An Alex Delaware Novel

• Rating: ☆☆☆
• Genre:  Mystery/ Police Procedural
• Length: 336 pages
• Publisher:  Ballantine Books
• Release Date: February 8, 2022

Description

The past comes back to haunt psychologist Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis when they investigate a grisly double homicide and uncover an even more unspeakable motive in this riveting thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling master of suspense.

Los Angeles is a city of sunlight, celebrity, and possibility. The L.A. often experienced by Homicide Lt. Detective Milo Sturgis and psychologist Alex Delaware, is a city of the dead.

Early one morning, the two of them find themselves in a neighborhood of pretty houses, pretty cars, and pretty people. The scene they encounter is anything but. A naked young man lies dead in the street, the apparent victim of a collision with a moving van hurtling through suburbia in the darkness. But any thoughts of accidental death vanish when a blood trail leads to a nearby home.

Inside, a young woman lies butchered. The identity of the male victim and his role in the horror remain elusive, but that of the woman creates additional questions. And adding to the shock, Alex has met her while working a convoluted child custody case. Cordelia Gannett was a self-styled internet influencer who’d gotten into legal troubles by palming herself off as a psychologist. Even after promising to desist, she’s found a loophole and has continued her online career, aiming to amass clicks and ads by cyber-coaching and cyber-counseling people plagued with relationship issues.

But upon closer examination, Alex and Milo discover that her own relationships are troublesome, including a tortured family history and a dubious personal past. Has that come back to haunt her in the worst way? Is the mystery man out in the street collateral damage or will he turn out to be the key to solving a grisly double homicide? As the psychologist and the detective explore L.A.’s meanest streets, they peel back layer after layer of secrets and encounter a savage, psychologically twisted, almost unthinkable motive for violence and bloodshed.

This is classic Delaware: Alex, a man Milo has come to see as irreplaceable, at his most insightful and brilliant.

My Thoughts

How can a furniture van near the UCLA campus that strikes a naked man in the street not pique your curiosity? And that’s just what happened. This story had my attention.

Though I used to read the Alex Delaware series, it’s been several years since I’ve picked one up. Not because I stopped liking them, but because it just didn’t happen. So when I got the opportunity to review Kellerman’s 37th novel in this series, I was thrilled. And as I mentioned the start of this book had me interested. 

However,  it wasn’t long before I was struggling. I began to lose interest as it seemed to go from here to there. Was it a lack of character interaction? Plot? It all stopped working for me.

As always the writing felt well constructed, but this particular story didn’t click.. 

Concerns

While an interesting premise, the plot unfolded so slowly that I had trouble wanting to keep turning pages.

Final Thoughts

I think with any series there will be some books that meet expectations better than others. I do like the Milo and Alex duo, but this police procedural wasn’t my cup of tea. 

If you aren’t familiar with this series, it might be a good idea to start with a few at the beginning. It might help with a better knowledge of the characters even though the City of the Dead is a standalone book.

For sure give this book a try. Or at least go back and start with some earlier ones, since it’s a very good series.

My thanks to the publisher, and NetGalley for the ability to review this book. The opinions expressed are completely my own.

Rating 3 Stars

About the Author

Jonathan Kellerman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than three dozen bestselling crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher’s Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted, True Detectives, and The Murderer’s Daughter. With his wife, bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, he co-authored Double Homicide and Capital Crimes. With his son, bestselling novelist Jesse Kellerman, he co-authored The Golem of Hollywood and The Golem of Paris. He is also the author of two children’s books and numerous nonfiction works, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children and With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and has been nominated for a Shamus Award. Jonathan and Faye Kellerman live in California, New Mexico, and New York.

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