The mystery of the overlooked answering machine message

In “The Overlook,” Michael Connelly’s latest murder mystery, L.A. Police Det. Harry Bosch phones a hotel clerk and asks him to evacuate a guest who’s in danger then phone him back. “Here, write this down,” Bosch says. “My number is three-two-three, two-four-four, five-six-three-one.”

Well, just for fun, I phoned the number. It’s a live line -- I heard a recorded (male) voice say, “This is Harry Bosch. If you have information about the ‘Overlook’ case, please leave me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

I left a message but got no reply. Could be because the prickly Bosch doesn’t think much of newspaper folks. Or maybe he was just in a hurry to solve the crime. After all, he gave his phone number to the hotel clerk on Page 210 -- and the book’s only 225 pages long.

Literary intrigue (cont.): Naomi Hirahara, the author of three mysteries starring a 70-ish gardener-sleuth named Mas Arai, takes him to parts of Southern California often ignored by other writers in this genre. Some of Arai’s colorful reactions:

* North Hollywood had “mini-malls on every other corner, old-fashioned gas stations and looming apartment buildings. No wonder he didn’t have any customers around here -- no lawns.”

* “Culver City was old, at least for Southern California, and a lot of its streets tangled up in knots like the roots of a tree smashed into a pot that was too small.”

* “Altadena ... was scrawny like a chicken that didn’t get enough feed. It had a slight wildness to it -- hardly any sidewalks -- as if the town weren’t even worth taming. Mas liked it anyway.”

* And, finally, my favorite passage from Hirahara’s “Snakeskin Shamisen” novel: “Mas ... swung open the door and pulled himself into the Ford. It was definitely time to get out of Torrance.”

Many’s the time I’ve felt that way during a traffic jam on the 405.

More suspense: In Richmond, Va., Gayle Wilhite of Manhattan Beach was surprised to see that authorities were still working on the case of a Civil War general who died more than 140 years ago (see photo). Now that’s a cold case.

No grumbling from motorists at this station: I guess it figured. The gasoline business is so profitable that Tony Soprano types have entered the field, as this shot from Andre Parvenu illustrates (see photo).

At least it’s still L.A.: Phil Proctor relayed a notice from the downsized city of Los “Anges,” theorizing that “they’re cutting back on letters to save money” (see accompanying).

miscelLAny: While it might appear from his various lamentations that Kobe Bryant can’t make up his mind whether he wants to remain a Laker, he’s actually been very clear, one listener pointed out to talk show hosts John Ireland and Steve Mason of ESPN radio (AM 710). On that show, Bryant said, “I don’t want to go nowhere else.” That’s a double negative. Thus, he wants to go somewhere else. He’s out of Los Anges.

Steve Harvey can be reached at (800) LATIMES, Ext. 77083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, 202 W. 1st St., L.A. 90012, and by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com.