Jonathan Kellerman: The Murder Book

By MICHELE HEWITSON

Alex Dealware's in the doldrums. His partner Robin has left him to go off on a sort of Band Aid music tour. She's tired of Alex getting involved and getting her involved in life-threatening situations. He's a psychologist who should have self-diagnosed his danger addiction by now.

I'd long ago got tired of the Kellerman duo (his wife Faye is a crime writer, too) churning them out. But early Kellerman was, in a formulaic, page-turning, high yukko factor tempered with psychology sort of way, good at his strut.

This is a return to what he's good at. For one thing that drippy Robin is out of the picture. And The Murder Book, sent to Alex and which consists of some gruesome crime scenes including one "unsolved", has a link to his old mate Milo. Milo's a great character: a fat gay guy with an alcohol problem. So much more fun than the PC chick.

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