Welcome to my weekly segment, Waiting on Wednesday, where I look at upcoming books that I am planning to order and review in the next few months and which I think I will really enjoy. Stay tuned to see reviews of these books when I get a copy of them. For this week’s Waiting on Wednesday, I highlight the outstanding upcoming novel Ironwood by the master of crime fiction, Michael Connelly.
Michael Connelly is an author who needs very introduction on this blog, especially with the impressive array of awesome crime fiction novels he has released over the years. I have had so much fun reading and reviewing several of his most recent books ever since I started the Unseen Library, including his latest novel, The Proving Ground, which recently appeared on my favourite books of 2025 list. As such, all of Connelly’s new books are instantly at the top of my to-read lists, and this includes his next intriguing novel, Ironwood.
Set for release in May 2026, Ironwood is the sequel to Connelly’s other 2025 novel, Nightshade, and will once again follow the author’s newest protagonist, Detective Sergeant Stilwell of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department, a stubborn and dedicated detective banished to Catalina Island. This novel will once again see Stilwell in trouble, as he attempts to find out who targeted his men in a deadly firefight, while also crossing paths with another Connelly protagonist.
Plot Synopsis:
Sworn to protect a scenic island that is meant to be far from the evils of the mainland, Detective Sergeant Stilwell can feel danger closing in.
Detective Sergeant Stilwell knows that his posting on Catalina Island is no paradise, but to most residents it seems blissfully separated – by twenty-two miles of ocean – from the troubles of Los Angeles County. But now a threat is coming to his safe haven.
Acting on a tip from a confidential informant, Stilwell and his deputies watch a plane land in the middle of the night at the Airport in the Sky, a remote airstrip in the mountains. A duffel bag of drugs is dropped and the deputies move in, but things quickly go sideways. While Stilwell chases the fleeing pickup man into the mountainside brush, shots are fired on the runway and the plane flies off.
An internal inquiry follows, putting Stilwell on the bench until he is cleared of responsibility for the disastrous operation. But he is determined to find out who brought deadly violence to his island and begins his own secret investigation into the drug deal gone wrong.
While under orders to remain in the sheriff’s substation, he finds in the lost and found a valuable backpack that was never claimed. He traces it to a woman who disappeared while hiking on the island four years ago. But then why was the pack only turned in two months back? Now thoroughly intrigued, he follows the mystery all the way to the LAPD’s Open-Unsolved Unit and Detective Renée Ballard.
Stilwell and Ballard work the case from both sides of the channel, and soon realize they are on the trail of a criminal who revels in taunting the authorities. Meanwhile, frustrated at being shut out of an investigation on his own island, Stilwell risks his already shaky standing in the department to pursue a case whose reach is wider than he ever imagined.
Ironwood sounds like another awesome novel from Connelly, especially as he expands on story elements from Nightshade. Once again utilising the unique Catalina Island as an interesting background setting, Ironwood will continue to see the banished protagonist try to uncover a deadly crime on his supposed island paradise. Once again sideline by his superiors, the main case of Ironwood sounds extremely awesome, and I’m curious to see how it will follow-up on some of the excellent storylines from the previous book. This will no doubt be an outstanding center to Ironwood’s exciting narrative, and I cannot wait to see how this main case unfolds.
While the focus on the failed drug arrest and shootout should be awesome on its own, Connelly will further expand the narrative of Ironwood by teaming up Stilwell with another one of his protagonists, Detective Renée Ballard. Ballard has been one of Connelly’s main police/LAPD protagonists in recent years (having appeared in books like Dark Sacred Night, The Night Fire, The Dark Hours and Desert Star), with Connelly clearly setting her up as one of the replacements for the aging Harry Bosch. As such, it isn’t too surprising that Stilwell’s first crossover will be with Ballard, especially as both characters are outsiders amongst their respective organisations. As such, I’m very curious to see the two of them work together in this new novel, especially as it will likely annoy both of their superiors. It is going to be very interesting to see how the Detective Stilwell series is incorporated into Connelly’s larger crime fiction universe, and it should result in a complex new novel from this great author.
Based on how exceptional all of Connelly’s most recent books have been, Ironwood is automatically at the top of my to-read list for 2026, and it is probably one of the crime fiction books I’m most excited to get my hands on. I had such an outstanding time with Nightshade last year, and I cannot wait to see how Connelly continues to utilise his new protagonist in this cool upcoming sequel. I have very high hopes for Ironwood, and I have no doubt it is going to be epic.
The Unseen Library 