History repeats.

While I have not had TV service for some two decades now, I do subscribe to Amazon Prime and they make available a lot of content, including their ‘made for TV’ series as Amazon moves to become a major movie studio.

One which caught my eye recently is the Harry Bosch series of detective thrillers, set in Los Angeles. The cinematography here appeals immediately, capturing that sun bleached look of the poorer parts of a city I love. Bosch, a somewhat dour and jaded Hollywood homicide cop, lives in a magnificent stilt house in the Hollywood Hills. You know, one of those due to become an insurance claim receivable when the Big One hits, for these Hills homes are perched on uprights which will be the first to go when tectonic plates commence shifting.

The story line, for no straight cop could afford this place on his salary, is that Bosch participated in the making of a cop movie – there’s a poster on his wall testifying to this – which rewarded him richly, affording him the magnificent home (1870 Blue Heights Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90069) along with some really cool vintage tube hi-fi hardware. The latter, sadly, is wasted on his preference for jazz, which is so much noise in my book, but each to his own. Here’s Harry in his pad:

This image, used in several episodes, immediately harkens back to the greatest modern architectural photograph of a Neutra inspired home, that of the Stahl house, taken by Julius Shulman:

The Stahl House.

If you like your detectives hard bitten, cynical and rule bending, with more than a dash of Philip Marlowe (and some of the complexity) thrown into the mix along with fine acting and cinematography, Harry Bosch is your man. The intense and splendidly named Titus Welliver is Bosch.