The Black Echo characters

Appears from the start

An LAPD homicide detective in Hollywood Division whose refusal to accept convenient answers repeatedly puts him at odds with his superiors. A former Army tunnel soldier in Vietnam, he recognizes the dead man found in a drainage pipe as someone from that buried part of his life.

Also known as William Meadows

Appears from the start

The man found dead near Mulholland Dam. He served with Bosch as a tunnel soldier in Vietnam and later struggled with heroin, making an overdose seem plausible until details at the scene trouble Bosch.

Appears from the start

Bosch's partner in Hollywood homicide. He is sociable, ambitious, and more willing than Bosch to accommodate department expectations, though he continues helping with the Meadows investigation.

Appears from the start

The lieutenant commanding Bosch's squad. He is primarily concerned with orderly case management and with keeping Bosch from creating another public problem for the department.

Appears from the start

A senior LAPD official who monitors Bosch closely and protects the department's institutional interests. He is stern, politically alert, and unwilling to let Bosch define the limits of his own investigation.

First appears in chapter 2

An FBI agent assigned to the bank-robbery squad. Methodical and self-contained, she becomes Bosch's principal federal counterpart when the Meadows death intersects with an unsolved tunnel burglary.

First appears in chapter 2

An experienced FBI agent working with Eleanor Wish on the tunnel-burglary investigation. He understands the Bureau's evidence and procedures and regards Bosch's independent methods with caution.

First appears in chapter 2

An Internal Affairs detective assigned to watch Bosch. Lewis treats the surveillance as an opportunity to catch Bosch breaking rules rather than as a neutral inquiry.

First appears in chapter 2

Lewis's Internal Affairs partner. He helps maintain the covert watch on Bosch while the homicide detective pursues the Meadows case.

First appears in chapter 2

A teenage street hustler who was near the reservoir on the night Meadows died. His shifting account makes him both a possible witness and a vulnerable link in the investigation.