Mystery

Alex Delaware and his partner, Robin Castagna, are having a melancholy evening at one of their favorite places, the bar at the Fauborg Hotel in Beverly Hills. The hotel is slated to be demolished and this is the last night there will be service at the bar. Most of the furniture is gone, the lightbulbs have been removed from all but a few of the wall lights, and the only member of the staff on duty is the long-time bartender who knows just how his regular customers like their drinks.

Alex and Robin aren’t the only patrons that evening. There is a very glamorous woman sitting at a table nearby. She is dressed completely in white, including the scarf around her head. On her feet are backless silver shoes. She is smoking, using an ivory show more cigarette holder, channeling Audrey Hepburn in Robin’s opinion. When they leave, they notice that the burly man who had been outside is no longer there. They had decided that he was the bodyguard of the woman in white but she is still in the bar. The duo had supplied a few moments of interesting observation to distract Alex and Robin from the depressing reality that some things, like the bar, continue past their prime.

A few days later, Milo Sturgis, a lieutenant with the homicide division of the Los Angeles police, arrives, as he frequently does, just as the coffee is ready. Milo had been called out at 4:00 am when the body of a young woman was found in the mountains. There appeared to be two killers involved because two weapons were used. Both guns were aimed at her face. There is no identification. Milo shows Alex a picture of the victim. Alex knows that the clothing could only belong to the woman he and Robin had seen at the bar.

When the police realize that the man who was presumed to be a bodyguard has also disappeared, there seems no reason not to assume that the murder of the woman and the disappearance of the man are connected. The man is Steven Muhrman and his mother says she saw him with a woman who looked like the victim, a woman whose name was Mystery.

An anonymous tip is called into the police, pointing them in the direction of an on-line service in which “daddies” are matched up with “sweeties”. Mystery was matched with a billionaire daddy who pre-deceased her, removing one suspect in the murder of the young woman who still has no name.

Alex is also contacted by a former patient who had inhabited the shadow world until she gave birth to a son. Now the boy is six, and she is dying. She pulls Alex back into his real profession, child psychologist.

Are the Kellerman books formulaic? Absolutely. Does that detract from the stories? No, the formula serves the story. Alex always gets pulled into a case that has been handed over to Milo because of the impossibility of its successful resolution. Alex and Milo always solve the puzzle. No one seems to notice that in the real world, someone like Alex wouldn’t be participating in interviews in such a way that people assume he is also a detective. Kellerman has established that Alex made a sizeable fortune in real estate; it must have provided Alex with a very soft nest because he seems not to have to charge people for the work he does.

A child psychologist in his pre-mystery writing days, Kellerman knows dysfunctional families and he peoples his books with characters whose level of dysfunction would be crippling in the real world. MYSTERY is Kellerman’s twenty-sixth Alex Delaware mystery. I have read all of them, some more than once. They are books that I read from cover to cover in one session. Kellerman writes what many people want to read. Any descriptions of psychopathy or violence are in service to the story. He doesn’t dwell on the dark side; he just lets readers peek into lives they wouldn’t want from a safe distance show less

I read Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series BECAUSE I am familiar with and like the main characters. It may be time to stop reading what's COMFORTABLE and move on to something new. The plots of each novel blend together, lack surprise, and development has stagnated. I am also tired of reading about innocent country girls getting caught up in the evil vices of California.

In Mystery, the theme is nostalgia. Milo and Alex investigate the gruesome murder of a beautiful, young woman Alex and Robin had actually seen the night before while dining out at the closing of an old-timey hotel.Through internet research, interviews and near miraculous brainstorming and reasoning, Alex is able to grasp what has actually occurred, and by whom.

I’ve only read a few of Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series but two of the things I liked about them – insightful glimpses into each character’s motivation and tight, well-written plots – were missing here. And why did psychologist Delaware play more of a detective role than Det Sturgis himself did? The big info dump near the end and the hurried wrap up would have been disappointing if I’d developed any real interest in the mystery itself. On a positive note, John Rubinstein’s narration of the audiobook was excellent.

Series books are not usually my thing. Especially one that I have no real life connection to with any of the main characters. I am not a reasonably wealthy psychologist living in Los Angeles solving glamorous murders with my gay tough-guy best friend. But I love Kellerman's Alex Delaware series.

While there are no surprises in Kellerman's writing, Mystery has a solid storyline and is generally well written. My only complaint is the wrap up resolution felt contrived. To solve the Mystery, Alex does a lot of explaining by making connections or having knowledge that Alex simply could not possess. Still, it works for me and did not spoil my overall enjoyment. Kellerman's writing remains witty; the one liners fresh and wonderfully sarcastic.

I've been of the opinion that this many books into his series, Jonathan Kellerman is running out of steam - the books have gotten less and less interesting over the past five years of so - nowhere near his former standard. His last book, Deception, had a number of redeeming qualities and signs of a turnaround so I thought I'd grab Mystery and see where we are.

Mystery was much better than Deception - great story that hooked me right in. A bit of L.A. Noir with a lot of Kellerman's usual offbeat mix of police procedural and psychology. I like seeing Alex practicing psychology again in this book. It's seemed as if Alex has been wandering around with nothing interesting to do for quite awhile now and the beauty of Alex and Milo is their odd show more friendship and partnership, but also that they both bring different expertise to the table. There's something disappointing about the way Alex has shifted in driver and feeder of Milo. I hope this is a sign that the series is getting back to its strengths. Not great, but not bad and way better than the last few. show less

Jonathan Kellerman is the author of over two dozen psychologist Alex Delaware crime novels where he assists his friend, Milo, an LA police lieutenant to solve strange seemingly inexplicable, frequently bizarre murders, and where he helps one or more clients with psychological problems. All of the stories are very good, most are excellent. Kellerman is great at supplying descriptions of scenes, behavior, and clothing, relevant descriptions that capture points that are related to the tale, and are frequently humorous, always clever. He notices things most people do not pay attention to.

Delaware is constantly portrayed as being very insightful in his observations, which he articulates in a clear and concise manner. He is never really show more wrong, although each novel shows him deducing certain facts based on what is known at the time, which is always wrong because Delaware still doesn’t have all the facts. Delaware knows that these statements are tentative. This style of initially incorrect conclusions adds insight and clarity to what is happening, as well as suspense. Kelleman’s novels have a lot of dialogue which is witty and which usually focuses on what the person is thinking but did not say.

In this novel, Delaware and his girl friend, Robin, see a beautiful well-dressed young woman in a bar, wearing a pricey diamond watch, being watched by a bulky man, who seems like a guard or a stalking criminal. The woman is found shot in the face with two different bullets while she was standing, both piercing the face in close proximity, a statistically unusual occurrence. The watch is missing. Milo, the lieutenant, and Delaware need to find out who she is, who the man is, and why she was murdered. As usual in Kellerman novels, the ending is a surprise, both who did the murder and why.

Delaware also counsels a woman who is dying and her six year old son who loves her and does not want to see her die. It is interesting and instructive to see how carefully and empathetically he handles the emotions. show less

Fairly typical Alex Delaware novel. Vivid settings, striking characters, and an unpredictable plot that takes weird twists.
Typically, though, the outcome is somewhat disappointing. At least this time Alex doesn't go off on his own and engage in heroics unbecoming a forensic psychologist.
Kellerman writes the first 90% of his novels as well as anyone.It's just that last 10% that challenges him.
Still, a worthwhile read.