Review of "Breakdown: An Alex Delaware Novel" by Jonathan Kellerman

In this 31st book in the long running 'Alex Delaware' series, the child psychologist once again helps his friend - LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis - solve crimes. The book can be read as a standalone.

*****

As the story opens, Alex gets a call from his colleague.....



.....Dr. Lou Sherman. Sherman is treating a beautiful actress named Zelda Chase, whose bizarre actions have (temporarily) landed her in a mental health facility.



Alex is asked to evaluate Zelda's 5-year-old son, Ovid, to see whether mother and son should be reunited.



Ovid turns out to be a smart, sensible little boy who likes to build things with his toys. After Alex assesses Ovid - and meets Zelda - he determines that Ovid can live with his mom.



Skip ahead five years and Zelda - who's become an unemployed, homeless, broken shell of her former self.....



.....is found dead on the estate of a wealthy heiress.




Zelda has a history of wandering around Los Angeles and digging up the yards of random mansions - actions thought to be related to her mental illness. At first it looks like Zelda died from natural causes. However an autopsy and blood tests prove that Zelda was murdered - and Milo gets the case.



Alex assists because he's concerned about Ovid, whose whereabouts are unknown.

Before long two other incidents occur in the neighborhood where Zelda died: a cleaning lady is murdered and a housemaid disappears. Milo and Alex suspect that all these occurrences are related and question residents of the area as well as friends and relatives of the victims.



The investigators learn that Zelda frequently muttered the word 'mother'.....which turns out to be an important clue.

To obtain information that will help their investigations Alex and Milo proceed to do a spate of data mining: they read police reports; look at birth certificates and obituaries; study real estate purchases; look up wills and trusts; use Google and Google Earth; find people on Facebook.....and generally access a slew of public records. This section of the book is long, boring, adds little to the story, and feels like a lot of padding.



Alex and Milo use the data they collect - plus a helicopter - to identify suspects, get search warrants, and make arrests. I don't want to say more than that because of spoilers.

Some regular characters in the series make a brief appearance, including Alex's girlfriend Robin and the couple's French bulldog Blanche. As always in these stories, Milo is careless about his appearance and eats too much. In one scene, Milo raids Alex's fridge and makes himself an omelets with five eggs, a leftover steak, cooked chicken, and a load of veggies. (LOL)



This isn't one of Jonathan Kellerman's best books. The plot feels like a hodgepodge of random elements forced together and there are too many unmemorable minor characters - whose main function seems to be meeting Alex in coffee shops or restaurants. I did get a kick out of one secondary character - a slick lawyer who tries to convince Milo and Alex that up is down (figuratively). It was fun to see him try to weasel his way around the investigators.



Another quibble: Though Alex is supposedly very worried about Ovid, the psychologist seems to quit looking for the boy halfway through the book....and Ovid isn't mentioned again until the very end. This feels like careless plotting.

Unless you're determined to read Jonathan Kellerman's entire oeuvre, you can probably skip this book without missing much.

Rating: 2.5 stars