City of the Dead - (Alex Delaware) by Jonathan Kellerman (Paperback)

About the Book

Two burly movers are heading back into Los Angeles from the dusty wasteland of Ojai when they hit a man--a naked man who appears out of nowhere. Master detective Milo Sturgis is called to the scene and senses immediately that something is amiss. As the Tesla-driving denizens of this well-off neighborhood begin to congregate, shielding their children's eyes or craning to get a better view, Milo realizes there's no way to identify this body. There's no ID. The victim could be anybody. And that's when Milo calls upon psychologist Alex Delaware. Milo and Alex get their first lead from a crotchety old man who lives down the block. If the victim was naked, he could have come from her house--a woman who has men coming in and out at all hours of the day and night. But what the duo sees from outside her barred windows will make things take another complicated turn: It's a scene of incredible horror. She is lying on the kitchen floor; there is blood everywhere. And when they get a closer look, Alex realizes he knows this woman. She's a fellow psychologist. When traces of DNA found underneath her fingernails point to a man who is not the first victim, the detection really begins.

Book Synopsis

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The past comes back to haunt psychologist Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis when they investigate a grisly double homicide and uncover an even more unspeakable motive in this riveting thriller from the bestselling master of suspense.

Los Angeles is a city of sunlight, celebrity, and possibility. The L.A. often experienced by Homicide Lt. Detective Milo Sturgis and psychologist Alex Delaware, is a city of the dead.

Early one morning, the two of them find themselves in a neighborhood of pretty houses, pretty cars, and pretty people. The scene they encounter is anything but. A naked young man lies dead in the street, the apparent victim of a collision with a moving van hurtling through suburbia in the darkness. But any thoughts of accidental death vanish when a blood trail leads to a nearby home.

Inside, a young woman lies butchered. The identity of the male victim and his role in the horror remain elusive, but that of the woman creates additional questions. And adding to the shock, Alex has met her while working a convoluted child custody case. Cordelia Gannett was a self-styled internet influencer who'd gotten into legal troubles by palming herself off as a psychologist. Even after promising to desist, she's found a loophole and has continued her online career, aiming to amass clicks and ads by cyber-coaching and cyber-counseling people plagued with relationship issues.

But upon closer examination, Alex and Milo discover that her own relationships are troublesome, including a tortured family history and a dubious personal past. Has that come back to haunt her in the worst way? Is the mystery man out in the street collateral damage or will he turn out to be the key to solving a grisly double homicide? As the psychologist and the detective explore L.A.'s meanest streets, they peel back layer after layer of secrets and encounter a savage, psychologically twisted, almost unthinkable motive for violence and bloodshed.

This is classic Delaware: Alex, a man Milo has come to see as irreplaceable, at his most insightful and brilliant.

Review Quotes

"One of [Kellerman's] best."--Mystery & Suspense

"As always, Kellerman provides fascinating insight into the motivations of his damaged characters."--Publishers Weekly

"A gripping, readable thriller that combines elements of the police procedural, murder mystery, and psychological thriller genres."--Booklist

"Kellerman at his best . . . [He] uses his training as a psychologist to construct a crime and perpetrator that will have readers turning pages and guessing until the very end."--Library Journal

About the Author

Jonathan Kellerman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than forty crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher's Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted, True Detectives, and The Murderer's Daughter. With his wife, bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, he co-authored Double Homicide and Capital Crimes. With his son, bestselling novelist Jesse Kellerman, he co-authored Half Moon Bay, A Measure of Darkness, Crime Scene, The Golem of Hollywood, and The Golem of Paris. He is the author of two children's books and numerous nonfiction works, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children and With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association, and has been nominated for a Shamus Award. Jonathan and Faye Kellerman live in California and New Mexico.