Michael Connelly Net Worth

What is Michael Connelly's Net Worth?

Michael Connelly is an American author who has a net worth of $50 million. Known for writing crime and detective fiction, typically centered on his signature characters Harry Bosch and Mickey Haller, Michael Connelly's novels include "The Black Echo," "Blood Work," "The Lincoln Lawyer," "The Drop," and "The Waiting." Connelly has sold over 74 million copies of his books worldwide, and has had many of them adapted into films and television series.

Early Life and Education

Michael Connelly was born on July 21, 1956 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the second child of Mary and property developer W. Michael. He was introduced to mystery novels as a kid by his mother. When Connelly was 12 years old, he moved with his family to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he went to St. Thomas Aquinas High School. For his higher education, he attended the University of Florida, where he initially studied at the Rinker School of Building Construction. However, after earning average grades and becoming interested in the works of author Raymond Chandler, he switched to UF's College of Journalism and Communications to study journalism and creative writing.

Career Beginnings

After graduating from UF in 1980, Connelly wrote on the crime beat for the Daytona Beach News-Journal. After that, he worked for the Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, where he covered the crime beat during the cocaine wars. Connelly had his big break in 1986 when he interviewed survivors of the Delta Flight 191 crash that had happened the year prior. For his work, he became a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and landed a job as a crime reporter at the Los Angeles Times. In Los Angeles, Connelly was eventually able to rent an apartment in High Tower Court, the building where Raymond Chandler's famous detective character Philip Marlowe had lived.

Novelist

Connelly published his first novel, "The Black Echo," in 1992. The book introduced LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch, who would become Connelly's signature recurring character. Well-received by critics, "The Black Echo" won the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best First Novel. Connelly continued to chronicle the adventures of Detective Bosch in his next three books, "The Black Ice" (1993), "The Concrete Blonde" (1994), and "The Last Coyote" (1995). He then wrote "The Poet," which introduced the character Jack McEvoy, a reporter. After returning to Bosch with "Trunk Music" in 1997, Connelly introduced FBI agent Terry McCaleb in his 1998 novel "Blood Work." He then returned to Bosch again for his 1999 novel "Angels Flight." Connelly's first novel of the 21st century was "Void Moon," a free-standing story about Las Vegas thief Cassie Black. He subsequently published "A Darkness More Than Night," which brought together his characters Bosch and McCaleb. His Bosch books after that were "City of Bones" (2002), "Lost Light" (2003), "The Narrows" (2004), and "The Closers" (2005). Connelly also wrote "Chasing the Dime" (2002), a non-series novel about tech entrepreneur Henry Pierce.

Connelly's first legal novel, "The Lincoln Lawyer," was published in late 2005. It introduced criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller, the younger paternal half-brother of Bosch. After returning to Bosch in "Echo Park" (2006) and "The Overlook" (2007), Connelly published his second Haller book, "The Brass Verdict," in 2008. He followed that with a McEvoy novel, "The Scarecrow," in 2009. Also that year, Connelly published "9 Dragons," which brought Bosch to Hong Kong. In 2010, he published "The Reversal," the first matchup of Bosch and Haller. His next five novels — "The Fifth Witness," "The Drop," "The Black Box," "The Gods of Guilt," and "The Burning Room" — alternated between Haller and Bosch. Connelly then stuck with Bosch for "The Crossing" (2015) and "The Wrong Side of Goodbye" (2016). In 2017, he introduced a new character, LAPD detective Renee Ballard, in "The Late Show." Connelly would go on to pair Ballard with Bosch in several novels, including "The Night Fire" (2019), "The Dark Hours" (2021), "Desert Star" (2022), and "The Waiting" (2024). Among his other novels during this time were "Two Kinds of Truth," "Fair Warning," "The Law of Innocence," and "Resurrection Walk."

(Photo by CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images)

Other Written Works

In addition to his novels, Connelly has published numerous short story collections, some of them featuring Bosch. He also wrote a non-fiction book, "Crime Beat," that was released in 2004. It features his journalism from his time working the crime beat at the Sun-Sentinel and the Los Angeles Times.

Television and Film

In 2000, Connelly co-created the UPN science-fiction television series "Level 9," which was ultimately short-lived. A couple of years later, his novel "Blood Work" was adapted into a film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. Between 2009 and 2011, Connelly made some guest appearances as himself on the ABC television series "Castle," playing one of the titular character's poker buddies. Connelly's second book to be adapted into a film was "The Lincoln Lawyer," directed by Brad Furman and starring Matthew McConaughey, and released in 2011. A television version, based on the sequel novel "The Brass Verdict," was released on Netflix in 2022. Subsequent seasons of the show adapted the subsequent Mickey Haller novels.

The longest-running and most acclaimed of Connelly's television adaptations was the series "Bosch," which ran for seven seasons on Amazon Prime Video from 2014 to 2021. Starring Titus Welliver as the titular character, it was based on several of Connelly's Bosch books. A spinoff series, "Bosch: Legacy," ran for three seasons on Amazon Freevee from 2022 to 2025, starring most of the same cast. In addition to television series and films related to his books, Connelly wrote and hosted the 2024 MGM+ true crime documentary series "The Wonderland Massacre & the Secret History of Hollywood."

Personal Life

In 1984, Connelly married Linda McCaleb, whom he had first met in college. They have a daughter together.

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