THE MUSEUM OF DESIRE by Jonathan Kellerman
A few years ago I picked up one of Jonathan Kellerman’s new novels and read it. That wasn’t unusual as I have been a Jonathan Kellerman fan for decades. When I finished it I decided that Kellerman was losing his touch. This book was another in the series of Alex Delaware/Milo Sturgis stories and I felt it was repetitive and somewhat boring. I still read his new novels and that feeling continued to grow.
Now I have just finished THE MUSEUM OF DESIRE, the 35th novel in the Alex Delaware series. Delaware is still practicing psychology and Milo is still a Los Angeles police detective. In this one Milo catches a four person murder and he, as usual, calls in his pal Alex to give a psychological take on the crime. The murder scene containing the bodies is a tableau of sorts, both gory and erotic. Alex and Milo are stunned by its viciousness and the reader of this novel is hooked.
This time out Alex and Milo go through the standard procedure of identifying the victims and tracking down witnesses. It is a step by step procedural if there ever was. Still this time out the circumstances are just a tad more involving and the characters are a bit more enticing. Even the conversations between Alex and Milo appear crisper than usual.
In short, Kellerman is back with a better book than those of the past few years. His writing is more focused, his plot is more defined and his characters are rejuvenated. Whatever caused him to shift his storytelling into second gear remains unknown but whatever it is lets’s hope he continues. There is a freshness to this tale that has been sorely missing.
What drew me to Kellerman early on was his use of psychology to solve crimes. Delaware has never been a tag along to Milo; he has always been a functioning part of the team. He is not involved in every aspect of Milo’s cases but is called in when it is appropriate for him to be involved. That is certainly the case in THE MUSEUM OF DESIRE.
I almost gave up on Kellerman but I manged to keep having faith in his talent. With THE MUSEUM OF DESIRE I am proven to be absolutely right. And I definitely look forward to #36 in the Alex Delaware series.
THE MUSEUM OF DESIRE is published by Ballantine Books. It contains 4368 pages and sells for $28.99.
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
