Jonathan Kellerman
Compulsion (2008)
Jonathan Kellerman:
Genre: Mystery (Amateur Detective)
Plot Summary:
Kat Shonsky is leaving the bar and driving home a little tipsy when she runs out of gas in the middle of nowhere really late at night. The person that pulls over to help her is a nice old lady driving a Bentley. Kat is never heard from again. Psychologist Alex Delaware and LAPD detective Milo Sturgis are back again working two cases. One involves the crime the reader first witnesses in the beginning of the book and the other involves a reopened case of missing boy Antoine Beverly. More crimes begin to appear to be linked to this mysterious figure in fancy cars who dresses differently for each murder. They discover they may be dealing with a crossdresser. Alex Delaware flies to New York for a lead with their main suspect, Dale Bright, the brother of the murdered Leonora Bright. A hint of the major puzzle piece to solve the crime is given about 3/4 of the way through the novel. The Antoine Beverly case seems to be on the back burner and almost hopeless to be solved. However the book ties up all the looses ends neatly and even ends on a happy note with Alex Delaware and his girlfriend Robin enjoying their day-to-day life. A quote from the book: "In bad movies, detective savants learn volumes revisiting long dormant crime scenes. This was dim, dead space and I wasn't producing a single syllable." SPOILER: Kat Shonsky's killer is actually the person who reported the Bentley missing in the beginning of the novel. Nicholas St. Heubel, which is actually one of many aliases including Dale Bright, is a crossdresser who has been moving around committing murder all over the world. Antoine Beverly's killer is a child molestor by the name of Howard Ingles Zint who was the owner of the magazine company that Antoine worked for when he went missing.
Geographical Setting: Most Los Angeles but a brief part in New York
Time Period: Present day (2008)
Series: Alex Delaware series, Book 22
Appeal Characteristics:
The reader can see the standard mystery formula in this novel which involves a crime at the beginning, then the unraveling of the puzzle with major focus on the investigation. Our narration is told by our main character Alex Delaware who is an amateur detective with his full-time gig being a psychologist. The setting is urban playing into the focus on crimes and money. The tone is slightly sarcastic and almost humorous given the relationship between Milo and Alex. The love between Alex and his girlfriend is very uplifting in contrast to the act of murder. The characters are people to love. They are very well-developed and there is even quite a bit of secondary character development. There is also a few references to Milo being gay and the difficulty that plays on his role as a detective. The pace is a little slow but compelling because the reader wants to solve the puzzle but also needs to take in all the details.
Read-alikes: If you really like Alex Delaware and haven't read the first in the series, When the Bough Breaks, I would highly recommend that book and then you can continue on for 21 more books! This novel is the debut of Alex Delaware's psychologist/detective abilities. Same setting, same main characters (Milo and Alex) and same focus on two cases -- one of the death of a child molestor and the other of a psychiatrist and girlfriend with a young child as the only witness. If you are looking for another psychologist amateur detective novel, I would recommend the Alan Gregory series by Stephen White. His first book in that series is Privileged Information. It focuses on Alan Gregory digging himself out of a hairy situation in which he is suspected of a few patients' deaths. This series is set in Boulder, Colorado. The main characters of Alan and Alex are similar because of their reluctance to be the hero. Phantom Prey by John Sandford is the 18th book in his Lucas Davenport series. Based in Minneapolis, the book begins with a missing person, involves investigation of a Goth community, and trails through money motivations as well. The tone is similar to Kellerman with sarcasm and humor. Another amateur detective novel would be the first in the Myron Bolitar series, Deal Breaker by Harlan Coben. Myron is a sports agent and investigator and becomes caught up with his number one client's disturbing past. The setting in this series is also urban (New York) and the tone is also described as witty. Karen Rose's book Die For Me also plays upon the interesting pairing of a detective and another profession, in this case an archaelogist Sophie Johannsen. The novel begins with a dead body and involves the investigation into solving that crime. The setting is Philadelphia and though the pace may be a little faster than Kellerman, the unearthing of puzzle pieces suggests some parallels.
Red Flags: Some graphic violence described
Obsession (2007)
Author: Jonathan Kellerman
Genre: Mystery (Amateur Detective)
Plot Summary:
Right before she dies, Patty Bigelow tells her adopted teenage daughter Tanya that she killed a man. Unsure what to do with the information, she seeks out Alex Delaware, a psychologist who helped her deal with her obsessive compulsive disorder as a child. Delaware recruits his detective friend Milo Sturgis to help and they begin tracing the Patty and Tanya's past homes to discover who Patty Bigelow. They speak with a former neighbor who soon turns up dead, and the web of perversion, violence, drugs, and more than one murder begins to unravel. The story broadens from 'who Patty killed?' to 'who is still out there killing?' SPOILER: Neighbor and wanna-be DJ Peterson Whitbred murdered two porn actresses when Tanya was a child, causing her mother Patty to be forced to kill Whitbred's friend and accomplice.
Geographical Setting: Los Angeles
Time Period: Present day (2007)
Series: Alex Delaware novels, 21
Appeal Characteristics:
The twisting storyline of interconnected lives makes this a complex novel. The story is set in the city, and the urban and bleak tone add to the feel of the book. The idea of the amateur detective with strong psychological leanings is important. The main character is a doctor who understands the minds of his patients and killers. The secondary characters are also fairly well-developed and important to the plot. The writing is slower paced as it explores the lengthy process needed to figure out what's happening and piece together the story. While there isn't constant action, the story constantly progresses and moves at a compelling pace.
Read-alikes: Throughout the book Delaware talks about getting too personally involved in the case. Readers that find this personal involvement an interesting aspect to the story might want to check out Keith Albow's Denial. Featuring a forensic psychiatrist named Frank Clevenger, this book shares Obsession's look into the criminal mind and interest in the detective's (less than stable) personal life. Readers who enjoy Kellerman's slower pace and detail-focused style (and the character of Delaware) may want to start with the first novel in the series, When the Bough Breaks. Like Obsession, When the Bough Breaks deals with sexual perversion and the detective's personal insights into the case. Fans of the complex storyline and involved characterization might try Stephen White's Privileged Information. Readers may also want to explore Robert J. Aiello's The Deceivers, a story about a retired "mentalist" who, like Alex Delaware, gets involved in a psychological suspense case only this story features the death of a psychic scam artist. Those who enjoy the gritty and bleak tone of Obsession might enjoy Sarah Lovett's series about Syliva Strange. Dangerous Attachments is the first in this series, and it involves disturbing story lines similar to that of Obsession. Strange is a forensic psychiatrist sent to evaluate a prison inmate, but he becomes frighteningly attached to her.
Red Flags: There are descriptions of violence including graphic accounts of sexuality merging with violence, including one man masturbating with the bloody pieces of dead animals.
Rage (2005)
Author: Jonathan Kellerman
Genre: Mystery (Amateur Dectective)
Plot Summary:
Alex Delaware is back with a novel that takes him back to a case that took place eight years previously. The novel begins with Alex getting a call from a murder. This call brought back the case of two young teenage boys who abducted and killed a two-year toddler name Kristal Malley. Rand Duchay, now 21 and recently released from prison brings the sad, horrifying circumstances back. After Rand is found murdered--with Delaware’s phone number in his pocket, Delaware’s friend, Lieutenant Milo Sturgis is now on the case. Alex and Milo soon discover that there has been a trail of death following this case since the death of Kristal. First, Troy, one of the teens that killed Kristal. the mother of Kristal and the mother of Troy are a sure sign of someone covering their tracks. SPOILER: After teaming up Dr. Delaware and Milo Sturgis discover that the one of the teens had been hired to kill Kristal. This discovery led to the actual biological father of the child who had over a course of some years, had sexually molested his foster children, impregnating them and then forcing them to terminate the pregnancy… except for Kristal. He had been able to convince her mother to terminate the pregnancy, so he waited and hired Troy, one of teenagers to kill his own child.
Geographical Setting: Los Angeles
Time Period: Present day (2005)
Series: 19th in series
Appeal Characteristics:
This book moves at a quick pace with a lot of dialogue with his old friend Milo Sturgis. The backdrop of the story takes place in Los Angeles where crime is always on the loose. The tone is slightly grim with the death of a small child. The author does downplay the brutality of the crime with few graphic details of the actual crime. The continued friendship between Alex and Milo and their ability to cipher the many clues in the crime is a strong premise in the book. There is a love interest in the book but is compromised by the investigation into the current crime. The action of the book is the moving force of solving the crime. The continuous friendship between Alex and Milo continues to draw the readers back to more of Kellerman’s books.
Read-alikes: If you like a compelling book that is a little more dark with an edgy feel, you might like John Sandford’s Broken Prey which portrays another detective Lucas Davenport. The backdrop for this crime takes place in Minnesota, where a serial killer is on the loose doing some pretty despicable acts. Another option might be Anna Salter’s book Shiny Water which takes place in Vermont. Like Alex Baldwin, the protagonist is a psychologist who finds herself in a heap of trouble. This book has a more personal look into Dr. Michael Stone’s personal life but should be a suspenseful presentation of another crime. Cold Pursuit by T. Jefferson Parker again will take on another adventure that will feature a homicide cop, Tom McMichael looking into a murder of an 84 year old patriarch of the city. Looking for another book with the menacing backdrop of Los Angeles, the book The Closers by Michael Connelly might fit the bill. This story looks into a murder that took place over 20 years ago with Detective Harry Bosch on the case. Run the Risk again takes you to Los Angeles where Detective Alex Delillio working in homicide, takes on a case where a teenager goes missing and the prime suspect is killed in a car bomb. This is chilling tale that gets personal with Detective Delillio written by Scott Frost.
Red Flags: Some sexual situations and sexual topics and description of some violence is present in book.
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