Guilt (Alex Delaware, #28)

by Jonathan Kellerman

"A series of horrifying events occur in quick succession in the same upscale L.A. neighborhood. A backyard renovation unearths an infant's body, buried sixty years ago. And soon thereafter in a nearby park, another disturbingly bizarre discovery is made not far from the body of a young woman shot in the head. Helping LAPD homicide detective Milo Sturgis to link these eerie incidents is brilliant psychologist Alex Delaware. But even the good doctor's vast experience with matters both clinical and criminal might not be enough to cut down to the bone of this chilling case--and draw out the disturbing truth."--Provided by the publisher.

• ISBN10: 0345505735
• ISBN13: 9780345505736
• Publish Date: 12 February 2013 (first published 1 January 2013)
• Publish Status: Remaindered
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Inc
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 378
• Language: English

Reviews

[Mystereity Reviews]

I really don't know what to say about this. I love the Alex Delaware series, I have read all of them at least once over the last 20 years. Some are better than others (The Web should be tossed out completely) but most have been a good, decent read. I enjoyed this one too, but it was a little fragmented. Frankly, I liked that it was all tied up at the end without any of the bang-bang-shoot-em-up-car-chase sort of Hollywood ending that most authors go for (and comprise the ending of most of the Alex Delaware books.) Actually, this book lacked a lot of the Hollywood action movie claptrap and focused more on good old fashioned detecting. In general, I enjoy that but this book really didn't have much suspense. Yeah, I wondered whodunit, but I really didn't care.

The pregnant woman, Holly, was annoying and served very little purpose, IMHO. I had to wonder why it was included. There wasn't any need for her character development (or her husband's for that matter) and really served only as a distraction. The truth behind the bones in the backyard was the same thing; not much of a story and really could've been solved in the first 2 chapters. What I really didn't like was the turn from Alex becoming the Sherlock and Milo becoming the Watson. Yeah, I know Alex is the main character, but to demote Milo from being the capable sidekick to a face rubbing lackey really disappointed me. The whole Brangelina/TomKat storyline didn't do much for me either. Too contrived and unfulfilling. Made me wonder if Kellerman is angling for a movie deal or smarting from losing a movie deal. Hmm.

All in all not the worst in the series and worth a read, but not the best. If I were new to the Alex Delaware series and read this one first, it might've put me off to reading the earlier books, which were much better.