The Ghost Orchid

September 1, 2023

When the bodies of Italian playboy Gio Aggiunta and rich-as-Croesus married neighbor Meagin March are found floating in a pool on the grounds of a Bel Air estate, LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis calls on psychologist Alex Delaware for insight in Kellerman's The Ghost Orchid. Prepub Alert.

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December 1, 2023
Once again, Alex Delaware helps police identify a killer. In a fancy section of Los Angeles, a naked man lies by a swimming pool, an unrolled condom at his side. Nearby lies a woman who wears only a wedding band. Each has a single bullet hole through the heart. Homicide detective Milo Sturgis catches the case and brings in psychologist Alex Delaware, his best friend. They learn that the dead man is a footloose member of a rich Italian family; the woman is 41-year-old Meagin March, whose husband, Douglass, has been away on business (a lot). As per police procedure, they suspect "Dougie-with-two-esses": Had he hired a hit man? And what is the significance of shooting both victims precisely in the heart? Meagin and Douglass had only been married a couple of years, and the widower claims he's been clueless that his wife was cheating. He has no interest in her paintings, including one of a ghost orchid, which he deems worthless. What he does want is the bling he bought her. He had coughed up "a hundred thou" to pay for her purple diamond necklace, and he wants it back right now, because the market for colored stones has skyrocketed. "I need to get something out of all this," he demands. "F-minus people skills," Delaware notes. Readers will be rooting for the jerk to be guilty. But Delaware discovers much more as he delves into Meagin's troubled past: Who had she been, and how did she wind up marrying Douglass in the first place? Alex and Milo make a great team; Milo has the department's highest homicide solve rate, and Alex plumbs the psyches and mental injuries that influence both victim and perpetrator. Outside the main plot, a friendly judge assigns Alex the case of an adopted teenager caught between two parents who don't want him. The psychologist hero makes it look easy, tying up the novel in a nice, neat bow. Like all the Alex Delaware novels, this one is fast-moving fun.

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December 11, 2023
Kellerman’s robust latest procedural featuring psychologist Alex Delaware and his best friend, L.A. homicide detective Milo Sturgis (after Unnatural History), couples a deceptively complex central mystery with surprisingly nuanced character development. After Delaware was nearly crushed to death by a violent criminal while he assisted Sturgis on a previous case, the pair’s relationship has been tense. Now, however, they take steps toward repairing the partnership when Sturgis asks Delaware to consult on a double murder. The naked bodies of Giovanni Aggiunta, whose family operates a luxury men’s shoe business in L.A., and Meagin March, the married neighbor he was having an affair with, have been found shot to death next to Aggiunta’s pool. What at first looks like an open-and-shut case of revenge by Meagin’s husband quickly takes on eyebrow-raising new dimensions when Sturgis and Delaware discover strange holes in her backstory that suggest she may have been more than the wife next door. Kellerman delivers clever twists alongside the lived-in banter between his leads that sets this series apart. It’s both a treat for longtime fans and a great entry point for newcomers.

December 1, 2023
Two bodies are found floating in a Bel Air pool. The dead man is heir to a shoe-manufacturing empire; the dead woman is his (married) neighbor. There are no signs on the property of forced entry or burglary. Were they the targets of a murderer or was one of them collateral damage? And, if so, who was the primary target? Psychologist Alex Delaware and LAPD detective Milo Sturgis team up once again to sift through the confusing evidence and the bewildering histories of the victims to try to find the truth. Kellerman's first Delaware novel, When the Bough Breaks, was published in 1985. This is the 39th, which is an astonishing run for a mystery series, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Alex continues to be an interesting and likable series lead, and the relationship between him and the gruffer, less polished Milo continues to entertain. Sure, there is a certain formula involved, as with most mystery fiction, but the important thing is what the author accomplishes within the formula. Kellerman continues to surprise and shock us.

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