The sheer number of true crime podcasts and documentaries available is evidence that people love to learn about crime. In journalism, the phrase “If it bleeds, it leads” is a common rhyme to ensure a gripping story with as much detail as possible. On the police side of crime, however, a lot of time is spent on the actual investigation — until, that is, there are no leads left.
These unsolved cases are frequently referred to as “cold cases,” and the number of them is rising.
According to an April 2023 piece by NPR reporter Eric Westervelt, “The rate at which murders are solved or ‘cleared’ has been declining for decades” and “dropped to slightly below 50% in 2020 — a new historic low.” He goes on to write that “several big cities, including Chicago, have seen the number of murder cases resulting in at least one arrest dip into the low to mid-30% range”; a troubling statistic, to say the least.
Of course, another city experiencing a high number of cold cases is Los Angeles. The second-largest city in the U.S. by population size, the Los Angeles Police Department — like many metropolitan police forces — has been plagued by a growing number of unsolved mysteries for years.
Luckily, the LAPD does have a cold case unit dedicated to getting justice for the families of the victims of unsolved crimes — and that is the subject of Prime Video’s newest procedural series.
“Ballard,” the new action series from author Michael Connelly’s Bosch universe, premieres Wednesday, July 9, on Prime Video. “Ballard” follows titular LAPD detective Renée Ballard, played by “Nikita” and “Mission: Impossible III” (2007) actress Maggie Q, as she commands a new and chronically underfunded cold case unit within the department.
Acutely aware of the “poor reputation of the LAPD,” Ballard is determined to get to the bottom of some of the force’s biggest stumpers — as well as a few cases that didn’t get the attention they initially deserved.
Additionally, as reported by online entertainment news source ScreenRant, “Ballard will team up with retired detective Thomas Laffont [John Carroll Lynch, “American Horror Story”], who uses his years of experience to give her advice. It is also known that Renée will uncover a strange conspiracy in her investigations, and that will likely be the bulk of the show’s overarching story.”
While the 10-episode series itself is brand new, fans of the Titus Welliver (“Argo,” 2012) -led Amazon series “Bosch,” which ran from 2014 to 2021, and particularly those of its successor, “Bosch: Legacy,” may already be acquainted with Q’s Ballard, given that the character was introduced during “Legacy’s” Season 3 finale. In a “first look” article from May 2024, Deadline writer Denise Petski teases actor Welliver’s return as Det. Bosch while also drawing attention to the real-life inspiration for Q’s leading character: real-life LAPD Det. Mitzi Roberts.
Roberts, who retired from the force in April 2024 after 29 years of service, is a noted influence for Connelly’s Ballard character, who first appeared in print in his 2017 novel “The Late Show.” In a November 2024 interview with Orlando-based radio station WMMO 98.9FM, Connelly shared how Roberts helped him over the years while writing his Bosch books, and how she went on to inspire Ballard.
“I go back to a cadre of people to help me,” Connelly said of his writing process, referencing the care he takes to maintain as much procedural accuracy as possible in his novels. “One of those people that helped me over the years was Mitzi Roberts, who is a homicide detective with the LAPD.”
Interested in Roberts’ experience as a woman in a male-dominated field, Connelly said, “I started talking to Mitzi specifically about building a character, a female character. ... So, when I’m writing about Renée, I don’t send my questions or my texts to a lot of people. I send them to one: Mitzi Roberts.”
And according to an Los Angeles Times article from 2019 titled “There’s a real-life Michael Connelly character in the LAPD, and she’s gunning for Harry Bosch’s job,” the similarities between Roberts and Ballard do not end with their drive for justice and professional stamina.
Writing that Ballard “shares Roberts’ real-life love of surfing,” a “knack for swift verbal jabs” and a love of animals, the Los Angeles Times’ James Queally unknowingly indicated a few possible off-duty scenes for Ballard in the new Prime series.
Joining Q, Lynch and Welliver in “Ballard” are Courtney Taylor (“Abbott Elementary”) as Samira Parker, Michael Mosley (“Ozark”) as Ted Rawls, Victoria Moroles (“Teen Wolf”) as Martina Castro, Rebecca Field (“A Star Is Born,” 2018) as Colleen Hatteras, Noah Bean (“Nikita”) as Jake Pearlman, Hector Hugo (“Snowfall”) as Capt. Berchem and Amy Hill (“Magnum P.I.”) as Tutu.
Series writing comes from showrunner Kendall Sherwood (“Major Crimes”) alongside Connelly and late writer/producer Michael Alaimo (“The Closer”), who died May 2, 2025, at the age of 86. Meanwhile, “How to Get Away with Murder” and “The Chi’s” Jet Wilkinson heads up the show’s direction, with episodes also directed by Sarah Boyd (“The Boys”), Tori Garrett (“The Drop Off”) and Jon Huertas (“Castle”).
Don’t miss the big case thaw when Det. Renée Ballard takes on LA’s coldest cases in “Ballard,” premiering Wednesday, July 9, on Prime Video.