Bestselling Author Michael Connelly Draws a Packed House in Manhattan Beach for ‘The Hollow’ Book Talk

LAPost/Manhattan Beach, CA (October 24, 2026) — By Richard Ren/LAPost

More than 1,000 readers filled the auditorium at Mira Costa High School on Saturday afternoon to hear bestselling crime novelist Michael Connelly discuss his latest Harry Bosch novel, The Hollow, and how his experience reporting on crime in Los Angeles has shaped his fiction.

The event, titled “Feature Michael Connelly,” was presented by LA County Library in partnership with the City of Manhattan Beach as part of the Fall 2026 Manhattan Beach Library Speaker Series. Jacqueline Chou, chair of the Manhattan Beach Library Commission, moderated the conversation. Connelly’s books have sold a reported 92 million copies worldwide.

The approximately 1,500-seat auditorium was filled for the nearly 90-minute discussion. Afterward, Connelly moved to a signing area on campus, where he spent approximately two hours signing books, speaking with readers and posing for photographs. Many attendees brought older novels from their personal collections in addition to receiving copies of his latest release.

For many readers, the event offered an opportunity to meet an author whose books they have followed for decades.

Carl Nabla, who lives near Temecula, said he had been reading Connelly’s novels for nearly 30 years. His daughter brought him to the signing as a birthday gift, and he brought additional books for the author to sign.

“I love his books,” Nabla said, adding that he was excited to attend the event.

Georgia Tim, a retired reader who drove about 45 minutes to Manhattan Beach, said she had attended previous Connelly book signings and collected his hardcover novels, all bearing the author’s signature. She waited nearly two hours for her turn.

“I’m a big fan of Michael Connelly. When he has his book signings, I’m here,” Tim said. “I have all of his books in hardback, and they’re all signed. So I’m here again, and I drove about 45 minutes to get here, but I’m glad I’m here. It’s worthwhile, and I’m a happy camper.”

Tim said she had not anticipated the size of the crowd and encountered some difficulty finding parking, but remained pleased to have attended.

Pamela Wilson, a former Los Angeles Times editor who now makes documentary films, said she had known Connelly since 1991. Connelly served as executive producer of one of her documentaries.

Wilson described him as generous, humble and gracious, saying he had maintained close friendships over the decades. She has read every one of his books, some as many as three times.

“They’re impossible to put down. I read them all in one sitting, usually, and I look forward to the next one every time,” Wilson said. She added that Connelly’s recent pace of publishing two books a year had given her more new work to anticipate.

Drawing on Los Angeles for Crime Fiction

During the discussion, Chou asked Connelly about his writing process, the development of his characters and the ways real-world details inform his fictional investigations.

“We spoke about how he has written his stories and how he’s come up with his characters and how much he’s been able to bring in so much of the real world into his stories,” Chou said after the event.

Connelly’s career began in journalism, where he covered crime before joining the Los Angeles Times. His reporting experience has informed novels set in Los Angeles and Southern California, incorporating the region’s geography, police investigations and criminal justice system into fictional cases.

In 1992, Connelly published his debut novel, The Black Echo, introducing Los Angeles detective Harry Bosch. The book won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel that year. Connelly has since published more than 40 novels, including books featuring defense attorney Mickey Haller, the central character in The Lincoln Lawyer. Both the Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer series have been adapted for television.

His latest novel, The Hollow, returns to Bosch, a character Connelly has written about for more than three decades. The story centers on a murder committed 60 years earlier, prompting the detective to revisit the past as he investigates the case.

“I think this book is pretty significant because he kind of goes back in his own history to solve a case, and goes back to solve a murder that occurred 60 years ago,” Connelly said in an interview after the event. “It’s a difficult investigation, but it means a lot to him, and that’s why the book meant a lot to me.”

The case connects Bosch’s professional investigation with his personal history, continuing a storyline that has developed alongside the character over decades.

A Conversation Between Author and Readers

Connelly said the Manhattan Beach gathering was among the largest audiences he had addressed.

“It was maybe the biggest crowd I’ve ever spoken in front of,” he said. “More than 1,000 people were here, and all because of a love of books and support of a library.”

The audience asked questions about The Hollow and Connelly’s broader body of work. After more than 30 years of appearances and book signings, he said he had grown accustomed to meeting readers.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years, and the crowds have gotten bigger, which is good,” Connelly said. “People don’t come to your book signings ’cause they don’t like your books. They usually like your books, so you’re with a very friendly crowd.”

He said he did not feel nervous at such events, viewing them instead as opportunities to share his work with readers.

For Chou and the library commission, the turnout underscored the community interest in author events. Chou said she was surprised by the number of attendees and noted that the program was among the commission’s most heavily attended events.

Presented by LA County Library and the City of Manhattan Beach, “Feature Michael Connelly” brought readers together for a public discussion with an internationally published novelist whose work is closely associated with Los Angeles. The program combined a moderated conversation with a book-signing session, giving attendees an opportunity to hear about Connelly’s creative process and speak with him in person.

For longtime Bosch readers, the event offered a closer look at the background behind the character and the new novel. Others left with signed copies of The Hollow and older titles from Connelly’s catalog, following an afternoon centered on books, writing and the relationship between an author and his readers.