Publishers Weekly
In Edgar-winner Kellerman’s less than compelling 27th Alex Delaware novel (after 2011’s Mystery), the child psychologist/police consultant and his LAPD homicide detective pal, Lt. Milo Sturgis, look into the possibly ritualistic murder of 56-year-old Vita Berlin, whose mutilated body was found lying on some towels in her apartment. An odd note left in a pizza box is about the only clue. When another body turns up similarly butchered and more follow, it’s enough to put even the food-loving Milo off his feed. At Milo’s request, Alex talks to Berlin’s psychologist in the hope of getting some insight into the difficult, self-righteous woman. Trying to figure out the tortuous link between killer and victims takes Alex back to his days as a young psychology intern and his supervisor, “a former research assistant to Anna Freud during the London years.” Too many plot contrivances make this one of Kellerman’s weaker efforts, but the usual effective interplay between Alex and Milo should satisfy series fans. (Mar.)
APRIL 2012 - AudioFile
Narrator John Rubinstein is a man of many voices—so many that you might think Kellerman's latest is being delivered by a full cast. All the characters—veteran sleuth Alex Delaware, LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, and a cast of antagonists and minor characters—are distinctive. Delaware is called upon to investigate the dismemberment of Vita Berlin, who seemingly was despised by all who knew her. As more victims pile up—all killed similarly—Delaware reasons that there's at least one madman and a serial killer on the loose. As Delaware's logic brings this whodunit to a surprising conclusion, the real star is Rubinstein. His fast-paced narration and instantaneous changes in vocal character are captivating. A.L.H. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
A serial killer eludes a cop and a psychiatrist. Even LAPD homicide consultant Alex Delaware, a child psychiatrist who labors hard not to be judgmental, is nauseated by the gory handiwork confronting his good friend Detective Milo Sturgis: a corpse with her guts strung about her like a necklace. And she's only the first victim. There will be five in all, seemingly with nothing in common except their killer's obsessive mayhem and the paper adorned with a large question mark slipped beside their bodies. Much theorizing by Alex and much legwork by Milo determine that the killer and his victims may first have collided at the now defunct Ventura State Hospital, where the mentally unbalanced were incarcerated and the most untreatable of the lot consigned to the Specialized Care Unit. But privacy issues prevent them from examining old patient files, and psychiatrists who could offer information waffle. As the bodies pile up, Milo loses favor with his bosses and Alex has to wonder if he's misread some interviewee's remarks. Slowly, the men arrive at the same conclusion: the serial killer has a partner. Is one the mentor and the other the mentee? Did they bond at Ventura and begin their killing years later, after the closing of the hospital made revenge (for what?) possible? Clearly, an unraveling of the havoc will require a return to the Ventura site, with lingering aftereffects for both Alex and Milo. Fans of this long-running series (Mystery, 2011, etc.) will get exactly what they've come to expect: a thoughtful Alex, a mildly sarcastic Milo and a well-constructed plot, although here the final sequences seem more in keeping with TV melodrama than Kellerman's usual product.
