Mystery by Jonathan Kellerman

I was invited to join this blog by my cousin Don, aka West Coast Don. I had not seen Don in nearly 40 years until I looked him up on a recent visit to you guessed it, the West Coast. Interestingly one of the common interests of two long lost cousins was reading books, oddly a lot of the same books. So, I’ve since become a fan of the Men Reading Books blog and decided to return the favor by contributing.

I am a long time fan of Jonathan Kellerman’s work and his latest novel ‘Mystery’ does not disappoint. His well developed characters from previous works, Dr. Alex Delaware and Lieutenant Milo Sturgis are again his crime solving team and make this murder mystery very efficient both in terms of character and plot development. Too much coincidence, maybe but clues only a trained psychologist could interpret make for a crisp quickly moving story that pulls you in and makes you crave the final outcome.

Alex and his long time woman friend, Robin are out for an evening to an old Beverly Hills hotel bar that is about to be demolished. The place holds fond romantic memories for the couple. They are disappointed that the ambiance of their old haunt has changed but are intrigued by another patron, a beautiful young woman in a white dress obviously waiting for someone. The following morning Alex’s best friend, an unconventional yet highly effective homicide detective, Milo Sturgis invites him to consult on a murder investigation as Alex frequently does. A woman’s body has been found on a secluded street in Palisades west of Beverly Hills and Milo and Alex go to the crime scene. The female victim has been shot simultaneously with a .45 and a shotgun at close range totally destroying her face and implicating a conspiracy of two killers. Alex recognizes the white dress worn by the victim as that of the mysterious young woman in the bar the previous night. The investigation proceeds with trying to identify the body and determine what possible motive would result in such a violent act. An artist’s sketch of the girl Alex and Robin remembered from the bar yields an anonymous tip which leads Milo and Alex to a wealthy family with secrets to hide. Turns out the now deceased patriarch had hired the young woman known as Tara to some and Tiara to others as his mistress late in life. His former movie actress wife had tolerated and even strangely supported this and many other indiscretions of her husband in their 30 year plus marriage. Their now grown twin sons are not only fraternal but share no physical resemblance yet have an unusual and disturbingly close bond. Alex stumbles across clue after clue that reveals the imperfections and sometimes perversions of each character which ultimately develop into a twisted motive for murder. Putting his own life at risk Alex uses his psychoanalytical skills to invoke a confession.

The plot development maybe uses a little too much coincidence to be totally believable but as an admirer of Dr. Alex Delaware I quickly forgave that story flaw. I was impressed by the character’s acute observation skills and his ability to interpret the most subtle actions of others into meaningful clues. Like the Milo character, I have long ago learned to take Alex’s sometimes far-fetched hunches as strong possibilities and not to totally dismiss them. I found the story compelling and wanted more information about each character’s twisted life than was cleverly rationed out. I found it a thoroughly enjoyable read and recommend you read it without interruption.