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.