#1501. Unnatural History by Jonathan Kellerman

Unnatural History is the 8^th Jonathan Kellerman novel reviewed in this blog about Dr. Alex Delaware, a clinical psychologist who is also a friend and crime solver with his best friend, Milo Sturgis, an LAPD homicide lieutenant. In this book, there’s been a murder of a young man, a photographer who is currently focused on LA’s homeless population. He also happens to be the son of a billionaire. The father, Victor Clement, has structured the oddest of family lives. He’s about to have his sixth child with his soon to be sixth wife. All of the marriages have been brief, and except for a few exceptions, the children have been kept isolated from one another. Victor’s new wives have never taken on the role of step mother to the younger children. While giving generous settlements with each divorce, Clement has had almost no ongoing contact with his children. He admits that he has “abdicated” paternal responsibility for them as he moves about the world on his own whims.

 

The youngest son, Donny, was in his 30s when he was murdered at his LA photography studio. There was a list of homeless people who he had photographed, none of whom this reader found to be particularly compelling. There was little emotional connection between the family members, so there was simply a real sense of loss among the surviving family members. There was a sometimes interesting detective process as the real killer was finally discovered.

 

Basically, while we’ve generally reviewed Kellerman’s novels with praise, this is not his best work, and it does not merit by own recommendation. I’ll be curious to see if Midwest Dave, a devout fan of Kellerman, feels differently about this novel. This one is scheduled for release on 2/7/23.

City of the Dead

 

The Burning by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman

Clay Edison is Deputy Coroner for Alameda County California and feels blessed to love his job and his young family.  It’s wildfire season in California and the electricity is out indefinitely in their home so Clay’s wife takes their daughter a goes to visit relatives in L.A.  Edison is called to investigate a murder of a wealthy retired man and is stunned to find his brother’s beloved muscle car in the murdered man’s garage with other collectable cars.  Clay’s brother, Luke has recently been released from prison and is nowhere to be found.  Clay does not reveal his discovery to the police as he frantically tries to contact Luke.  Neither Luke’s wife nor employer have seen him in two days and Clay must assume Luke is associated with the murder, likely with prison pals.  But as Clay gains more information he discovers that Luke may be in trouble because of previous actions Clay took in his job.  Luke could be an innocent victim.  Not knowing who he can trust, Clay sets out to find Luke on his own… a dangerous decision.

 

I’ve always enjoyed Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware novels but must admit the formula is repetitive.  With son, Jesse’s help this new younger protagonist brings a more energetic buzz to the story. But that driving pace of methodically revealing new information that leads to a surprising conclusion remains… a skill that Jonathan K. has mastered in spades.  Fun read.

 

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

 

 

Serpentine by Jonathan Kellerman

Detective Milo Sturgis is pressured into taking a thirty six year old cold case after the victim’s wealthy daughter pulls some strings with a L.A. politician.  Milo immediately includes psychologist Alex Delaware in their dive into the past.  The duo, Milo and Alex are best friends and enjoy a very high solve rate.  The victim, Dorothy Svoboda died with a bullet in her head and was burned to a crisp in a borrowed Cadillac along treacherously curvy Mulholland Drive.  Thirty six years and three homicide detectives later, her murder is still unsolved.  Intuition and investigative probing soon reveal that someone still alive today wants the murder to remain unsolved.  Many of Dorothy’s known associates both dead and alive led unscrupulous lives and several could easily have had motive to wish her dead.  This is a formidable challenge even for Milo and Alex.

 A thirty six year old crime in the thirty sixed Jonathan Kellerman novel featuring his two favorite protagonists… probably coincidental.  But after so many books these characters have taken on such a familiarity both with themselves and with the reader that only the tiniest bit of character development is necessary.  Makes for a fast paced linear plot…just the way I like it.

 Thanks to Netgalley for the early read.

West Coast Don: I found this one in the Libby App and downloaded the audiobook. Like Midwest Dave, I'm a fan of Jonathan Kellerman, and I enjoy the way he writes about the friendship and crime solving skills of Alex and Milo. My favorite part of this book was the short take given on Alex treating an 18-m0nth-old girl who had been in a car accident and was clearly emotionally traumatized. Otherwise, I thought this was not one of Kellerman's best novels. It was a bit too long and convoluted for my tastes. Still his character development, as always is excellent. I thought there was a lot of unnecessary filler in the writing.

 

Half Moon Bay by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman

Half Moon Bay is the third installment of the father and son team series featuring Alameda County Coroner Clay Edison.  Clay is working the graveyard shift to best participate in the care of his newborn without disrupting his wife’s work schedule.  In his capacity as Deputy Coroner, Clay is called to a local park on the Berkley UC campus where the decade old remains of a baby is found.  To complicate his work, protestors in true Berkley tradition are demonstrating against building within the park.

Clay’s investigation leads him in two directions.  One in following the clues to identify the body and relatives of the dead child and one from a local man who thinks the corpse could be his long lost sister.  Clay becomes entranced by both paths and methodically follows the vaguest of clues to conclusion.

It is hard not to compare Clay Edison to Alex Delaware from Jonathan Kellerman’s mainstay series.  They both have that intelligence and tenacity that make them follow the most subtle clues.  The pacing and building of suspense is classic Kellerman.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced look.

The Museum of Desire by Jonathan Kellerman

In Kellerman’s thirty fifth murder mystery, LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis and his talented sidekick, psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware are dealt a bizarre and gruesome multiple murder case.  Four bodies are discovered in a limousine parked at an uninhabited Bel Air mansion.  The scene appears almost theatrical or staged as the four victims seem to have little in common.  The chauffeur, a middle aged mentally challenged man, a homeless woman, and a playboy, all murdered by different methods and leaving an inordinate amount of blood.  The duo is challenged to identify the victims let alone discover a possible motive.  But as more bodies related to this crime begin to fall, the imagination of Dr. Delaware and tenacity of Lt. Sturgis narrows in on a probable suspect.

This is Kellerman at his best--stage a bizarre crime with disturbing perpetrators looming in the background.  Delaware finds clues and draws conclusions seen only by him while Sturgis, who has learned not to dismiss even to most bizarre of the good doctor’s hunches, charges forward… great entertainment.  We learn little about the lead characters because after thirty five novels, we know them well.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy of the book.

The Wedding Guest by Jonathan Kellerman

A young woman is found dead in a remote restroom at a downtown L.A. wedding reception.  She has been both injected with a knockout drug and choked with a wire.  No one in the wedding party claims to know the victim so Detective Milo Sturgis and psychologist Alex Delaware must dig deep into each family and into the owners of the building (a former strip club) to find even the scent of a clue.  The sleuths must rely on their vast experience and intuition just to identify the body.  Then their suppositions lead them down many blind allies.  Only their tenacity moves them forward.

This is a very typical Jonathan Kellerman creation.  Number 34 in the series, character development is glossed over.  But the following of educated, almost implausible hunches and suspenseful pacing, for which Kellerman is a master, keep you engaged to the end.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance look.

Night Moves by Jonathan Kellerman

Chet Corvin, his wife, and two teenage kids live on a cul-de-sac in an upscale neighborhood in Beverly Hills.  Chet is a reinsurance executive who travels a lot and by all outward appearances looks to be normal.  Then one Sunday evening, the family goes out to dinner and returns to find a corpse in Chet’s home office.  The victim has suffered a violent death and is unidentifiable because his face is severely disfigured and his hands are missing… cut off above the wrists.  LAPD Lt. Milo Sturgis is assigned the case and immediately calls Dr. Alex Delaware to assist.  After interviewing the family and canvasing the cul-de-sac, no motives or leads as to the corpse’s identity are evident.  An eccentric next door neighbor, Trevor Britt, however, does tweak their antennae.  Britt is an artist of limited fame for a gruesome comic book series from years earlier.  He still freelances as an artist but has toned down the gore.  He is reclusive and unfriendly and refuses to be interviewed… but is he a murderer?  The cops don’t even have probable cause to search his property.

Seemingly at a dead end, the sleuths focus more energy on the Corvin family.  They discover some interesting behaviors not necessarily relevant to the case.  The teenage daughter has a learning disability and is often observed wondering outside late at night and her mother is overly protective of her.  Chet spends little time with the family and credit card billings suggest several infidelities.

 

Following a couple long shot hunches, Milo and Alex are able to identify the body but struggle to connect the dead man to the Corvins.  Then Chet turns up dead in a cheap no-tell motel in Hollywood.  Something is not normal with this suburban family but finding that something will be Milo’s and Alex’s greatest challenge yet.

To Jonathan Kellerman fans, Night Moves is just another winner in his Delaware/ Sturgis series.  A complex plot, that cleverly misdirects the reader down blind alleys as the truth is slowly and methodically unearthed, proves engaging.  Further the tenacity of the two lead characters with an admirable dose of compassion and tolerance rounds out an outstanding and sustainable series… great entertainment.

Crime Scene by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman

What do fiction crime writers do when their protagonist’s age?  In Jonathan Kellerman’s case, he team writes with his son, Jesse and introduces a new twenty something protagonist, Clay Edison.  Clay is a former UC Berkley basketball player whose sports career is cut short by a knee blowout.  But Clay has found a challenging career as deputy coroner in Alameda County, California.  In this role, Clay makes the call over each newly discovered body: death result of natural causes or foul play.  Sometimes circumstances are not clear cut and further investigation is warranted.

When Walter Rennert, a reclusive former psychology professor is found dead at the bottom of the stairs in his house, his drinking and bad heart appear to have caused his demise.  But Rennert’s attractive daughter, Tatiana thinks he was murdered and convinces Clay to dig deeper.  He learns that the good professor’s former grad assistant died in a similar manner.  Further, Rennert was ostracized for his role in some ethically questionable psychological research at UC Berkley.  Was there something to hide? Did Professor Rennert know too much? Who would benefit from his death?  Clay needs answers and the alluring Tatiana keeps him interested.

The elder Kellerman’s presence was clear with the familiar pacing and anticipation present throughout.  However, I have a major problem with the plot.  I didn’t realize that coroners had the responsibility of investigating suspicious deaths to the degree our hero does.  I thought the coroner reported evidence regarding cause of death and the police were responsible for finding the murderer.  Apparently our protagonist takes his job more serious than most but his tenacity triggered some thoughts of implausibility for me.  That’s never good. I’m still a devout Jonathan Kellerman fan but I’m not sold on Clay Edison as the featured character of a new series.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced look.

Heartbreak Hotel by Jonathan Kellerman

Heartbreak Hotel is #32 in Jonathan Kellerman’s long list of mysteries featuring Dr. Alex Delaware and Lt. Milo Sturgis, the eccentric duo of crime solvers in LA.  Child psychologist, Dr. Delaware is summoned by 99 year old, Thalia Mars to her long term home in the aging but once luxurious Aventura Hotel.  Alex finds Thalia witty and charming and is intrigued to learn she is a major donor to Western Pediatric Medical Center where he interned years earlier.  But Dr. Delaware observes that Thalia’s interest in psychology is more than philanthropic and agrees to a second session the following day.   When he shows up for the appointment, paramedics are on the scene.  Thalia has expired in her bed overnight presumably of natural causes but Alex’s gut tells him to investigate.  He impulsively calls his best friend Milo and expresses his suspicion of murder.  The physical evidence supports Alex’s suspicion so he and Milo begin to interview Thalia’s known acquaintances.  The trail reveals that Thalia was a retired accountant for the county whose financial status far exceeded her visible means of support.  Further research uncovers a former romance between Thalia and a gangster from the Bugsy Siegel era.  But with no living relatives and an estate willed to Western Pediatric Medical Center, who could possibly benefit from Thalia’s death?  Only Dr. Delaware’s professional intuition and tenacity can lead them to the killer.

This isn’t a particularly momentous work for Kellerman.  No character development at all for the regulars but after thirty two books, none needed.  As with all Kellerman books, the thrill is in the journey.  Slowly peeling back the skin of the onion to discover the heart wasn’t as interesting as the consequences of removing each piece of skin.  Another good read from one of my top ten authors.

Breakdown by Jonathan Kellerman

Dr. Alex Delaware, child psychologist and part time police sleuth, gets a call concerning the mother of a former patient.  Zelda, a former actress with mental problems, is now homeless and incoherent.  Her son, Ovid who was Dr. Delaware’s patient five years earlier is nowhere to be found.  Alex arranges for Zelda’s care in a well-managed facility but she escapes and is found dead near a Bellaire mansion several miles away on prestigious Bel Azura Drive.  Zelda’s behavior before her death causes Alex to request in depth poison analysis of her body from the coroner.  Results reveal poison from plants rare to residential Los Angeles.  Without any connection to anyone on Bel Azura Drive, Zelda’s death is presumed accidental.

 

But Alex can’t let it go.  He needs to know what has happened to Zelda in the past five years and more importantly if her son, Ovid is safe.  Lt. Milo Sturgis knows Alex well enough to indulge his hunches well past LAPD’s normal procedure.  When a maid goes missing from Bellaire and another body turns up with plant poison in her system, Alex digs deeper for a connection to the wealthy residents of Bel Azura Drive.  One of them quite possibly is a diabolical killer.

I’ve been a Jonathan Kellerman fan for over thirty years and still look forward to his annual installments to his Alex Delaware series.  I read Breakdown in two days, haunted to discover the outcome.  After thirty some books, there’s no need for character development as the characters are like old friends.  The psychological thrill comes not from action packed events but from the anticipation that something wicked is about to happen.  Even with Alex’s calm and methodical demeanor, the reader just knows that evil lurks just around the corner.  And who better to deal with it than Dr. Alex Delaware and Lt. Milo Strugis.

The Murderer's Daughter

The prolific Jonathan Kellerman has written The Murderer’s Daughter, a non- Alex Delaware book, introducing a new character, a new clinical psychologist, Grace Blades, Ph.D. Grace was the birth product of the worst of characters. Her 22-year-old father was a polysubstance abuser and general worthless lowlife, and her 19-year-old mother was no better. They met at Flapper-Jack’s Pancake Palace where they were the nighttime cleanup crew, in Antelope Valley, an economically depressed desert area north of LA. Grace may have been conceived on the second night of their acquaintance. Given the lack of interest that both parents had in her welfare, it’s remarkable that Grace survived her first five years, but by then, she had learned how to fend for herself. She had no emotional attachment to either her parents of whom she thought of as the strangers who happened to share her rattrap residence in a disgusting trailer park.

Grace was kicked into the foster care system when her mom murdered her father, when in the midst of another argument and episode of spousal abuse, her mom slit her father’s throat. Then, using the same knife, mom plunged it into her own belly, thus successfully committing suicide. All Grace saw was blood, and she vividly remembered “the red room.” Over the next several years, she was bounced around from one foster house to another because foster parents got paid more for taking care of special needs kids, which Grace was not, so when a foster parent had a chance to make more money, Grace got the boot to the next home. It was not until Grace’s teenage years that she landed in a more stable and helpful foster setting. She was a remarkably intelligent and resourceful person who met enough people to help her along the way so she did not end up like her parents.

In the telling of this story, Kellerman bounced forward to Grace’s current life in LA as a successful psychologist who specialized in dealing with trauma victims in her own private practice, and then back to her developing life as a ward of the courts. However, despite her ability to help other trauma victims, Grace remained scarred in terms of her ability form intimate relationships with her peers. For the most part, she was a loner who learned to satisfy her sexual needs by seducing random men for one-night stands. Mostly, that worked out for her, but a time that it did not is an integral part of the story. Her past came back to haunt her when she stumbled into some of the people she had known during her foster care days who were even more emotionally damaged.

The story did not reach a resolution until the last couple of pages. It kept me involved and curious to the very end. Kellerman is a master storyteller, and he has the option of doing so much with this character in future stories. If he does, I’ll be along for the ride. BTW, this is a prepublication review, and the book should be available shortly.

The Murderer's Daughter by Jonathan Kellerman

The Murderer’s Daughter by Jonathan Kellerman is a deviation from the author’s very successful Dr. Alex Delaware series.  In this standalone psychological thriller, thirty four year old Dr. Grace Blades is a highly regarded psychotherapist practicing in L.A.  Independently wealthy and an I.Q. off the charts, Dr. Blades has true compassion and a gift for helping adult patients who have experienced violence either against a loved one or against themselves.

 

Grace has had some traumatic life experiences of her own.  She witnesses the violent death of her parents at a young age then is passed around to numerous foster homes before arriving at a ranch run by an elderly woman, Ramona who sees Grace’s potential. Ramona engages her quirky psychology professor brother-in-law, Dr. Malcolm Bluestone to test Grace and to structure a home school curriculum specifically for her.  But while at the ranch, Grace witnesses more violence and ends up living with Professor Bluestone and his wife, Sophie.  Here Grace is nurtured academically and has all her physical needs met but remains emotionally detached and reclusive and yearns for independence.

 

After graduating from Harvard, Grace earns a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from USC (completing a six year program in four years) and begins treating patients.  Soon she is sought out by the most challenging patients.  But she develops some quirks of her own.  The occasional sexual encounter with a stranger seems to satisfy her sexual desires while avoiding emotional attachment.  One day one of her conquests shows up in her waiting room as a new patient.  Andrew Toner had lied to Grace just as she had to him.  Mutual embarrassment leaves them uncertain about any future appointments.  The next day Toner is found murdered with her business card in his shoe.  Grace is interviewed by the police and learns Toner’s true identity.  He has connections to her violent childhood and his visit to her office puts her in danger.  She immediately notices people following her.  Without proper evidence to report to the police, Grace turns sleuth, begins investigating Toner, and identifies the two men following her.  Shocked by what she has learned, she takes matters into her own hands in search of revenge and redemption.

Kellerman creates a fascinating character in Grace Blades.  Brilliant and compassionate as a competent psychologist but calculating and ruthless when faced with evil, Grace is a protagonist hard not to like.  She’s not perfect… we can all relate to that… but when it comes to fighting her demons, she is all in and all alone.  Kellerman does a great job of building the suspense and pulling you in by alternatively revealing snippets of Grace the adult and Grace the child.  As you learn more about Grace’s childhood, you are compelled to be a fan of Grace the avenger.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced look at the latest work from one of my favorite authors.

Motive: An Alex Delaware novel

Detective Milo Sturgis is on a losing streak in terms of being assigned homicide cases that he can’t solve. The cases seem to have no relationship to one another. First there was Katherine Hennepin, a quiet bookkeeper, then Ursula Corey, a socialite and strikingly successful business woman, and then Deirdre Brand, a street person. These women have nothing in common, but each murder scene included a carefully prepared and untouched meal that had been tailored to their different lifestyles. The meals seemed to be a signature from a serial killer. Milo called in his buddy, Alex Delaware, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, and the two of them thought through the possibilities in a way that is unique to Kellerman.

 Motive is the 11^th Jonathan Kellerman book reviewed in the blog, and the 30^th in the Alex Delaware series. This one was released in February 2015. If you’re in the mood for a murder-thriller, Kellerman is always a worthy read. Delaware’s psychological insights are always interesting, and his favorable relationship with Sturgis is wonderfully portrayed. These are two very different men who have a palpable fondness for one another and for solving psychopathic crimes. I’ll keep reading Kellerman – his books may not be the best literature, but they are excellent entertainment.

True Detectives by Jonathan Kellerman

True Detectives is a spinoff of Jonathan Kellerman’s popular Alex Delaware/ Milo Sturgis series.  Lead characters, Moses Reed and Aaron Fox are half-brothers but other than both being investigators, they could not be more different.  Moses is an ambitious LAPD homicide detective and Aaron is a high-end private detective.  Moses is down to earth, analytical, structured and disciplined… a rule follower whereas Aaron is more intuitive, impulsive, even flamboyant… a right brain thinker.  Consequently, they don’t get along at all but coincidently end up working the same case.

Caitlin Frostig, a Pepperdine college student has disappeared without a trace.  Moses has been assigned to the case for months but even with the help of his mentor, Lt. Milo Sturgis has developed no concrete leads.  Then, Caitlin’s father’s employer hires Aaron to find the young woman.  The rivalry between the brothers injects new life into the investigation.  Working independently and gradually building trust in one another, Moses and Aaron uncover some disturbing connections from Caitlin to another girl’s murder and to a dark Hollywood style underworld.  Caitlin’s seemingly straight arrow boyfriend has some suspicious associations to the entertainment industry and the seedy parasites that prey on its popular players.  Could the boyfriend have led his wholesome sweetheart over the edge to the dark side?  Could these associates of the boyfriend be involved in several other sinister crimes?

Moses Reed and Aaron Fox are welcome additions to Kellerman’s cast of characters.  Because these protagonists are fresh, Kellerman rightly devotes more effort to character development than in most of his more seasoned Delaware/ Sturgis novels.  But he maintains that feeling… that tension… that something very evil and disturbing is about to be discovered… the anticipation is excruciating.  This keeps Kellerman well positioned in my power rotation. 

Killer by Jonathan Kellerman

Killer is just more of the same we’ve grown to expect from Jonathan Kellerman.  Just another of his psychological thrillers featuring Dr. Alex Delaware and Lt Milo Sturgis and their intellectual sleuthing that now spans four decades… never stale and always entertaining.

Dr. Delaware has developed a reputation within the LA law enforcement community for psychological assessments that are competent, straight forward, and accurate and therefore, rarely contested. The courts call on him frequently for the more challenging child related cases which he gladly accepts as his schedule allows.  In his latest case, Connie Sykes the dominating, over baring, successful business owner sues her free spirited, rocker, poverty stricken younger sister, Cherie Sykes for custody of her baby Rambla, born out of wedlock.  Dr. Delaware does his assessment and pronounces Cherie a fit mother with insufficient reason to alter baby Rambla’s guardianship.  Connie reacts angrily to the judge’s decision and blames Dr. Delaware for the outcome.  Alex then learns from a grateful former patient, turned gangster that a hit contract has been issued for Alex’s life… Connie’s anger turned to action.

Enter LAPD Lt. Milo Sturgis, longtime pal and coworker.  Milo attempts the direct face to face approach with Connie but finds her stabbed and strangled to death in the foyer of her home.  Meanwhile, sister Cherie has vacated her apartment, baby Rambla in tow and is nowhere to be found.  Rocker friend and suspected father of baby Rambla then shows up dead… shot in the head.  Unconvinced Cherie is capable of such violence, Alex expands the investigation and studies the behavior of everyone involved in the custody battle.  Talking to the judge, her support team, the lawyers, and Cherie’s know associates, Alex observes very subtle behaviors that lead him to places police procedure would overlook.

So Kellerman proves once again why he is in my power rotation.  Not a lot of character development because as followers of the series we know what we need to know about Alex and Milo… solid, professional, nonjudgmental, compassionate… just a touch of egotism from where they sit on moral high ground.  So in each annual episode we need ‘Just the facts, Mam’ and we get them in fast paced, efficient writing… continually wondering what the next page holds… knowing it will all end too quickly… now we wait another year.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this one.

Guilt by Jonathan Kellerman

Guilt is Jonathan Kellerman’s 28^th Dr. Alex Delaware/ Lt. Milo Sturgis novel spanning over four decades.  A proven formula, Delaware’s high intellect, knowledge of human behavior, and skill at retrieving information provide the leads and Sturgis’ tenacity and investigation skills linked with his departmental influence result in a high success rate of solving who-done-its.

An infant’s skeleton is found inside a vintage cash box in the backyard of an older home in an affluent West Los Angeles neighborhood.  Milo and Alex canvas the neighborhood but since the bones date back to the early 1950’s, they find very little.  One neighbor, a child at the time, remembers a rare but classic Duesenberg luxury automobile was parked in that driveway a few times, very little to go on.  Then another fetal skeleton is found in a park in the same West LA neighborhood but this one is present day and is coated with wax.  A short time later, a jogger discovers the body of a grown woman in the same park.  The LAPD gives the recent crimes a higher priority than the 1950’s crime.  When the evidence points toward involvement of celebrity power couple, Donny Rader and Prema Moon (dubbed Premadonny by the media,) the LAPD chief calls a meeting with Lt. Sturgis and Dr. Delaware.  He encourages solving the case but cautions discretion in investigating the celebrities, obviously concerned about his career.  Singling out Alex in a private conversation, he acknowledges Alex as the real brains behind the crime solving pair and wishes the city pay scale could attract more psychologist types into crime fighting.  Alex responses with his usual noncommittal, unemotional, nonjudgmental stare that readers can clearly interrupt as ‘You pretentious, self-serving ass’.

To gain access to the celebrity power couple without being squelched by an avalanche of lawyers and media types, Alex asks his long-term love interest, Robin to make some calls to her friends ‘in the business.’  Robin is a craftsman of high quality wooden musical instruments for wealthy people, many of them celebrities. She finds a disgruntled agent willing to vent about the power couple but not willing get involved.  Alex learns enough to causally approach Prema and her adopted children on a private outing and begin to build a rapport.  Milo methodically follows all the evidence of the present day crimes and the 60 year old crime becomes increasingly ignored.  But Alex can’t forget the skeleton of the baby buried in the vintage cash box and independently follows the historical records of the Duesenberg to its present day owners.

Guilt is difficult to differentiate from the long string of Delaware/ Sturgis novels previously created by Kellerman.  Just more of the same that his fans have grown to expect and love to read.  Dr. Delaware and Lt. Sturgis stay true to form… Alex the intellectual and highly skilled therapist and Milo the persistent bulldog maneuvering through department politics… all to solve murder cases for reasons deep seated in each of their psyches… far beyond a paycheck.

Mystery

A Southern California resident, traveling in Vienna, reading a book about murder in Los Angeles. Go figure. I was out of more geographically appropriate books, so if anyone has any recommendations for thrillers based in this area, let me know, quickly please. I head back to So Cal in a couple more days.

Jonathan Kellerman always provides a dependable story, and his protagonist, Alex Delaware, is as real a psychologist as any that I see presented in literature. In this story, Alex and Robin are meeting at one of their favorite haunts, The Fauborg Hotel. It’s the last night for the hotel before it literally meets the wrecking ball. Kellerman captures the impermanence of LA, although perhaps too harshly: “I live in a company town where the product is illusion. In the alternative universe ruled by sociopaths who make movies, communication means snappy dialogue, the scalpel trumps genetics, and permanence is mortal sin because it slows down the shoot.” Alex and Robin notice a beautiful young woman who is alone, and there’s a muscleman, a goon type, waiting outside. Then, her body is discovered in Pacific Palisades, murdered only a short while after they last saw her in the hotel bar. The hunt for the killer takes us through old time Hollywood B movies and porn, multigenerational family dysfunction, and a good subplot about life, death, and redemption.

After a couple books that did not make my A list, it was good to get back to one of the guys in my power rotation.