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The Murder Book (Alex Delaware #16)
In seventeen consecutive bestselling novels, Jonathan Kellerman has distinguished himself as the master of the psychological thriller. Now in Kellerman’s most compelling and powerful novel yet, L.A. psychologist-detective Alex Delaware confronts a long-unsolved murder of unspeakable brutality—an ice-cold case whose resolution threatens his survival, and that of longtime fr...more
Hardcover, 408 pages
Published
October 1st 2002
by Ballantine Books
(first published 2002)
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Dear Dr. Delaware,
I get about 2 minutes into this and there's a sex scene already. I can't be doing with it! Solve your crimes and keep your bedroom shenanigans to yourself, please. I do not want to know how many times your girlfriend came. In any case, I have always suspected you as a "projection of the author, but awesome" character - you're just too good at everything, which apparently includes sex, and that makes me suspicious. Indeed, according to you, your only real flaw is the one belove...more
I get about 2 minutes into this and there's a sex scene already. I can't be doing with it! Solve your crimes and keep your bedroom shenanigans to yourself, please. I do not want to know how many times your girlfriend came. In any case, I have always suspected you as a "projection of the author, but awesome" character - you're just too good at everything, which apparently includes sex, and that makes me suspicious. Indeed, according to you, your only real flaw is the one belove...more
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More time is spent on Dr Delaware's midlife crisis than it seems is warranted. The wordage spent on resolving Milo being a gay detective in this straight man's world somehow seemed apporpriate, however. This book seemed less riveting than the other Alex Delaware books I've read. The purpose almost seemed to be less about resolving the mystery and more about resolving the characters life issues. BUT, I guess when these characters have been around as much as these guys have, we need some time to f...more
Oct 25, 2012
aPriL MEOWS often with scratching
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mysteries-suspense-thrillers
Whoo hoo! Time to celebrate! We finally get Milo's back story! Yay! My favorite he's-really-just-a-large-teddy-bear-man character revealed! AND.....significant Robin news! If you read the series not just to pass the time for a brain candy mystery but also because of the character soap opera elements (you KNOW you do!), then you can't skip this one - or conversely, read out of order since it will reveal too much to enjoy the previous ones as far as the Robin/Alex relationship plot. However, if th...more
This is the first book of Kellerman's Delaware series that I haven't been able to finish, and I've read about a dozen of them. I don't know if the series is going downhill or if it's because I've read too many of them, but Kellerman just isn't doing it for me anymore. Whatever enjoyment I had for this series seems to be dwindling with each book--and I'm only halfway through it(reading in order), there's still another dozen or so books to trudge through, and I've heard that they just keep getting...more
Delaware in good form -- much about Milo makes great story!
Most of the long-time Kellerman / Alex Delaware fan club readers were as disappointed as we were with his just prior book, "Flesh and Blood." To us, Delaware's character was mostly "out of character", replacing cerebral detecting with inane and inappropriate action that alienated both his domestic partner Robin and his forever police pal Milo. A reasonably interesting plot was about all that held it together.
We worried as we started thi...more
Most of the long-time Kellerman / Alex Delaware fan club readers were as disappointed as we were with his just prior book, "Flesh and Blood." To us, Delaware's character was mostly "out of character", replacing cerebral detecting with inane and inappropriate action that alienated both his domestic partner Robin and his forever police pal Milo. A reasonably interesting plot was about all that held it together.
We worried as we started thi...more
CD/Abridged/Fiction: Book 16 of the Alex Delaware series. John Rubinstein's narration saves this confusing book. There is way too much coincidence and convenience. Alex receives a "murder book" and Milo recognizes one of the pictures as a unsolved case he had 20 years ago. You quickly learn that there was a cover-up, but the mystery is why. I think this book would be better unabridged. I think part of the problem was the abridgement. To me, a lot of the politics made no sense.
So why four stars?...more
So why four stars?...more
Audiobook version:
Yikes. I love Alex Delaware and have been reading his books on and off since last year, but some of them seem to go into overkill and this is one of them.
This story starts out with lots of intrigue with the main story being the reopening of an old cold case of Milo's, sprinkled with two subplots, one of which is the blossoming relationship of Milo and his significant other, Rick, and the failing relationship between Alex and his girlfriend whose character is so under-developed...more
Yikes. I love Alex Delaware and have been reading his books on and off since last year, but some of them seem to go into overkill and this is one of them.
This story starts out with lots of intrigue with the main story being the reopening of an old cold case of Milo's, sprinkled with two subplots, one of which is the blossoming relationship of Milo and his significant other, Rick, and the failing relationship between Alex and his girlfriend whose character is so under-developed...more
This is the first Jonathan Kellerman novel I've ever read, and I enjoyed it a lot. The story was different; the characters were unique, human; and the ending wasn't the all-the-loose-ends-are-tied-up-and-things-have-gone-back-to-normal ending typical of books in this genre.
The whodunit aspect was revealed slowly, and even though Dr. Alex Delaware is a psychologist, Kellerman didn't write him as a mind reader (a common trait in the cop genre that usually has me rolling my eyes, even when I'm just...more
The whodunit aspect was revealed slowly, and even though Dr. Alex Delaware is a psychologist, Kellerman didn't write him as a mind reader (a common trait in the cop genre that usually has me rolling my eyes, even when I'm just...more
Mar 05, 2010
Kathie Hagen
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
No one
Recommended to Kathie by:
My daughter
Here's a book that should make prospective authors RUN to their computers & start typing! I cannot believe Jonathan Kellerman is a best-selling author. This book was awful. I would have somehow given it zero stars except that I love Los Angeles (where the book takes place) & I did want to see the mystery solved. Not sure if there was one likable character in the book (maybe Robin & Alex's dog).
A definite sign that the author is a poor writer: he uses a lot of obscenity. That's a cop-...more
A definite sign that the author is a poor writer: he uses a lot of obscenity. That's a cop-...more
1 like · like · see review
This is definately not a book for those of you who like to read without thinking; you may miss a piece of vital information.
When psycologist & police consultant Alex Delaware receives a 'murder book' in the mail; the police detective he consults with will be taken on a twenty year journey to the past and the visious unsolved murder of sixteen year-old Janie Ingalls. Occuring when Delaware's police detective partner Milo was a rookie; this book covers a cold case where nothing is as it seems;...more
When psycologist & police consultant Alex Delaware receives a 'murder book' in the mail; the police detective he consults with will be taken on a twenty year journey to the past and the visious unsolved murder of sixteen year-old Janie Ingalls. Occuring when Delaware's police detective partner Milo was a rookie; this book covers a cold case where nothing is as it seems;...more
I can't quite give this a 4.5 or 5 star rating, but I thought that Kellerman really broke out of his usual mold and expanded his storytelling ability in this book. It was nice to see the story from other people's perspectives instead of only Alex's. This is something that we only saw in Survival of the Fittest, and it was for a short period of time. I hope he continues this in his future work. I also liked seeing Alex with some actual flaws in this book. I generally like the characters in this s...more
I have to admit that I was a little disappointed in this book. It just took so long to develop the story and some of the trails that were followed and assumptions made were just a little too far reached to me. I found myself thinking so many times "As if you'd just come to that conclusion so easily?" and this kind of annoyed me a bit. I like crime stories where the ending obviously isn't too easy to guess but I really don't like it when ridiculous conclusions are drawn to try and make the author...more
I had nothing else to read during our Turkey travels, so I read this. I’m sorry I did. This is the story of two guys in the police force: one is a detective and the other is a psychologist. They need to solve this murder that took place 20 or so years ago. It was a typical thriller, although I thought that the ultimate outcome was a little blagh. The cops just happened to follow leads which just happened to lead them in the right direction. Seemed kind of out of left field. And the style was pre...more
Not one of Kellerman's better Delaware entries. Sometimes Alex Delaware seems so distant, remote, it's hard to get a handle on him. I never much cared for Robin anyway, so her departure (for now) is a welcome relief. I still love the interaction between Alex and Milo. The plot was a bit, oh, I dunno - over the top. But then, sometimes that's what goes on with a Delaware book; for some reason, however, the formula just didn't work as well this time around. A disappointment, especially since the p...more
Not one of Kellerman's better Delaware entries. Sometimes Alex Delaware seems so distant, remote, it's hard to get a handle on him. I never much cared for Robin anyway, so her departure (for now) is a welcome relief. I still love the interaction between Alex and Milo. The plot was a bit, oh, I dunno - over the top. But then, sometimes that's what goes on with a Delaware book; for some reason, however, the formula just didn't work as well this time around. A disappointment, especially since the p...more
1 like · like · see review
A cold case from twenty years ago is suddenly brought back to light through a Murder Book that is sent to Alex Delaney who immediately informs his friend Police Detective Milo Sturges. The only problem is that the case was closed in the first place because some very powerful people wanted it that way. Now it's been brought to light, the same people are going to do everything to keep it unsolved. It's a dash to the finish. Who will prevail, a cop and his psychologist side kick, or the movers and...more
Downloaded from Audible.com
Narrator: John Rubinstein
Publisher: Random House Audio, 2002
Length: 15 hours and 30 min.
Publisher's Summary
In his 17 consecutive best selling novels, Jonathan Kellerman has distinguished himself as the master of the psychological thriller. Now, in Kellerman's most compelling and powerful novel yet, L.A. psychologist-detective Alex Delaware confronts a long-unsolved murder of unspeakable brutality - an ice-cold case whose resolution threatens his survival and that of lo...more
Narrator: John Rubinstein
Publisher: Random House Audio, 2002
Length: 15 hours and 30 min.
Publisher's Summary
In his 17 consecutive best selling novels, Jonathan Kellerman has distinguished himself as the master of the psychological thriller. Now, in Kellerman's most compelling and powerful novel yet, L.A. psychologist-detective Alex Delaware confronts a long-unsolved murder of unspeakable brutality - an ice-cold case whose resolution threatens his survival and that of lo...more
Pretty decent, but it took me a long time to get through. Part of the problem is that the author uses a lot of street slang which I did not understand. Secondly, it took me a long time to "get into" the story and care about the characters. The plot was decent, but a lot of time was spent discussing the personal lives of the characters which amounted to a lot of information that did nothing to further the story. So as far a mystery novels go, it was OK but would have been a lot better minus the p...more
More "darkest corners of the human mind" exploration by Kellerman when his psychologist character Alex Delaware receives a "murder book" of crime-scene photos. An cold case unsolved by the detective character Milo Sturgis is dredged out of repressed memories by the appearance of the victim in one of those gruesome photos. The attempt to resolve that case uncovers more cans of worms than are usual at at a dancehall of the dead.
Jonathan kellerman knows how to keep the reader intrigued in his novels. I enjoyed this book. Once i lifted this book i could not put it down.
Alex Delaware is a La psychologist-detective. Alex recieves an envelope and inside there is a ringbinder with Gold Letters on it spelling THE MURDER BOOK!! Inside there are pictures of terrible murders taken at the scene of the crime, below each picture there is a description of how and why they died! The last picture has the words NOT SOLVED! The picture...more
Alex Delaware is a La psychologist-detective. Alex recieves an envelope and inside there is a ringbinder with Gold Letters on it spelling THE MURDER BOOK!! Inside there are pictures of terrible murders taken at the scene of the crime, below each picture there is a description of how and why they died! The last picture has the words NOT SOLVED! The picture...more
Just finished this one and after a rough first chapter start was absolutely sucked in to the storyline. I'd never read anything by Kellerman before, and honestly I found myself constantly humming the stupid Kellermans song from Dirty Dancing. I was a bit let down by the ending, but I will definitely read something else by this author. I'm giving it a three star rating because of the rough start and the sudden, "Seriously, that's it?" ending.
Mar 01, 2011
Stephen Hayes
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
crime-fiction,
our-books
Psychotherapist Alex Delaware is sent a book of photographs
showing victims of unsolved murders. It seems to be a hint to his
detective friend Milo to pursue a cold case that he had been taken
off years before, of a teenager who had been brutally murdered, but
a lot of documentation for the case seems to be missing, and it
seems there had been a cover up.
showing victims of unsolved murders. It seems to be a hint to his
detective friend Milo to pursue a cold case that he had been taken
off years before, of a teenager who had been brutally murdered, but
a lot of documentation for the case seems to be missing, and it
seems there had been a cover up.
Highly recommend for Connelly/Bosch fan. Read all of Micheal Connelly's book and was in search of another crime author. I've finally found him. This is a fast paced murder story told by a cop and psychologist partner. The story ties up nicely at the end. Also doesn't waste pages on cop/psychologiest's background too much. Sticks to the crime itself.
Aug 25, 2012
Marilyn Knox
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery-thriller
Milo and Alex at their best. The author had to do some fancy foot work to wrap up the story at the end but it was an interesting plot. I am interested to see what happens next with Robin. They spend a lot of time going from one place to another in cars. There are not as many references to food. I like it when he writes about food.
The latest Alex Delaware/Milo Sturgis mystery finds the titular Murder Book sent to Alex, reopening a 20 year old murder case of a teenage girl that Milo and his partner were taken off of. (Murder books are the blue binders that homicide detectives use for active cases. When they're closed the info is moved into a file and archived.)
My first Kellerman - I hadn't heard of him before. A great plot and superb tension, without overdoing the descriptive background. I can learn from him, though I don't write in this genre. The only thing that jarred was the fact that the MC was a doctor, but not averse to a bit of violence (that's not a spoiler). 4 stars minus.
This was a good idea for a story, just not executed well. I've read one other book in this series and only realized it was the same series was because I remembered not liking Robin. In the other book I wished she would go away and I thought "oh good this is still going on?!" I think I would prefer a book folioing Milo instead.
This one seems promising because of the focus on Milo's early career, but Alex is just insufferable. I really don't care about his relationship with Robin or his hero complex. Also, the conspiracy theory all gets very frustrating. This is by far my least favorite of the Alex Delaware novels I've read so far.
One of my favourite Alex Delaware novels - Kellerman is the king of psychological thrillers (I'm looking forwarding to reading the entire series - in order - when I retire). In the meantime, I'm happy to recommend his clever writing peppered with action and humour to anyone willing to listen.
Meh. I didn't like Alex Delaware or Milo Sturgis. Could be because I was reading #16 instead of #1. Still, I didn't like the book or the characters enough to go back to the beginning. Other than that, the writing was strong. I would recommend this for any that likes crime/suspense/thrillers.
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Jonathan Kellerman was born in New York City in 1949 and grew up in Los Angeles. He helped work his way through UCLA as an editorial cartoonist, columnist, editor and freelance musician. As a senior, at the age of 22, he won a Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award for fiction.
Like his fictional protagonist, Alex Delaware, Jonathan received at Ph.D. in psychology at the age of 24, with a specialty in the t...more
More about Jonathan Kellerman...
Like his fictional protagonist, Alex Delaware, Jonathan received at Ph.D. in psychology at the age of 24, with a specialty in the t...more
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