Rating: ****
Tags: Fiction, General, Mystery & Detective, Suspense, Psychological, Forensic psychologists, Delaware; Alex (Fictitious character), Sturgis; Milo (Fictitious character), Lang:en
Summary
When Lt. Milo Sturgis of LAPD homicide asks psychologist
Alex Delaware to view the faceless corpse of a young woman in
Kellerman's enjoyable if only average 26th Alex Delaware novel
(after Deception), Alex is shocked to recognize the gunshot
victim as someone he and wife, Robin, saw the night before in a
restaurant bar. A link turns out to exist between the dead
woman and a sinister-looking man Alex and Robin observed
outside the bar that night. An anonymous tip leads to an online
service that matches "sugar daddies" with "star-quality
sweeties." The victim, who called herself "Mystery," had a
"daddy," Markham McReynolds, whose wealthy, anything-goes
family offers plenty of suspects, including McReynolds's wife,
two sons, and two daughters-in-law. Kellerman's bantering
detectives make it look almost too easy as they put together
the clues and possible scenarios, despite the unusual solution
to the crime. (Apr.)
Alex Delaware, the L.A. psychologist and crime-solver,
returns to tackle another tricky case. A woman has been
murdered, her body mutilated. Homicide detective Milo Sturgis,
Delaware’s frequent partner, brings Alex into the case,
hoping for some insight into the psychology of the killer. Alex
is surprised to discover that the victim is familiar to him;
Alex and his girlfriend saw her at a restaurant only hours
before her death. But how can Alex and Milo expect to find any
usable clues when the restaurant is now out of business? The
Delaware series has been going since 1985, and it’s long
since settled into a comfortable formula, which is just fine as
far as fans are concerned. The books star a pair of engaging
protagonists and, for the most part, are well plotted. In
addition, Kellerman usually tosses in a couple of twists to
keep readers on their toes. This installment is nothing out of
the ordinary for the series, but it’s a solid entry that
will please the established audience. --David PittFrom Publishers Weekly
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