion Questions

1. "It was the clothes that got to Bosch. The way they were folded so neatly. Did she do that? Or had it been the one who took her from this world?" Why do you think LAPD Detective Harry Bosch is obsessed with certain unsolved cases, like Marie Gesto's in Echo Park? Why would some cases haunt him more than others?
   


2. "They ought to strap him down, put the juice in him and send him down the hole to where he belongs." Bosch was initially appalled that Assistant DA Rick O'Shea would make a deal with Raynard Waits, giving him life in prison over the death penalty. Bosch believed that Waits should die for what he did. Do you believe it is worth negotiating with a serial killer in order to close more murder cases and provide answers to the families of victims? Does a life sentence in prison equal the death penalty?
   


3. "The prosecutor is running for DA. He needs the headlines." Harry didn't trust O'Shea's motives for making the deal with Waits—he thought O'Shea just wanted publicity for his campaign. In this particular case, do you think Harry was being cynical and narrow minded, or was O'Shea looking out for his own best interests by dealing with Waits?
   

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Grand Central Publishing. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.