I’ve been reading Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series (up to 41 books!) which teams a psychologist (Delaware) with the hard boiled, gay LAPD detective with a high enough homicide case solve rate to “encourage” his superiors to overlook his unorthodox approaches (Milo Sturgis). I started with random audio books towards the end of the series, numbering 30 and above and now have gone back to read this one — the first.
I like this series a lot (obviously), though I do prefer the later ones. The characters — Delaware and Sturgis, their domestic partners, supporting LAPD members and even the perps, victims, and witnesses, are all pretty relatable and interesting. The writing is easy — full of interesting factoids but clean, clear, and never wandering through tangential detail. No long descriptions of nature or furniture or clothing, unless relevant to the case. I tend to read mysteries written by women and I am enjoying reading this series which is written by a man — there is a pointed distinction between reading strong men from a man’s perspective versus from a woman’s. I like it and have fun noticing how it might have been different had a woman written it (obviously not all men or all women write the same way — what I noticed was subtle but I found it fun).
This first book had a few too many scenes where Alex Delaware manages to get himself out of very dangerous situations through some clever hero machinations — that kind of thing just bores me as I prefer the brain stuff. But as the series evolves, Milo takes on more of the work and their partnership replaces the lone hero psychologist nicely.
Great series!
Books to look forward to ... 