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.
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