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Alex Delaware #11
The Clinic
Upon his return to Los Angeles from a harrowing adventure in the South Pacific, Alex is called upon by his friend Milo Sturgis to help solve the murder of a celebrity author.For three months the police found no clues to the murder of Hope Devane, psychology professor and controversial author of a pop-psych bestseller about men. She was found stabbed to death on a quiet, shaded street in one of L.A.'s best neighborhoods. The evidence suggested not random slaughter, but cold, calculated stalking. And the list of potential suspects was as extensive as the audience for her book and her talk show appearances.Newly assigned to the cold case, homicide detective Milo Sturgis calls on his friend, Dr. Alex Delaware to seek out insights into the victim's high-profile life. What Alex uncovers is a series of troubling inconsistencies about Hope, including her contradictory the sensational, anti-male bestselling author versus the low-key scholarly university professor.But it is when Alex delves into Hope's childhood that he begins to understand the forces that made her the formidable woman she was--and the ties that entangled her life until the horrifying act of betrayal that ended it.
496 pages, Paperback
First published December 15, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 387 reviews
December 18, 2025
It's been quite a while since I have journeyed with Milo Sturgis & Alex Delaware as they search for truth in trying to solve a murder case and analyze various characters. When the story opens, Milo is given a cold case involving the murder of a psychology professor who had recently achieved notoriety with the publication of a controversial book. He enlists Alex to help him in his hunt for who Hope Devane was and who may have killed her in a very specific way. Milo thinks it is the husband but is open to other potential suspects. As the story unfolds it reveals many twists & turns which kept me reading eagerly. There is a lot going on here & sometimes it seems too unbelievable. As characters are fleshed out, the reader wonders who to have sympathy for: victim, prey, or predator. The ending leaves much up to the reader as well, quite a different conclusion to a mystery novel.
February 1, 2020
A clever twist on trying to make a predator into prey and having it backfire. I have read all of these earlier Kellerman's when I was younger, but this one wasn't ringing many bells so it read like a first, fresh read. Not his best but still gripping and worth reading.
Milo and Alex team up throughout the entire book, and much of it is as usual dialogue and investigating, interviews. Sick stuff is revealed, hidden faces unmasked, questionable monsters. It's always a delight when both of the guys are teamed up together as they play theories and ideas off each other. Pacing was tense and the story always kept me intrigued enough - mysteries like this are why I enjoy the Alex Delaware series so much.
I didn't see some of the plot twists coming, there's a dark seediness buried in the rich streets of L.A., psychological twists make more colorful victims and villains, and Kellerman doesn't hold back from showing the multiple faces of all his characters.
The interest lies in the mystery, but more so in the uncovering of who Hope is and how she evolved. It's more of a discovery of this character rather than the psychological analysis of the villain, a creative reverse investigation that serves the story.
Robin is a little more in the background this time, which is fine by me. It's not that I dislike the character, but she's a little out there in her sense of realism and the relationship connection she has with Alex. The series starts with them already bonded, and sometimes over books you see frayed threads that unite them, but during random books they seem to only have a perfect cohesion which is somewhat mystifying.
I like how the ending leaves it open where none involved as heroes of the story, and what would you have done in this situation? It was that kind of mystery. I have to admit I didn't feel much sympathy for the main victim of the story - sometimes you can mess with the wrong monster and have them bite back too fiercely for it to be worth it.
Milo and Alex team up throughout the entire book, and much of it is as usual dialogue and investigating, interviews. Sick stuff is revealed, hidden faces unmasked, questionable monsters. It's always a delight when both of the guys are teamed up together as they play theories and ideas off each other. Pacing was tense and the story always kept me intrigued enough - mysteries like this are why I enjoy the Alex Delaware series so much.
I didn't see some of the plot twists coming, there's a dark seediness buried in the rich streets of L.A., psychological twists make more colorful victims and villains, and Kellerman doesn't hold back from showing the multiple faces of all his characters.
The interest lies in the mystery, but more so in the uncovering of who Hope is and how she evolved. It's more of a discovery of this character rather than the psychological analysis of the villain, a creative reverse investigation that serves the story.
Robin is a little more in the background this time, which is fine by me. It's not that I dislike the character, but she's a little out there in her sense of realism and the relationship connection she has with Alex. The series starts with them already bonded, and sometimes over books you see frayed threads that unite them, but during random books they seem to only have a perfect cohesion which is somewhat mystifying.
I like how the ending leaves it open where none involved as heroes of the story, and what would you have done in this situation? It was that kind of mystery. I have to admit I didn't feel much sympathy for the main victim of the story - sometimes you can mess with the wrong monster and have them bite back too fiercely for it to be worth it.
April 6, 2009
Good fluff.
I noted that Kellerman has an almost pathological need to give a physical description of various characters; exactly how tall they are, the length of their sideburns, etc.
I noted that Kellerman has an almost pathological need to give a physical description of various characters; exactly how tall they are, the length of their sideburns, etc.
January 22, 2018
A bit slow-moving in th first half, this book speeds up towards the end, with a rush to the final conclusion as the last piece in the jigsaw falls into place. Alex Delaware plays the key support role after Detective Milo Sturgis is given a murder case of a psychology professor that has made no progress for 3 months.
April 1, 2015
I'm really not sure why, but this was not one of my favorite Kellermans. I love a good psychological suspense story, but this one was just so outlandish, with organ harvesting, kinky sex, rape, a few too many characters, and an abrupt ending for me to give it more than three stars. Perhaps I'm just getting burned out on murder mysteries!
August 14, 2019
A little confusing at the end but a great premise and good for the mind to work. Not the best nor the worst. Just ok for me.
September 6, 2015
Notes for me:
Probably if ranked in order of enjoyment this would be toward the bottom. Not sure why, the usual enjoyable complicated mystery where different threads seem totally incompatible and then wind together seamlessly, but our victim was ethically way over the line and it makes it hard to pant over getting her justice. Murder is never excused obviously but in a book with no supporting character heroes I just felt sad about all the vileness and cruelty. The last chapter was a full run down of the actor psychopath murderous deeds and it was useless exposition. I am not interested in the fine details of murder and it gave no depth to the story. Guess I'm down on this one partly because the last chapter was such a throwaway. Have had such better climaxes.
Probably if ranked in order of enjoyment this would be toward the bottom. Not sure why, the usual enjoyable complicated mystery where different threads seem totally incompatible and then wind together seamlessly, but our victim was ethically way over the line and it makes it hard to pant over getting her justice. Murder is never excused obviously but in a book with no supporting character heroes I just felt sad about all the vileness and cruelty. The last chapter was a full run down of the actor psychopath murderous deeds and it was useless exposition. I am not interested in the fine details of murder and it gave no depth to the story. Guess I'm down on this one partly because the last chapter was such a throwaway. Have had such better climaxes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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June 6, 2017Without a doubt, I am a huge fan of the Alex Delaware series. The concept of this book was truly brilliant and Kellerman's descriptive writing gave me chills. The characters, the scenes popped off the page!
For those of you who love mysteries/thrillers, do not miss this series!
For those of you who love mysteries/thrillers, do not miss this series!
September 9, 2011
I'm a great fan of Alex Delaware and his crime fighting partner, Lt. Milo Sturgis of LAPD Homicide. Somehow I missed reading this book when it originally came out. This one was released as an audio book which I usually like for this series because the reader of most of these has been John Rubinstein, who has a real feel for the way I envision these characters. I was a little disappointed that the reader turned out to be someone else in this case but he did a pretty good job nonetheless.
In some circles of thought it may seem that it's similarity to the later books in this series that I've enjoyed would be a bad thing. In this case, it's a good thing, like a comfortable pair of slippers. I'm never disappointed with Kellerman's writing. The stories change but the smart plotting and dialogue remain the same. As I've said in all my other reiviews of this series, the plot is secondary to the writing anyway. It is amazing that Kellerman keeps this series fresh and entertaining.
This story concerns the discovery of a brutally murdered clinical psychologist, College professor Hope Devane, who had been a militant leader on female abuse and had written a controversial book on the subject. She has been stabbed in the heart, the vagina, and her lower back. Delaware is brought in to assist Sturgis because of the psycholgist connection. Sturgis had been assigned this as a cold case. They quickly work their way through a cast of suspects including a dispassionate husband, members of a college panel on date rape and the student victims/supposed abuser's, a shady OB/GYN, who Devane worked with at a woman's clinic,and so on. As is the formula for this series, Sturgis and Delaware work their way through each of these suspects outlining their logic on their guilt/innocence along the way to finally nabbing the right one. This plot has a few more twists and turns than normal including an organ harvesting connection.
Fans of the Alex delaware series won't be disappointed.
In some circles of thought it may seem that it's similarity to the later books in this series that I've enjoyed would be a bad thing. In this case, it's a good thing, like a comfortable pair of slippers. I'm never disappointed with Kellerman's writing. The stories change but the smart plotting and dialogue remain the same. As I've said in all my other reiviews of this series, the plot is secondary to the writing anyway. It is amazing that Kellerman keeps this series fresh and entertaining.
This story concerns the discovery of a brutally murdered clinical psychologist, College professor Hope Devane, who had been a militant leader on female abuse and had written a controversial book on the subject. She has been stabbed in the heart, the vagina, and her lower back. Delaware is brought in to assist Sturgis because of the psycholgist connection. Sturgis had been assigned this as a cold case. They quickly work their way through a cast of suspects including a dispassionate husband, members of a college panel on date rape and the student victims/supposed abuser's, a shady OB/GYN, who Devane worked with at a woman's clinic,and so on. As is the formula for this series, Sturgis and Delaware work their way through each of these suspects outlining their logic on their guilt/innocence along the way to finally nabbing the right one. This plot has a few more twists and turns than normal including an organ harvesting connection.
Fans of the Alex delaware series won't be disappointed.
September 10, 2009
I've read many of the Alex Delaware novels, and have enjoyed them all - some more than others. This was actually a very interesting book in which very little was predictable. Really the only thing I didn't like about it was the ending. I felt I was left hanging wondering how did Alex feel about what he discovered and what was he going to do with that information.
March 11, 2016
A too tidy ending made me lower the number of stars to three. There was so.much explanation in the rest of the story that the rushed ending left me feeling dissatisfied.
May 15, 2021
Read in 1997. Kellerman is at his page-turning best in his latest Delaware adventure investigating the savage stabbing murder of a celebrity author. The serpentine plot and cast of mysterious characters grip the reader until the very end. One of my favorites that year.
October 18, 2012
I don't know why, but this reminded me somewhat of Miami Vice. Everyone is a player. Except for one young woman, a rape victim. Everyone else not playing is excusing the player's behavior, twisted as it is, because the players also do some good, as if it made it all balance out. As if. Reading these books in the Delaware series gives the reader real insight, if you have the experience of knowing a lot of people, and if you want to really understand what makes people tick. From my own experience, though, nice people usually want to think the best of others, not the worst. However, I find the story of the scorpion that needed a ride on a human's shoulder over a shallow stream instructive. The nice human asked if the scorpion would sting him if he helped him cross the stream. The human was kind, wanting to help the poor animal, but was leery enough to worry about being poisoned by the scorpion's tail. The scorpion promised, so the human carried it across the shallow stream. As soon as the crossing was done, the scorpion stings the human. As the human falls, dying, he cries, "you promised!" The scorpion shrugs, saying, "you knew I was a scorpion."
Admittedly, humans dealing with humans is more complicated, and so is this story. While you can look at a real scorpion and identify it, in the world of cops, criminals and psychologists, it isn't so easy to identify the scorpion-minded among us. Bad behavior is a big clue, as well as selfishness and unusual cruelty. Nice people often discount such scenes, or disbelieve their own senses, and cover up for the scorpion people. Other folks admire the scorpions, and help them, thinking being near the 'power' will spill over by the proximity, blinding themselves to the fact they are close to a scorpion person. Delaware and Milo never do, but unraveling disguises to reveal the scorpions is a lot of leg work, particularly in this story.
Respectable scorpions are still scorpions, even when the human ones hide their stings in gifts of education and money and sympathy. The problem with 'The Clinic' is almost everybody is a scorpion. I could not care about any of them, even the nicer victims, because they were still scorpions. I'm talking about their dark sides, not their childhoods. They chose scorpion adulthoods after surviving evil, and I can't care about scorpions, no matter how much I 'understand' them.
Admittedly, humans dealing with humans is more complicated, and so is this story. While you can look at a real scorpion and identify it, in the world of cops, criminals and psychologists, it isn't so easy to identify the scorpion-minded among us. Bad behavior is a big clue, as well as selfishness and unusual cruelty. Nice people often discount such scenes, or disbelieve their own senses, and cover up for the scorpion people. Other folks admire the scorpions, and help them, thinking being near the 'power' will spill over by the proximity, blinding themselves to the fact they are close to a scorpion person. Delaware and Milo never do, but unraveling disguises to reveal the scorpions is a lot of leg work, particularly in this story.
Respectable scorpions are still scorpions, even when the human ones hide their stings in gifts of education and money and sympathy. The problem with 'The Clinic' is almost everybody is a scorpion. I could not care about any of them, even the nicer victims, because they were still scorpions. I'm talking about their dark sides, not their childhoods. They chose scorpion adulthoods after surviving evil, and I can't care about scorpions, no matter how much I 'understand' them.
September 4, 2019
5 Stars. Doc Delaware at his best. He is resolute in his pursuit of a target - almost plodding, although he wouldn't call it that. In this case the murder of Dr. Hope Devane has grown cold; it was three months ago that her body was found just a block from her home, with knife wounds in the heart, groin and back. Milo Sturgis has taken over the investigation and asks Alex to dig into the victim's background. Who really was she and how did she and the killer connect? Her recent book, Wolves and Sheep, had made her a feminist darling and a star of the talk show circuit. Husbands are often the first line of inquiry, no different here. But she was a University Professor of Psychology and one of her department initiatives, the Interpersonal Conduct Committee, draws focus too. In simple terms, it heard allegations of date rape. Assuming the murder was not random, could it have been the result of one of the three cases heard by the committee before it was disbanded? Or could the connection have been further back in her illusive past? It's the effort to find that connection which makes this a masterpiece. (January 2019)
April 12, 2016
I feel like I'm starting to be a broken record. I just can't understand why Jonathan Kellerman feels the need to included so much extraneous detail in his books. I just don't need to know every business establishment in the strip mall they happen to be passing. I am 100% sure the books would be half as long without detailing what everyone looks like, what they're wearing, what the buildings and rooms look like, what the scenery looks like, etc. The stories continue to be interesting, though, which is why I'm still reading. In this one I did not see the motive for any of it coming, and I'm not usually so surprised by the resolution of a book. Perhaps I was blinded by the detailed descriptions...
April 28, 2014
This is the first book in the Dr. Delaware series that I have read. Jumping into the middle of the series, I did not find that I was confused about the characters or any past histories. That was one thing that I really liked about the novel.
I really love crime stories, and thought that this was an easy and quick read with a good plausible plot. There were times when I was confused as to why something was included, and although confusing at the time, everything makes sense by the end.
If you are looking for a good quick read in front of the fire or on the beach, this is it. I would definitely pick up another one of his novels, for sure.
I really love crime stories, and thought that this was an easy and quick read with a good plausible plot. There were times when I was confused as to why something was included, and although confusing at the time, everything makes sense by the end.
If you are looking for a good quick read in front of the fire or on the beach, this is it. I would definitely pick up another one of his novels, for sure.
March 28, 2015
Still catching up reading the Kellerman books I missed when they came out. As always, a good plot. I enjoy both Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis. Didn't see much of Robin in this installment.
October 4, 2018
This was a very timely read with the #MeToo movement so prominent. I wasn't too crazy about the ending.
July 27, 2020
3...Better than the last novel in this series...I love the psychology part of these books, but I feel like they are dragged out a bit...this ending was crazy, convoluted, is you will...Well done for its time!
September 20, 2021
A professor with a past whose murder had multiple suspects and kept Alex and Milo working hard to figure out who did it.
May 15, 2024
Great Read
It was hard PIN down the full story but the essence was a surprise.Vengence is easy to understand in hind sight but the details only clarify at the end.
It was hard PIN down the full story but the essence was a surprise.Vengence is easy to understand in hind sight but the details only clarify at the end.
July 22, 2017
I haven't picked up a Kellerman book for ages. I forgot how much I like the characters in the Alex Delaware series. Good story. Solid characters. Enjoyable to the very end.
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March 20, 2024No stars. DNF. Ok start then became more and more dark ... creepy characters and creepy doings ... After awhile didn't care who culprit was.
March 10, 2021
Once again Dr Delaware and Detective Sturgis are bright and cynical, and Los Angeles is grimy and cynical, in this early part of the long-running series by Kellerman, published in the-mid nineties. It's another cleverly-plotted story that follows a murder investigation. Although lacking in the kind of depth that many of the books in the series have.
March 8, 2025
A real page-turner! A twisty, gripping tale with some gruesome bits. I loved it.
November 20, 2018
I've given up trying to follow the chronological timeline of this series, but it's sometime in the 1990's and Alex and Robin have finally moved into their rebuilt home. She's apparently recovered from her wrist issues as she's back to work in her new at-home studio with trusty dog, Spike, by her side.
Alex is plugging along as well when best friend and homicide detective, Milo, calls him to consult on a cold case involving another psychologist, Hope Devane, who along with working as a professor had become a best selling author after writing a book with strong feminist views prior to being murdered in front of her home.
This book had a lot of twists and turns as Alex delved into Hope's life: was it her book, her controversial "morality" committee at the college or something completely unrelated to her professional life that led to her murder? Though generally beloved (as most fictional murder victims tend to be...), this woman had a lot of facets to her life and there were no shortage of immediate suspects to eliminate.
I liked that Milo was more featured in this one and that Robin was a bit more on the back burner. Quite frankly, eleven books into this series and I really don't know what Robin and Alex have in common other than a love of going out to dinner and having sex. They're pretty one-dimensional and boring as a couple. I also liked that there were several aspects of Hope's life to be explored that kept taking Alex and Milo down different paths. This had been given to Milo as a "cold" case (three months old) and he was determined to get to the bottom of it - but just when Alex and Milo thought they had it figured out, another detail would throw a wrench in to their hypotheses sending them back to square one.
I listened to this book and as a result, I found the characters a bit hard to keep straight as there were quite a few of them and because of the complexity of the case, there were often several chapters in between when a character was mentioned as the focus shifted from suspect to suspect. So it did take a bit every now and then to remember who a character was and which part of Hope's life he or she came from, though the women were easier to remember as they all pretty much came from the college. All in all, however, it was a satisfying book with an intriguing ending that was very well pieced together by Alex and Milo.
I don't usually remember lines from books, but this one had two that stuck with me:
"The open freeway was an invitation to speed and most drivers RSVP'd yes." -describing the Santa Monica freeway late at night
"I keep an open mind. If you want a whore, go down to Hollywood Avenue and flash a $20." - Alex's response to the defense attorney trying to "convince" him to be an expert witness for the defense even though he was working with the prosecution. This series doesn't have a lot of humor and I thought this line was funny.
Alex is plugging along as well when best friend and homicide detective, Milo, calls him to consult on a cold case involving another psychologist, Hope Devane, who along with working as a professor had become a best selling author after writing a book with strong feminist views prior to being murdered in front of her home.
This book had a lot of twists and turns as Alex delved into Hope's life: was it her book, her controversial "morality" committee at the college or something completely unrelated to her professional life that led to her murder? Though generally beloved (as most fictional murder victims tend to be...), this woman had a lot of facets to her life and there were no shortage of immediate suspects to eliminate.
I liked that Milo was more featured in this one and that Robin was a bit more on the back burner. Quite frankly, eleven books into this series and I really don't know what Robin and Alex have in common other than a love of going out to dinner and having sex. They're pretty one-dimensional and boring as a couple. I also liked that there were several aspects of Hope's life to be explored that kept taking Alex and Milo down different paths. This had been given to Milo as a "cold" case (three months old) and he was determined to get to the bottom of it - but just when Alex and Milo thought they had it figured out, another detail would throw a wrench in to their hypotheses sending them back to square one.
I listened to this book and as a result, I found the characters a bit hard to keep straight as there were quite a few of them and because of the complexity of the case, there were often several chapters in between when a character was mentioned as the focus shifted from suspect to suspect. So it did take a bit every now and then to remember who a character was and which part of Hope's life he or she came from, though the women were easier to remember as they all pretty much came from the college. All in all, however, it was a satisfying book with an intriguing ending that was very well pieced together by Alex and Milo.
I don't usually remember lines from books, but this one had two that stuck with me:
"The open freeway was an invitation to speed and most drivers RSVP'd yes." -describing the Santa Monica freeway late at night
"I keep an open mind. If you want a whore, go down to Hollywood Avenue and flash a $20." - Alex's response to the defense attorney trying to "convince" him to be an expert witness for the defense even though he was working with the prosecution. This series doesn't have a lot of humor and I thought this line was funny.
April 21, 2015
Sometimes mysteries have a problem. Jonathan Kellerman’s book about a college professor who is murdered falls into that trap. Kellerman builds up suspense through a twisty plot. Psychologist Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis investigate the professor and her shadowy student conduct committee. Although the work of the committee leaves the professor with many enemies, the investigation also produces leads that relate to the professor’s relationship with her husband, her childhood, and her professional life. The problem is the payoff can never live up to the setup. The setup has so many turns and blind alleys that the reader’s imagination cannot help but create complex scenarios. In the end, the actual solution seems anticlimactic. Verdict: Kellerman write mysteries with a breakneck pace and page-turning suspense. It is a testament to his ability to create plot and characters that the reader’s imagination runs wild with possibility.
October 23, 2008
(Book 11 of author's Alex Delaware/Milo Sturgis series.) This book, in my opinion, is not one of Kellerman's better books in this series. Detective Sturgis is given this case after it has apparently gone cold. Milo and Alex may be competent detectives, but their predecessors on this case should be fired for missing such obvious leads. Ultimately, the big secret behind the death being investigated combines dysfunctional adults as a result of child abuse, secret sexual bondage practices of the deceased, and organ stealing to save the life of her childhood friend's porn king father. My theory is when sex and/or child abuse is needed to sell a story, the plot is probably weak. And this book supports that theory. Of course, any Kellerman/Delaware fan is going to read this book anyway. I did.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 8, 2016
I like the how the puzzle pieces in Kellerman's books fit together even though sometimes it kind of feels like things happen out of nowhere. The other thing I never care for in these books is the number of paragraphs he uses to describe the routes Delaware takes to get anywhere. He's in and around LA for the most part, but he has to describe what streets Alex turns on, what freeways he takes, where he parks. It's not really setting the scene if you aren't really familiar with the freeways and even if you are it doesn't add anything.
But it didn't take anything away, really (except some time) and the story was interesting and was an easy read. I don't get as invested in Alex and the other characters as much as I have with other series, but they're good enough to keep reading.
But it didn't take anything away, really (except some time) and the story was interesting and was an easy read. I don't get as invested in Alex and the other characters as much as I have with other series, but they're good enough to keep reading.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 387 reviews