Bones by Jonathan Kellerman

Paperback, 2009, 429 pages
February 22, 2010 Enroute UA870 SYD-SFO

Alex Delaware is a clinical psychologist consultant for the LAPD. In this novel he helps to track down the killer(s) involved with a series of murders discovered at a marsh in the city run by the “Save The Marsh” organization. The killers turn out to be a rich lady Simone Vander and her lover lawyer who started off murdering victims of their sexual bondage games. Eventually they turned on the lady’s father, step-mother, and step-brother (although they spared the child). Helping in the investigation was the original prime suspect Huck who worked as an aide to the family; he was the prime suspect because evidence was planted by the perpetrators to frame him (unsuccessfully).

The plot of the book is simply too complicated compared to how good the book is. Since I read it during a trip, I picked it up and put it down multiple times and at first got quite confused as to where the story was going. Some elements of the story are beyond reasonable belief: like serial killers suddenly find they can use that crime to frame another person and hope to inherit a huge fortune from it. The title “Bones” refers to the right hands that are chopped off and stored in a box. One might expect this to have great significance, but actually it was an elaborate but credibility-straining scheme to stage events so the LAPD will take the investigation in a particular direction.

Kellerman, a psychologist himself, supposed writes great psychological detective stories; this book must be an exception to the rule. Delaware could pass himself off as a regular detective; and I do not get any more insight into what turns people into serial killers from the book. Toward the end Delaware also got into a bit of heroic act by trying to help Huck when he was being stabbed by Vander. No doubt the author sees a bit of himself in Delaware.

The book if written better would be average. As it is, it doesn’t make the grade.