'Bosch' Author Michael Connelly Commends the Real Woman Who Inspired 'Ballard'

Ballard fans know the new Prime Video police procedural, starring Maggie Q, is a spinoff of Bosch. What fans may not know is that the eponymous leading lady is based on a real-life detective.

"Most of the characters I've written about are multi-influenced by fictional characters and people I've met," revealed Michael Connelly, the prolific author behind all 24 Harry Bosch books. "But Renee Ballard is based on an actual LAPD detective, who recently retired, named Mitzi Roberts. I've known her for a long time and she was helping me on my Bosch books as a consultant."

But Connelly was so impressed by Roberts, he said, that he realized a fictional detective based on her could open up a whole new world of possibilities.

"One day it dawned on me that her story was worth telling," Connelly added. "I asked her how she ascended the ranks to become a homicide detective and it was so fascinating that I said I would love to write a character based on her, and she said 'yes'."

Thanks to the Prime Video series, which is currently No. 1 on the streaming service, the character Roberts and Connelly brought to life keeps evolving.

"Ballard has gone from being a detective in my books to leading a cold-case unit on our new show," Connelly said with a proud smile. "It's almost like journalism to me. Truth turns into fiction but I go to Mitzi Roberts all the time and ask, 'What would you do in this situation?' It always comes down to her stories and anecdotes and her experience. And now, she's working on Ballard as a producer and is part of the writing room."

To make way for Ballard, Connelly and his fans had to let go of Bosch as a TV series, an act that felt both like a natural progression and a bittersweet inevitability, he said.

"We had an amazing run on Bosch," Connelly explained. "But I can't be disappointed after 10-plus amazing years. Now, I get to pivot into this other character while still telling a story about Los Angeles, but with a slightly different tone and a lot of new locations. It's an extension of this universe we started a dozen years ago and it's fun to have Maggie Q take the baton as Ballard and be the leader now."