As someone who is fascinated by
clinical psychology and who also loves a good murder mystery, you might have
thought that I would be a great fan of the novels of Jonathan Kellerman.  Kellerman’s
novels are distinctive in bringing in a psychologist’s perspective to the work
of police detectives and his best-known character, Alex Delaware, is himself a
psychologist.  However, the truth is that in the past I have not been able to
make it more than a few pages into a Kellerman detective novel.  It is hard to
pin down exactly why his writing didn’t grab me but it didn’t.  Listening to
the audio version of Therapy was much easier, although I still would not
rate Kellerman as a great detective writer.  Listening to a book takes less
determination than reading it, and even when your attention starts to waver,
the words keep on coming anyway. 

Delaware is an anemic and
uninspiring lead character, and in fact it is detective Milo Sturgis who keeps
the plot alive.  At the start of the novel, Milo and Alex are eating dinner at
an LA restaurant, and as Kellerman describes what they ate, you begin to wonder
whether you will make it past the first tape.  But then we get a description of
Milo, the large gay cop with acne scars and jowls with a winningly gruff
attitude.  The murder of a young couple in a car parked in the driveway of an
empty house on Mullholland Drive.  Both have shots to the head, and the girl
has some kind of spear thrust right through her chest pinning her to the seat. 
It looks as if the couple must have been making out when they were interrupted
and murdered, since she is topless and he has his shirt undone and his fly
open.  Soon Milo and Alex notify the boy’s mother about his death, and she is
devastated.  They learn that Gavin Quick was in a terrible car crash less than
a year before, and that he suffered some brain damage as a result.  For much of
the rest of the novel, Milo and Alex try to work out whether there is some
connection between that accident and the murder.  Their job is made more
difficult because the murdered girl carried no identification and they are
unable to discover who she was. 

Eventually they make progress, as
they look into the various therapists who Gavin Quick saw after his accident
and learn more about his family.  Alex chauffeurs Milo around the city in their
investigation, and through their conversations they start to formulate a
theory.  Along the way, they meet a host of interesting and memorable
characters, none of whom seem very trustworthy.  The therapists are very
reluctant to say anything about their clients, citing client-therapist
confidentiality.  But the detectives start to discover the truth and find the
sordid details behind the facades of respectability as well as the sorry lives
that so many people lead.  Briefly, the story takes on a more political turn,
but soon gets back to its core of intrigue. 

The best detective novels give some
insight into the workings of society and have you guessing whodunit at the same
time.  Kellerman doesn’t have a great ability to write conversation; it is a
little plodding, especially in those between Alex and his new girlfriend
Alison, who is also a psychologist.  It’s always a relief when the story
returns to Milo and the scurrilous suspects.  While Kellerman has nothing much
to say about contemporary America, there’s enough psychology and minor social
commentary to make the book a little thought-provoking.  Ultimately, the book
is pretty formulaic, but it makes good summer reading. 

© 2004 Christian Perring. All
rights reserved.