Product Description

Alex Delaware’s relationship with his longterm partner is on the rocks. He is floored when Robin announces she's heading off on a three-month music tour. But he soon has other things to think about. He is sent an envelope with no return address. Inside, he finds an album with gold letters on it - THE MURDER BOOK. It's full of macabre pictures of murders, with brief descriptions of how, and why, the victims died. One picture is marked ‘Not solved’ - the horrifically mutilated body of a young woman. Unsettled, Alex calls his friend, LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, who seems strangely familiar with the case. What connects the photograph with Milo’s past? What's more, why has it been sent to Alex - and by whom?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35126 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

About the Author
Jonathan Kellerman is an internationally bestselling author of intricate psychological thrillers. His novels include 14 Alex Delaware novels, plus THE BUTCHER’S THEATRE and BILLY STRAIGHT. He has also published two volumes on psychology and two children’s books, and there are over 30 million copies of his books in print. He and his wife, the novelist Faye Kellerman, have four children.

Customer Reviews

Back on top form!
After the hugely disappointing "Flesh and Blood", Kellerman is back on top form with his latest "The Murder Book".

One of the major criticisms of the last few Delaware novels is the fact that we didn't learn more about Alex and Milo - the plots need not have involved them at all. Kellerman tackles this with, for the first time, giving us a detailed description of Milo's earlier life and start in the police force. Things that have been alluded to in earlier books, for example his tour of Vietnam, are made concrete here. It's also interesting to find out that he gets annoyed at Alex sometimes!

Kellerman also changes the usual structure of the Delaware novels, much like he did in "Survival of the Fittest", to great effect. I would say that almost half the novel is told in the third person from Milo's point of view. This devices generates unbelievable suspense towards the end of the novel. Alfred Hitchcock said that if there are two people talking in a movie and a bomb explodes under the table, this is shock. But if the audience knows there is a bomb under the table before it goes off, this is suspense. With multiple viewpoints, we know that certain characters are in danger before they do - something that cannot be achieved when writing purely in the first person. The ending of this book is the most exciting of all the Delaware novels. It's also more violent than usual. On this note, no one describes the full horror and violence of people getting shot than Kellerman!

The book isn't perfect, hence the 4 stars - Alex's fight with Robin only really slows the pace down, and the story does take a bit to get going. But once it does, the multiple viewpoints, intricate plotting and sheer quality of the writing make "The Murder Book" one of the best Kellerman has written in years.

Something a little different this time.....
Those of you familiar with Jonathon Kellerman's Delaware series will find something a little different in this latest novel. With Robin leaving to go on tour (effectively imposing a trial separation on Alex), "The Murder Book" finds Delaware in a more contemplative mood, certainly more aware of his own failings than we've seen him before. For once Alex is not presented as the everyman hero, but instead as the civilian addicted to danger, with scant regard for the emotional and physical dangers that are the inevitable consequence for both himself and those around him.
Kellerman also take an opportunity to delve more deeply into Milo's past - and his present, including several chapters in which Delware is absent, written in the third person. We learn more about the prejudice and bigotry that Milo faced in his early years as a homicide detective, and far more about his relationships with Rick Silverman and Alex Delaware than we've ever seen before. Rick and Milo even have some scenes alone together - finally adding some flesh to the bones of characters and relationships that have been merely wallpaper for the past 15 novels.
The main storyline concerns the usual mysterious murder, and the mind games played by all involved. This is classic Kellerman country, with twists and turns, danger and dénouements a plenty.
Personally, I found the change in style and content a refreshing change - a little reward for having stuck with these guys for so long.

Disappointing - has done better!
As a fan of Jonathan Kellerman's previous books, I eagerly grabbed this from the shelf to add to my holiday reading. The beginning of the story is quite intriguing, the mysterious 'Murder Book' with its grisly pictures is obviously more than just a collection of horrific crime photos. BUT.... on reading further the plot gets more and more convoluted. I honestly tried hard to keep up with all the new characters and their relationships, but I became frustrated and eventually bored. Where was this all leading? The construction seemed fragmented and confused. But I soldiered on. The book ended with an explanation of who, how, when & why but then I didn't really care anymore. A shame, as I have thoroughly enjoyed Kellerman's other books. I'm glad the previous reviewers enjoyed the book but for me it just wasn't up to his usual standard. Could do better next time!