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Alex Delaware is the fictional protagonist of Jonathan Kellerman's popular murder mystery series. He is a retired child psychologist who solves mysteries, often with the help of his best friend, LAPD detective Milo Sturgis. He has an on again, off again girlfriend, Robin Castagna and a French bulldog, Spike. Spike died in the novel Gone but is followed by a new French bulldog named Blanche. Most of the Alex Delaware mysteries are also available on audiobook (as CDs or cassette tapes). The early books (through Monster) are read by Alexander Adams, and the later books (starting with Dr. Death) are read by John Rubenstein.1
A brief summary of Alex's life in each novel
When the Bough Breaks
This novel marks the first appearance of Alex Delaware—a young and successful (albeit retired) child psychologist who has dedicated his life to his work. He sees himself as a workaholic, and the range of Alex's professional activities is slowly revealed over the course of the series. When he discovers the dead body of infamous child molester Stuart Hickle, Alex's profound shock leads to his decision to retire from the profession. It is during this investigation that Alex meets Milo Sturgis and the two become close friends.
The plot of this novel is centered around the murder of psychologist Dr. Morton Handler in his home. While investigating the case, Milo discovers that a seven year old child may have witnessed the murder and he calls in Alex as a special consultant. Alex tries to discover what the girl saw using hypnosis, only to find that the case may be connected to the death of Stuart Hickle.
This first volume of the series introduces Alex's primary love interest, Robin Castagna, a self-employed craftswoman who builds custom musical instruments. Rick Silverman also makes a brief appearance as Milo's new doctor boyfriend.
Blood Test
Blood Test, the second novel in the series, is set about six months after When The Bough Breaks. Alex has come out of retirement to work as a consultant in the divorce and child custody case of Richard Moody, a bipolar and potentially dangerous father of two. At the same time, Alex is contacted by a former colleague, Dr. Raoul Melendez-Lynch, who is a member of the oncology department of the Western Pediatric Medical Center, developing cures and treatments for children's cancer. Prior to his retirement, Alex participated in a study conducted by Dr. Melendez-Lynch. Dr. Melendez-Lynch asks that Alex talk to Mr. and Mrs. Swope and convince them to allow their child Woody to receive treatment for his life threatening illness. Yet, before Alex can talk to the boy's parents, they disappear, taking Woody with them. Now, Alex and Milo must find the child before he dies.
Alex's love interest, Robin Castagna plays only a minor role in this novel, appearing in phone calls as she is working on custom instruments for a client in Japan. And this book marks the first appearance of Dr. Delaware's Koi pond, a setting that will reappear frequently in the volumes to come.
Over the Edge
Before his self-imposed retirement (explained in When the Bough Breaks), and about 5 years prior to this story, Alex had worked on a research study with Sarita Flowers. The study, known as "Project 160", worked with genius level children, for whom Dr. Delaware had provided counseling and other services. Now Alex receives a phone call from one of these children, Jamey Cadmus, but by the time Dr. Delaware reaches the hospital, Jamey has escaped. Jamey is eventually apprehended by the police for a string of brutal murders and Dr. Delaware is hired by his attorney. This time Alex investigates the murders without the help of Milo Sturgis, because the two friends are working opposite sides of the same case. Also of note: Girlfriend Robin Castagna is now living with Alex Delaware.
Silent Partner
After Alex's girlfriend Robin returned from Japan (where she had been on a business trip in Blood Test), she asked for more space in their relationship, and eventually moved out. It is now about six months after the events of Over the Edge and Alex is once again living alone. He soon runs into former girlfriend Sharon Ransom, who admits that things are not going well in her life. She says she would like to have lunch with him to discuss it, but Alex is emotionally fragile and, not wanting to get involved with Ransom again, he turns down the lunch date. Later that day, Sharon is found dead in her home, a victim of suicide, and Alex feels compelled to investigate.
The reader learns more about Alex's personal life in Silent Partner: he is currently about thirty seven years old, received his doctorate when he was twenty four, and spent some time afterwards playing guitar in dance bands and working odd jobs. One of those jobs involved substitute teaching at his alma mater, which is where he met Sharon Ransom. Their relationship lasted a year or two before falling apart, and the circumstances of their breakup become a part of the present story. Also of note: A main topic of this novel is borderline personality disorder.
Time Bomb
Alex is now 38 years old and no longer involved with Robin. After the events in Silent Partner, he decided to get professional therapy from friend and therapist Ada Small, and as this novel begins, Alex has completed therapy for the time being. The plot of Time Bomb centers on a school shooting at Nathan Hale Elementary School. Nobody is killed except the shooter herself, a girl named Holly Lynn Burden. Holly's father contacts Dr. Delaware and asks that he perform a psychological autopsy, which he agrees to do. In the course of his investigation, Alex become involved with Dr. Linda Overstreet, the principal of Nathan Hale Elementary School. Also of note: Time Bomb introduces "The Colonel", a character who will reappear later in the series.
Private Eyes
Set about three months after the events in Time Bomb, this novel finds the lead characters still dealing with the effects: Dr. Delaware is slowly working on a journal article based on the work he did then, and Milo has been suspended. The plot of Private Eyes begins when former patient Melissa Dickinson contacts Alex about looking into her mother's case. Gina Dickinson had been the victim of an acid attack before Melissa's birth, and since then has suffered from acute agorophobia. Shortly after speaking to Dr. Delaware on the phone, Gina Dickinson disappears, and Alex, with the help of friend Milo, tries to determine what happened to her. Also of note: Alex renews his relationship with Robin, after a separation of about two years. During that time Robin had been involved with a man named Dennis, become pregnant, and had an abortion.
Devil's Waltz
Devil's Waltz begins with Alex returning to his former hospital, Western Pediatric Hospital. He states that it has been five years since he left, which would suggest that the death of Stuart Hickle occurred five years previous. The reader learns that he wasn't staffed by the psychology department, but instead pediatrics and oncology, which clarifies his previous appointment. There is mention of Delaware's alma mater, but it is not mentioned by name. It is mentioned that Dr. Raoul Melendez-Lynch (from Blood Test) has left the hospital. There is brief mention that Project 160 (mentioned in Over the Edge) has been shut down, and that Jamie Cadmus is doing well.
In this novel, Alex is asked to look into the case of 21-month-old Cassie Jones, who has been suffering from a number of unusual and unexplained symptoms. Alex is called in to investigate the psychological aspect of this case, where he comes to suspect the possibility of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, in which somebody creates illnesses in another person as a means to gain attention.
School principal Linda Overstreet has not returned from Texas after her father's death but Alex has slowly begun to resume his relationship with Robin. Milo started "Blue Investigations" which is his moonlighting job outside of police work.
Bad Love
This novel begins just after the Jones trial (Devil's Waltz) has wrapped up. Alex and Robin's relationship is in full swing, Milo is back working homicide, and another bizarre case presents itself to Alex in the form of a cassette tape that contains sounds of screaming, and a child chanting about 'Bad Love', which relates to a seminar that Delaware participated back in 1979 while working at Western Pediatrics.
This book also introduces a new character, Spike, a bulldog who appears randomly at Alex's house one morning. Towards the end of this novel, Alex's home is destroyed by a fire. At the end both Alex and Robin have every intention of rebuilding the home.
Self-Defense
This novel is set 13 months after the events in Bad Love. Alex and Robin are working to build a new house together, while Alex pursues his next case. Alex meets a former patient named Lucy who was on the jury for a serial killer. Lucy has started to have a recurring nightmare about a young child in the forest watching a strange and furtive act. Since the dream is starting to destroy Lucy's life, Alex is starting to think it could be a repressed memory. A memory of a murder.
The Web
After the dramatic events that preceded the novel, Alex and Robin are invited to take a trip to an exotic island where Alex can help a doctor collect and organize his works. Robin and Alex enjoy the time they spend together and it streghnthen's their relationship. Later, it becomes obvious that Alex has been brought to the island for other, somewhat darker reasons. This novel is also the first time that Robin sees first hand Alex's experience with danger. While Robin remains supportive of Alex through the ordeal, this is the point in which Alex's work starts to worry and upset Robin, a condition that continues and grows in future novels.
The Clinic
The Clinic is the twelfth novel by Jonathan Kellerman, and tells the story in the first person point of view of Alex Delaware.
The plot of The Clinic centers around the cold case of celebrity pop-psychologist and professor, Hope Devane. Devane created plenty of controversy with her book, "Wolves and Sheep," that attacks men and promotes a form of controversial feminism. Dr. Delaware's best friend, LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, is given the case a few months after it has gone cold. During their investigation, Milo and Alex encounter Devane's students, husband, and fellow faculty and soon discover that there was more to Hope Devane than what the public knew about. There are so many possibilities that until Alex digs deeper into Hope's hidden life and past there seems to be no hope of resolution; no hope, that is, until they spring the perfect trap.
Survival of the Fittest
The daughter of a diplomat disappears on a school field trip, lured into the Santa Monica Mountains, and killed in cold blood. Her father denies the possibility of a political motive. There are no signs of struggle and no evidence of sexual assault, leaving psychologist Alex Delaware and his friend LAPD homicide detective Milo Sturgis to pose the essential question: Why?
Working with Daniel Sharavi, a brilliant Israeli police inspector, Delaware and Sturgis soon find themselves ensnared in one of the darkest, most menacing cases of their careers. When death strikes again, it is Alex who must go undercover, alone, to expose an unthinkable conspiracy of self-righteous brutality and total contempt for human life.
Monster
Amazon.com Review Consulting psychologist Alex Delaware has a novel approach to crime-solving: he uses his training to unlock the secrets in the minds of the victims and jiggles the clues he finds there until the right scenario emerges. So when Alex's LAPD buddy Milo finds the hacked-up body of a woman psychologist named Claire Argent in an abandoned car trunk--the second such murder in eight months--Alex heads for her place of employment: the Starkweather State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. One of Argent's patients at Starkweather is Ardis "Monster" Peake, imprisoned for the unbelievably brutal murders of his mother and the family she worked for, including a small child and a baby. There's at least one eerie similarity between the mutilation of their bodies and Argent's: in all the bodies, the eyes were taken or destroyed. But Peake, diagnosed as schizophrenic and psychotic, is a well-behaved vegetable due to a steady diet of Thorazine, and he hasn't left the hospital since his incarceration 15 years before. How is it, then, that Claire Argent's assistant, Heidi Ott, swears she heard Peake say, "Dr. A. Bad eyes in a box" soon after he hears only the bare fact of her death? And why does Alex find Peake so empathetic, in spite of his violent past and chillingly vacant mind? When other mutilated bodies turn up, Alex and Milo begin to suspect that the real monster is very much at large. Like Kellerman's 12 previous Alex Delaware mysteries, Monster builds to a big, teeth-clenching bang and ends with some very satisfying surprises. --Barrie Trinkle --
Dr. Death
When a corpse is found in the Hollywood Hills area, Alex Delaware is called in to help. The body is revealed to be Eldon Mate, a suicide doctor. Some considered him a saint while others considered him the worst evil to walk the earth. Milo Sturgis asks Alex for help on the case, but Alex knows some secrets about Mate. Secrets that could potentially destroy their friendship.
Flesh and Blood
Alex receives a call from a former patient's mother, whose daughter is missing. Earlier in his career Alex had attended a bachelor party in which the one-time-patient had performed as a stipper/sex worker. This was a major source of embarrassment for Alex, as he felt as though he failed and betrayed the girl. Once again, Alex finds himself in ever-increasingly dangerous situations as he attempts to help Milo uncover clues. Throughout the novel, Alex plays fast and loose with the speculation, while Milo tries to remain grounded on sound police theory. In the end, both appear to have certain aspects correct. Robin and Alex have problems throughout the book and the two start to distance themselves from each other. In the closing pages, Robin leaves for San Diego to visit an old girlfriend, only to call Alex on the final page and ask him to join her there. Robin's decision to leave is based on Alex's involvement of the climax of the story. While Robin cares for Alex greatly, she has a hard time sitting by quietly while Alex puts himself in harm's way time and time again.
The Murder Book
Alex Delaware's girlfriend, Robin, decides to take a "break" from their relationship after a surprise trip to Paris. During this break, Robin will be working as part of a traveling tour, while Alex remains at home. The split is hard on Alex, who uses the time to question his relationship with Robin as well as starting to drink heavily. After his return to the United States, an enigmatic package arrives at Dr. Delaware's house called The Murder Book with violent photographs depicting victims of various cases. On request of Dr. Delaware his friend, detective Milo Strugis, inspects the book and finds a photo form one of Milo's earliest cases. It is the only case in the binder that is marked as unsolved. The first part of the novel focuses on Milo's early career. Throughout the remainder of the book Alex tries to keep himself occupied with the case as a distraction from his relationship problems which are obvious to everybody he comes across. Robin returns briefly at the end to speak to Alex before returning to her tour. The status of their relationship is left ambiguous.
See also: Murder book
A Cold Heart
After the events of "The Murder Book", Robin and Alex have separated. Robin moved out and quickly fell in with a man named Tim, who was a vocal coach she met out tour. Meanwhile, Alex has started a serious relationship with a fellow psychologist, Allison Gwynn, who appeared in The Murder Book for the first time. While the two have broken their relationship, the two remain in contact during the course of the book, which suggest that some unresolved feelings still remain. At the same time, Alex Delaware is pulled into a case in which several "young, up-and-coming" artists are murdered, some of which Alex had met during his time with Robin. Towards the end of the novel Alex and Allison's relationship seems to be going strong, but there are some unresolved issues between Alex and Robin that have yet to play out.
Therapy
Alex and Milo solve a murder mystery revolving around Gavin Quick, a young man disturbed after a car wreck. Again Allison Gwynn appears. The book contains one of Kellerman's best scenes, i.e. the interrogation of one of the suspects in a conspiracy involving fraud with government subsidies. Personally, Alex does not develop in this novel very much. He continues his relationship with Allison, while doing his best to distance himself more and more from Robin, who seems slightly hurt and confused by Alex pushing her away.
Rage
From Publishers Weekly Psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware stars again after playing second fiddle to Hollywood homicide detective Petra Connor in last year's Twisted. It's been eight years since Alex provided a psychiatric evaluation of two teenagers, Troy Turner and Rand Duchay, who confessed to abducting and killing a two-year-old girl. Troy is now dead, murdered in prison, and Rand has been released—and he promptly calls Alex to tell him he has some important information. Alex agrees to a meeting, but Rand's not where he said he'd be; shortly thereafter he's found dead. Kellerman always fashions fiendishly complicated cases, both literally and psychologically, for Alex to unravel, and this one is no different. During the course of the investigation, he and longtime pal L.A. police lieutenant Milo Sturgis encounter a host of wayward children, a foster family from hell, infidelities that have to be charted to be kept straight and a serial killer who's the exact opposite of the genre's usual madman slasher but just as deadly. The action occurs mostly in the calculating brains of the two detectives as they turn and sift evidence piece by piece, working every angle until they finally come up with a coherent picture. It's an impressive piece of detection, and readers who enjoy watching the delicate untangling of a Gordian knot–like plot will find this one a winner. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
Gone
From Publishers Weekly In bestseller Kellerman's pulse-pounding 20th Alex Delaware novel (after 2005's Rage), the Los Angeles psychologist looks into the murder of attractive 23-year-old Michaela Brand, an aspiring actress. Soon after Michaela and a fellow acting student, 24-year-old Dylan Meserve, achieve their 15 minutes of fame by staging their abduction, their hoax is exposed and Michaela turns up dead in circumstances reminiscent of her faked assault. Delaware joins forces with his sometimes official partner in crime, LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, and together they pursue an investigative trail littered with corpses leading to an unconventional acting school and the family of the eccentric woman who runs it. While the murderer's identity may not be that surprising, the author's ability to convey the unrelenting sadness of his characters' lives and his deep psychological insights will satisfy those looking for more than mere thrills. (On sale Mar. 28)Correction:In the Q&A with Alice Quinn that ran in our Feb. 20 issue, the photo credit should have read Robert Falcetti. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
Obsession
Tanya Bigelow, a former patient, comes to Alex requesting help. She wants him and his friend Milo to investigate something her mother said on her death bed. Her mother told her that she did something terrible. No one believes that Tanya's mother Patty, who worked with Milo's partner at the hospital as a nurse, could have done anything terrible, but as the reader learns her past, it contains dark secrets. Alex has a new dog, Blanche, that Robin bought him after Spike died. Robin is living with Alex again.
Compulsion
Bestseller Kellerman serves up all the elements his fans have come to love in the 22nd entry in his Alex Delaware series (Obsession, etc.), including an intriguing plot, likable regular characters supported by an interesting secondary cast, diabolical villains, witty dialogue and a sense of humanity and justice. Alex and his LAPD detective partner, Milo Sturgis, are investigating several murders that, at first, appear to have only one thing in common: the perpetrator's use of expensive black automobiles while committing his crimes. Kellerman sticks to his usual modus, the patient and sometimes painfully slow accumulation of detail, as Alex and Milo build their case. A subplot involves a missing child last seen selling magazine subscriptions in a tony neighborhood 16 years earlier. On the domestic front, Alex is again living with his girlfriend, Robin, with whom he has broken up several times over the course of the series. In the end, a nice twist reminds Robin and Alex to be more careful in the future about drawing assumptions in their private life before all the facts have come to light. (Apr.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
Bones
When it comes to writing deftly layered, tightly coiled novels of suspense, #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman reigns supreme as “master of the psychological thriller” (People). Now, Kellerman has worked his magic again in this chilling new masterpiece. The anonymous caller has an ominous tone and an unnerving message about something “real dead . . . buried in your marsh.” The eco-volunteer on the other end of the phone thinks it’s a prank, but when a young woman’s body turns up in L.A.’s Bird Marsh preserve no one’s laughing. And when the bones of more victims surface, homicide detective Milo Sturgis realizes the city’s under siege to an insidious killer. Milo’s first move: calling in psychologist Alex Delaware.
The murdered women are prostitutes–except the most recent victim; a brilliant young musician from the East Coast, employed by a wealthy family to tutor a musical prodigy, Selena Bass seems out of place in the marsh’s grim tableau. Conveniently–perhaps ominously–Selena’s blueblood employers are nowhere to be found, and their estate’s jittery caretaker raises hackles. But Milo’s instincts and Alex’s insight are too well-honed to settle for easy answers, even given the dark secrets in this troubled man’s past. Their investigation unearths disturbing layers–about victims, potential victims, and suspects alike–plunging even deeper into the murky marsh’s enigmatic depths.
Bizarre details of the crimes suggest a devilish serial killer prowling L.A.’s gritty streets. But when a new murder deviates from the pattern, derailing a possible profile, Alex and Milo must look beyond the suspicion of madness and consider an even more sinister mind at work. Answers don’t come easy, but the darkest of drives and desires may fuel the most devious of foes. Bones is classic Kellerman–relentlessly peeling back the skin and psyches of its characters and revealing the shadows and sins of the souls beneath. With jolt after jolt of galvanizing suspense, it drives the reader through its twists and turns toward a climax as satisfying as it is shattering.
Books
In order of appearance, the Alex Delaware novels are as follows:
- When the Bough Breaks (1985) , ISBN 0-345-46660-8
- Blood Test (1987)
- Over the Edge (1987)
- Silent Partner (1989)
- Time Bomb (1990)
- Private Eyes (1992)
- Devil's Waltz (1993)
- Bad Love (1994)
- Self-Defense (1995)
- The Web (1996)
- The Clinic (1997)
- Survival of the Fittest (1997)
- Monster (2000)
- Dr. Death (2001)
- Flesh and Blood (2001)
- The Murder Book (2002)
- A Cold Heart (2003)
- Therapy (2004)
- Rage (2005)
- Gone (2006)
- Obsession (2007)
- Compulsion (2008)
- Bones (2008)
Footnotes and references
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