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Jonathan Kellerman's latest novel featuring psychologist Alex Delaware, SERPENTINE, focuses on a crime from the past that reaches into the present. When Ellie Barker was a child, her mother died in a mysterious road accident, leaving her to be raised by her father. Now, decades later, she is trying to find out the details of her mother’s death, as she has never quite believed what she had been told. Homicide Lieutenant Milo Sturgis is assigned to investigate. He is a dogged pursuer of a case, and is aided by the insights of his pal, the brilliant psychologist Alex Delaware.
Although a number of detectives had worked the case in the past, he soon finds evidence that a murder was perpetrated. It becomes clear that Ellie's mother was shot and then the accident was staged to cover up the crime.
This horrifying revelation is just the tip of the forensic iceberg. It seems that Ellie's mother was not at all whom she appeared. At the time of her death, she was not living with her husband and daughter but rather with a wealthy man in another city. She was part of what seems to have been some sort of group of women living with this man. Little by little, layer by layer, stolen identities are uncovered, and a horrifying series of other murders and crimes is revealed. The case soon becomes a murder investigation.
The long arm of the crimes reaches into the present day, with people who are involved in revealing the truth find themselves in danger. Who is still around to stop Sturgis and Delaware from discovering what happened? Who knows about the information they have found? Why didn't the detectives originally assigned to the case pursue it further? The suspense builds.
Part of the joy of reading this novel is following the unique personality of Sturgis. He is a large man, obsessed with food, whose first stop when he visits his friend Delaware is to raid the refrigerator. The reader must admire his persistent work in solving the crime but can also enjoy watching him consume vast quantities of food at restaurants.
Another enjoyable aspect of this book is following along as Sturgis and Delaware navigate the streets and highways around Los Angeles. Kellerman describes the roads and neighborhoods as the pair go this way and that way to avoid traffic or to pass a crime scene. The reader gets to go along for the ride and whether or not you are familiar with the terrain of this city, a deep sense of place prevails.
For all of the above reasons: the intricacy of plot, quirky but believable characters, and sense of place, Jonathan Kellerman’s SERPENTINE is a novel that you want to read slowly, not skimming, because it is all so entertaining.
§ Anne Corey is a writer, poet, teacher and botanical artist in New York's Hudson Valley.
Reviewed by Anne Corey, April 2021
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