Book 16) - An unmissable psychological thriller - The Murder Book (Alex Delaware series

This is a barely passable pulp fiction "mystery" novel from Jonathan Kellerman revolving around a sex murder and some questionable rich kids.

In essence, this book is pretty much completely predictable, and burdened by lengthy explanations that, by the time you get to them, you've either guessed or stopped caring about. The book starts off with premise - a young woman is brutally murdered and sexually molested, with no apparent leads, a cold case 20 years old - but it quickly degenerates, and the true perpetrators are apparent from early on.

Even as a light holiday, poolside, read - this book is lacking. There are way too many lucky breaks and coincidences (the main character just happens to be old friends with a key witness' shrink) for this book to even approach plausible. The characters are one dimensional and boring. Even Milo, the gay cop, is just... boring. Cliched. A shabby excuse for a fleshed out character.

Give this book a pass - seriously. I'm sure there are much better books to spend your $6 - $8 on.

This novel delivers in every way! It starts with a hook that makes you simply HAVE to turn the pages. The character development is as always with Mr. Kellerman, superb! As in any series, it is always great to revisit "old friends" in terms of the main characters, and learn new things about them. This book has a great beginning, middle and end...what more can you ask for? I don't give out plot information in my reviews, I only say that this book is definitely a must-have for any Kellerman fan or any suspense novel fan as well. Kudos to Kellerman!

This was my first read The Murder Book
Alex Delaware Series, Book 16
by Jonathan Kellerman
John Rubinstein
This is my Last Read The Murder Book
Alex Delaware Series, Book 16
by Jonathan Kellerman
John Rubinstein

The book is Foul mouth, Gay homophobic ,racist language, and racist depiction of Mexicans and African Americans and disuting sexualy activity. if you like racist homophobic smut filth then this is your kind of book! God Help Us if this is what we have come to enjoy in literature. This Book Should be on the Burn Book List and I am not a person who advocates Book Bans and Burnings but this one title MURDER BOOK is by far the exception the Book has a fitting title it Murdered Literature and Mystery Suspense writing a Big Thumbs Down on this title does not even rate 1 star

Initially I struggled with the writing style. Long, drawn out sentences over playing big words.
The story started strong and I couldn't put it down. Then, in the middle third of the book, it got complicated and I had a difficult time staying on focus. I skimmed through thinking it would all make sense in the end. I'm not totally sure that happened and I'm glad to be done with it so I don't have to wonder anymore. I like Alex Delaware much more than Alex Cross. The Cross novels are a bit too simplistic, Delaware is much mor sophisticated. I'd try another Delaware novel, but not such a long one.

Jonathan Kellerman has a way of writing that puts you there, you can picture the characters and the setting very clearly. I have always enjoyed his novels and found The Murder Book right in line with his others. I was happy more background on Milo Sturgis' character was included. I have always been curious about Milo's police career and more so about his personal relationship with his companion Rick. This novel expounds on both, with more details on Milo's early detective days and experiences as a gay detective in LAPD and also we witness more dialogue between Rick and Milo. Alex's problems with Robin seem to be at a critical point. She is equipment manager on a tour that has just been extended and the conversations between the two are strained at the least. The novel ends with just a hint of a possible new "interest" for Alex. The actual murder case that is the basis of the book is a bit tiresome. The usual bunch of spoiled rich boys getting away with murder for twenty years and then being brought to justice had a nice twist. The "justice" turns out to be a series of deadly "accidents" that dispatch the guilty quickly. All in all I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I'm looking forward to the next installment of Alex Delawares's life.

I enjoyed this Delaware story more than most of them, maybe because I'd quit reading them for a while. With Robin and Spike out of the picture, and the added focus on Milo Sturgis' early years as a police officer, The Murder Book offers new insight to this series.
The mystery itself is engaging --- a violent unsolved case, one of Milo's first homicide investigations, comes back to haunt the detective via The Murder Book. It all ends with a lot of drama and secrets revealed, just like a great book should.

Having read just about every book in the series, I picked this one up... with apprehension. A few of the prior books had begun seeming too fomulaic and even seemed to be boring the author, himself. What a pleasant surprise this one turned out to be! For the first time in years, Kellerman has really started fleshing out the characters, in particular Milo and Alex. The latter has always seemed far too noble, even for a hero, and the former, far too much of a cardboard character. The reader gets some excellent background detail into what has shaped both men's lives. Alex finally admits to his craving for risk and gives us clues as to how his early life shaped that. Milo is no longer the token gay police detective using a swaggering macho bravado to cover his insecurities. The plot, though implausible at times, keeps you riveted throughout. I think Kellerman, who has always been a good writer, is mellowing with age. In his case, ..., it is to the readers' benefit.

I have never read a novel by Jon Kellerman before this one but I must say that I like his style. The Murder Book is an intriguing tale that kept me interested the whole way through. Flashbacks are done with skill, careful not to lose the reader in the transition.

The ending, unlike so many other novels, was one I was satisfied with... it lived up to the hype of the story.

Try "The Digital Umbrella" too.

Have read half a dozen Alex Delaware novels by Jonathan Kellerman and The Murder Book reveals much about the characters lives that helps understand them better. All the mystery and intrigue as in other novels but ending not as smooth as in later ones. Still wonderful writing and worth reading.

I am committed to reading all of Kellerman's novels, but honestly, the thrill has not been the same for the last few years - I felt like it was being phoned in.
In this new book, we get some much-needed backstory on Milo and Alex - the characters popped back into life for me. Milo's early days in the department made for interesting reading.
I did feel like there were too many characters involved in the ending, and I didn't totally get how the ending played out with who-did-what. There was no big "Aha!" at the end for me, but it was a satisfying story.
Alex and Robin's relationship played a key role in this book, which was refreshing, as Robin seemed less like someone who drifted in from her workshop from time to time to have dinner and a few words with Alex. I do hope that we see more of Alison in the future as I feel like she would be a Significant Other character that would be more involved in the actual plot.

An intriguing start. I was all set to enjoy myself. Then the meandering started and continued and continued. I kept at it (somewhat foolishly, I guess) but it didn't get any better. The outcome was--well--not all that great of a surprise. Think you have to be a fan of the series. . .

I believe Kellerman is suffering from attention deficit disorder. He goes off on far too many tangents, in excruciating detail. The sub plots have sub plots, until we forget where Kellerman was trying to take us in the first place! And in the end, we find many were pointless, or else we just simply don't care anymore.
In the end, I found myself resentful of the time wasted on the ramblings of someone who likes to 'listen to himself talk.'
Kellerman uses far too many words! There is one word he does need to familarize himself with--SUCCINT!
This was my third Kellerman book, in my opinion, strike three, he's out!

I've enjoyed Kellerman's books, even when they were not his best work, but this one is not only mind-numbing but contains an error that SHOULD have been caught and and has thus spoiled the whole book for me.
Call me picky, but when JK describes one of the important "bit" players as being 55 years of age, and even goes to some lengths to support that (he maps out her schooling and how old she was at that time) and then expects me to swallow the idea she was a teenager just 20 years ago... Well, you do the math.
I thought maybe it was a typo, but no, rechecking it 3 times it still comes out wrong. Says to me JK maybe needs to take a vacation. A very long one.
The rest of the book is so slow I'm about to go into a coma. There is nothing there to hold my interest, in spite of what all the glowing sycophantic reviews from other readers have to say. dull dull dull dull.
Oh for a new John Sandford novel!

this is the first jonathan kellerman book i have ever read, it made me want to read more. i really enjoyed reading about the main character of the series, alex delaware, but this novel is mostly about his best friend milo and a case that he was on 20 years ago. an excellent book, couldn't put it down.

What a "piece of work" this was. Boring, slow, full of highly irrelevant side plots... just a bomb NOT "the bomb" ;). It took me forever to finish it because I would literally start falling asleep after a few pages and this is something that I very rarely experience. There are like 5 or 6 parallel stories in this book which none come to any level of satisfactory fruition at the end of the book. Save your money and more importanly your TIME... skip to something else if you come across this one.

I found this book to be cumbersome to read, filled with too many boring conversations, non-enticing tidbits, and not enough of Robin, or even suspense (yawn). I'm an avid Kellerman fan, but this one definitely didn't make the grade with me. I found I had to force myself to pick it up from time to time, something that has never happened to me with one of his books before - usually I can't put them down! I kept finding myself thinking, "did Kellerman really write this book?" It felt rather offbeat for him. I bought the hard copy, but wish I had rented this one from the library.

It starts with the receipt of the murder book. Which has connections with the past of his co-detective Milo Surgis. The personality of Milo gets more depths. Shadows of his past are coming back and ultimately he can conquer them but he also has to align himself with the rules of the company. Alex has to live alone as his dreampartner is temporarily on tour and he has to wait if she really wil come back. so his future is shadowed.

J.K. has again written an excellent addition to his Delaware series. He actually freshened it up by letting us in on some of Milo's past and running with it.Also a cliffhanger with Alex
Robin? Alison?.This has me already yearning for the next installment. Make it soon Jonathan

This one really kept me guessing. Great stuff and a really nice job of pacing. I didn't get a glimmer of how this was going to turn out until the last third of the book. Even then I had a hard time putting this one down

When I first read the synopsis, I thought that Kellerman had run out of story ideas. First, Alex digs into his past with a former patient murdered. Now, Milo digs into his. But, I was hooked from the start. It was great to read about Milo's early years on the job, and to hear more about him and his personal life.

I've enjoyed Kellerman's books, even when they were not his best work, but this one is not only mind-numbing but contains an error that SHOULD have been caught and and has thus spoiled the whole book for me.
Call me picky, but when JK describes one of the important "bit" players as being 55 years of age, and even goes to some lengths to support that (he maps out her schooling and how old she was at that time) and then expects me to swallow the idea she was a teenager just 20 years ago... Well, you do the math.
I thought maybe it was a typo, but no, rechecking it 3 times it still comes out wrong. Says to me JK maybe needs to take a vacation. A very long one.
The rest of the book is so slow I'm about to go into a coma. There is nothing there to hold my interest, in spite of what all the glowing sycophantic reviews from other readers have to say. dull dull dull dull.
Oh for a new John Sandford novel!