This is, it appears, the 40th installment in Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series, about a psychologist who helps out the LA police. Whenever a new one appears, I ask myself, “Is it really worth the trouble? They’re all pretty much alike.”
And then I plunge in and I remember – it’s worth it because it’s so incredibly fun. Yes, the books are formulaic, and the series has long outlived its real-world plausibility. But when Milo the detective calls up Alex the shrink for a consult, we all settle in for a fun ride with old friends. The books never fail to deliver the entertainment advertised.
In Open Season, the initial crime is the mystery of a beautiful young woman, dumped dead at an urgent care facility. She proves to be an aspiring actress (the old, sad story) who seems to have been killed by a date rape drug. A suspect is identified – a sleaze who attended a lot of parties and liked to pose as a movie producer. But before he can be arrested, he’s murdered. Someone shot him neatly through the neck with a rifle as he stood on his apartment balcony (the poor rape victim’s clothes are found nearby).
A search of the records reveals that there have been a couple similar killings in recent years – all with the same calibre bullet and the wound in the same location. So Alex and Milo go on the hunt for a vigilante, a private executioner. An Alex’s psychological insights open up productive areas of investigation.
I enjoyed Open Season all the way through, especially for the characters. Thoroughly reliable stuff, even if less than entirely plausible. The author made me believe it was plausible, and that’s all I ask.
Caution for disturbing situations.