Jonathan Kellerman’s latest novel featuring sleuthing psychologist Alex Delaware, is a densely plotted – and immensely enjoyable – mystery that begins when a young couple are found murdered in a secluded lover’s lane in the hills of Los Angeles.
The young man has identification, his presumed girlfriend doesn’t.
In “Therapy,” Delaware and his best friend, Los Angeles Police Lt. Milo Sturgis, are having dinner together when the sound of sirens catches their attention. Sturgis makes a call and learns about the double homicide.
After Delaware and Sturgis arrive, they learn that both victims had been shot in the head. The woman also had been impaled by a wrought-iron spike – probably while she was still alive.
The man’s shirt is half-unbuttoned, and his companion’s shirt and bra have been tossed into the back seat of their car. Were they making love or were they positioned sexually?
The male victim is 20-year-old Gavin Quick, who hadn’t been the same since a recent blow to the head in a car crash. Quick’s mother is a nervous wreck, his father is eager for closure, and his celebrity therapist, Dr. Mary Lou Koppel, is uncooperative.
While Koppel stonewalls, Delaware and Sturgis learn that another of her patients had been murdered. Then Koppel is found brutally slain in a manner eerily similar to the murder of the blonde found with Quick.
Delaware and Sturgis sift through a variety of possible motives and an assortment of characters, including Koppel’s two psychologist-partners, her eccentric ex-husband and a menacing ex-con.
Kellerman does an excellent job of plot and character development as Sturgis’ “little whodunit” becomes oh-so-much more. Everything is brought together by the end of “Therapy,” and there’s even a shocking surprise.
Readers won’t be disappointed.
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