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Monday, January 27, 2020

The Museum of Desire by Jonathan Kellerman and The Perfect Kill by Helen Fields

The Museum of Desire by Jonathan Kellerman has Alex Delaware and detective Milo Sturgis teaming up again in an unusual murder.  Whenever a case presents as weird, Milo calls on his psychologist friend to help unravel the weirdness.

Four seemingly unrated victims found costumed and staged in a limo qualifies as both creepy and outlandish enough for Alex Delaware's aid. 

There are some twists and turns that develop as the two investigate and interview people who knew the victims.  The artistic connections are interesting as is the fictitious painting The Museum of Desire--and the motive is unexpected.

The last few Delaware/Sturgis novels have not appealed as much as their earlier outings, but this one is much better than the The Wedding Guest, the previous book.

Read in October; blog review scheduled for Jan. 27, 2020.

NetGalley/Random House
Police Procedural.  Feb. 4, 2020.  Print length:  368 pages.


The most recent installment of Helen Field's series featuring DCI Ava Turner and DI Luc Callenach opts for two locations.  Luc has been seconded to Interpol for a case in Paris and Ava deals with a case in Edinburgh. 

Both cases are pretty gruesome.  In Edinburgh, several strange murders have occurred in a short time, and eventually a connection to sex trafficking develops.

In Paris, Luc teams up with a former partner to investigate the murder of a young man from Edinburgh whose body is discovered in Paris.  How did he get there and who harvested his organs?

As usual in this series, I like the characters and the writing while finding the crimes a bit fantastic and gruesome.

Fields' writing is excellent and both the main and secondary characters are well developed and believable.  Those qualities keep me reading the series despite the dark and often bizarre plots.

Read in October; blog review scheduled for Jan. 27, 2020.

NetGalley/Avon Books UK
Crime/Police Procedural.  Feb. 6, 2020.  Print length:  400 pages.

9 comments:

  1. Paris and Edinburgh are two of my favorite cities! Just another reason to read Perfect Kill. :)

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    1. I like the Helen Field's characters, but boy, she has some dark plots!

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  2. I read a number of Delaware/Sturgis books in the past, but not in any particular order. I think I like Milo better than Alex. Alex always seems to have some women who wants to sleep with him in every book no strings attached. I know I am exaggerating a bit, but I sometimes wondered if it was wish fulfillment on the part of the author LOL. Whereas Milo is happily monogamous with his boyfriend.

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    1. I like Milo better, too. Funny, I don't even remember women wanting to sleep with Alex--he just annoys me with his diversions to include Robin, his koi pond, and his French bulldog Blanche, which always feel like fillers.

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  3. Both books sound appealing to me. All the more when they feature intriguing and well developed characters. :)

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    1. Characters are the main reason I return to a series. :)

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  4. It occurs to me reading this post, that I haven't read a Kellerman novel before -- him or his wife (right?). Should I start with this series?!

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    1. It used to be a favorite series, but now, I read mostly because I've read it for so long. I have only read one or two books by Faye Kellerman.

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  5. Even though outlandish crimes sometimes are too much for me, I really like the sound of Perfect Kill. Then again, it could be that I love British procedurals!

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