An Alex Delaware Novel
Jonathan Kellerman has written 37 Alex Delaware novels. The Wedding Guest is #34. The series is set in Los Angeles.
Main Characters in The Wedding Guest
- Alex Delaware, a child psychologist in Los Angeles, California
- Milo Sturgis, a career policeman in the Homicide Division of the LAPD
Regular Minor Characters in the Alex Delaware Series of Books
- Detectives Binchy, Bogomil and Reed who Milo refers to as the “Baby Ds”.
- Robin Castagna, who repairs and builds expensive guitars for musicians around the country. She has been in a long-term relationship with Delaware for many years.
- Alex and Robin's French Bulldog, Blanche
Character Assessment
Delaware and Sturgis form a formidable team. Sturgis has a knack for piecing together the details of a crime. Delaware's expertise is his psychology background aiding him in deciphering the darkest intents driving vicious perpetrators.
Plot of The Wedding Guest
In The Wedding Guest, Alex and Milo team up once again to solve a homicide and the crime that led to it.
At a wedding reception, a horrified bridesmaid discovers the body of a young woman who has been strangled. Not a single partygoer recognizes the victim and there is not a single means to identify her. The bride is convinced the stranger snuck in to sabotage her big day, and the groom is sure it is all a dreadful mistake.
With over a hundred guests to question, Delaware and Sturgis soon decide that the motive for murder is personal.
Now the party's over and the hunt for the killer begins.
Summary
An uninvited guest. A missing identity. A trail of deadly secrets.
Once again, Sturgis and Delaware team up to solve a murder in this psychological thriller. As an amateur armchair detective, the needed clues for solving while reading are not uncovered until the very end, but it was an interesting mystery nonetheless. If you are a fan of Jonathan Kellerman, and especially his Alex Delaware novels, as I am, you will enjoy this one as much as others in the series.
Related Reviews of Books by the Kellerman Family:
- The Burning by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman
- The Killing Season by Faye Kellerman
- Bone Box by Faye Kellerman
The title, The Wedding Guest, would lead me to believe someone is lying about knowing the identity of the victim. It would be pretty awful to have your wedding day marred by murder, but definitely a great mystery location since there would be so many suspects, which would make it very hard to find the killer. Just my thoughts on why this would be an intriguing book to read. Thanks for the review and recommendation Elf!
ReplyDeleteYou're right that there are many suspects, Mouse. It takes Milo and Alex a long time to eliminate all the others until they discover who the killer is.
DeletePat sounds like an excellent book. It makes me wonder if my mom ever read this Author's work? Mom was really into this genre of book - she loved the 'who-dun-its.' There sure are a lot of books by the author; if you're a fan your all set for a while!
ReplyDeleteBarbara, I wouldn't be surprised if you mom hadn't read Jonathan Kellerman books. He's been a popular author in the 'who-dun-it' vein for a long time. :)
DeleteElf, a large wedding reception with more than 100 guests in attendance (and, presumably, liquor flowing freely and most eyes focused on the bride and groom) seems like a “hospitable” setting for a murderer, so to speak. I remember my late mom used to enjoy Kellerman novels, although whether Jonathan’s or Faye’s I do not recall. Thanks for the great recommendation!
ReplyDeleteBoth Jonathan (Kellerman) and his wife (Faye) are equally good writers and well worth reading for anyone who enjoys their writing styles. (As I do). :) Thanks for your visit to my book review, Margaret.
DeleteOh my, can you just imagine if that happened in real life? What a great premise for a murder/mystery and so many varied guests to figure out Who dun it! I think this book is going on my list of must read soon books! Thanks Pat Austin!
ReplyDeleteJonathan Kellerman's continuing characters (Alex Delaware and his friend LAPD Lt. Milo Sturgis) are always enjoyable in each book in the Alex Delaware Series. The Wedding Guest is no exception. :)
DeleteWhat a murder mystery! This sounds like a compelling book to read! What an awful thing to happen on their Wedding day and such a mystery to seek to solve. Thank you for your review and recommendation.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your visit, Raintree Annie. Glad you enjoyed my review.
DeleteYikes. This would be a huge undertaking (solving this case). I have enjoyed this author's previous work, but was unaware of this particular title. Thanks for the introduction. I like how you organized and presented this book review.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Diana. I enjoyed presenting this particular book review in a different way. The parts the characters play are important to the story, so I thought I should introduce them individually.
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