Review of "The Wedding Guest: An Alex Delaware Mystery" by Jonathan Kellerman

In this 34th book in the 'Alex Delaware' series, LAPD Detective Milo Sturgis and psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware investigate the murder of a wedding guest. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

When Brears Rapfogel and Garrett Burdett send out invitations to their wedding reception, which is being held at a repurposed former strip club called The Aura......



......the theme is Saints and Sinners,  and guests are informed that "Everyone needs to be hot!"



Unfortunately one "hot" young woman, a brunette beauty dressed in bright red, ends up dead....garroted in a skanky bathroom on The Aura's second floor. 






LAPD Detective Milo Sturgis catches the case......



....and recruits his friend Dr. Alex Delaware - a psychologist who consults for the LAPD - to help investigate.

Milo and Alex soon learn that nobody at the reception seems able to identify the victim, who appears to be a party crasher. Brears and Garrett say they don't know the woman and Brears's parents, Corinne and Dennis Rapfogel contend that: 'This was something bizarre that has nothing to do with us.' Throwing shade on Garrett's family, Corinne opines: 'If it's anything personal, it has to be from their side. They live out in the sticks.....probably rubes like that movie Deliverance.'



For his part, Garrett's dad - a large animal veterinarian - claims that his family has never seen the victim and says, 'I'd expect her to be one of Brears's friends.....You know. The age, the red dress....a pretty L.A. girl.' Moreover, Garrett's dowdy pretentious sister Amanda - a college student who 'curated her own major' of cultural anthropology, economic history, and communications - is actually hostile to the investigators. When questioned, Amanda states: "Your role offends me...Your presence means the world doesn't have its act together. By now, we should be more than rampaging baboons."



Because of their natural suspicions, Milo and Alex decide to look closely at both families, thinking the victim may have invaded the party to ruin the day for one of them.

The investigators spend a good part of the book trying to identify the dead girl, who turns out to be a 'dancer' who worked at The Aura when it was a strip club. The young woman is described as a quiet girl who just swayed and forth on stage or listlessly pressed herself against the stripper pole....and sometimes said she was a student.



Still, this doesn't elucidate the reason for the brunette's death. Milo and Alex must traverse a twisty path through strip clubs - as well as more unlikely locales - before they finally solve the case. Since this is a mystery, that's all I can say without spoilers.

On the personal side, Alex spends some time with his longtime girlfriend Robin - who makes and repairs fine musical instruments - and his French bulldog Blanche.



As for Milo, he eats gargantuan meals (as usual) and occasionally mentions his life partner Dr. Rick Silverman. In flashbacks, we see some of Milo's travails as a gay detective with the LAPD, which might have gotten him fired if he wasn't a first-rate 'closer.' Luckily, times have changed and Milo is (mostly) accepted now.

Though I liked the novel, which is largely a police procedural, a couple of things bother me. The newlyweds treacly sweet, lovey-dovey behavior (after the murder) seems overdone and phony because - before the wedding - the ostentatious, spoiled bride had serious doubts about marrying nerdy Garrett. Furthermore, I felt cheated by the book's ending, which seems to come out of the blue.

Nevertheless, this is an enjoyable mystery, recommended to fans of the genre.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Jonathan Kellerman) and the publisher (Ballantine Books) for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3 stars