{"id":1543,"date":"2015-03-01T10:26:10","date_gmt":"2015-03-01T17:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=1543"},"modified":"2015-03-01T10:41:57","modified_gmt":"2015-03-01T17:41:57","slug":"plenty-of-reasons-to-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lindabrinson.com\/?p=1543","title":{"rendered":"Plenty of reasons to read"},"content":{"rendered":"

One danger in a long-running detective series is that the stories might get stale. Bob Moyer finds that the Alex Delaware series may be predictable in some ways, but it’s still worth reading.<\/p>\n

Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer<\/p>\n

MOTIVE. By Jonathan Kellerman. Ballantine Books. 336 pages. $28.<\/p>\n

Motive<\/em>, indeed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>After following the adventures of this odd, now old, couple \u2013 Milo, the slovenly, overweight, somewhat churlish gay LAPD lieutenant and Alex, the well-kempt, urbane, empathetic psychologist \u2013 through 29 novels, Jonathan Kellerman fans need a strong Motive<\/em> to make it through another one. After all, the series is nothing if not predictable. Probabilities are that they will eat at the Caf\u00e9 Moghul (they do); Alex will make light of Milo\u2019s appetite (he does); Milo will raid Alex\u2019s refrigerator at least once (yes); and they will bumble down numerous blind alleys until they bump into something that supplies Alex with the solution. What on earth would make us want to follow them again?<\/p>\n

Well, confesses a fervent reader (me), just that \u2014 the comfort of their familiar company and the high probability that Kellerman will come up with a competent plot. Fortunately, all that is here, along with better-than-average banter, and some new light shed on not just the camaraderie of the two, but also their companionship.<\/p>\n

One of the wittiest exchanges in recent books happens in a trendy Italian cum Japanese restaurant, with \u201cportions Haute Scrooge.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s a moment of Laurel and Hardy playing Holmes and Watson when Milo says \u201cCrudo meets Sushi,\u201d and Alex replies \u201cMeets Godzilla.<\/p>\n

Kellerman also gives us a glimpse of the depth of affection between the two that he doesn\u2019t often delve into. \u201cThere you go again doing that optimistic thing again,\u201d says Milo, frequently. Alex doesn\u2019t reply, but muses, \u201cI doubt he knows that it\u2019s learned behavior, not instinct. Growing up with a chronically depressed mother and a violent boozehound father, you figure out a survival strategy or you perish. Friendship\u2019s a fine thing but in the end we all walk alone. Milo\u2019s my best friend. No reason to disillusion him.\u201d\u00a0So much said with so little, about the two of them, and Alex\u2019s past. Variations on these familiar elements give added Motive<\/em> to fans\u2019 guilty pleasure in this series.<\/p>\n

So does the Motive <\/em>behind the murders in the book. Each murder is accompanied by a meticulously laid-out dinner, each meal with a theme. Kellerman buries the killer and his Motive<\/em> deep in the details of the seemingly unconnected victims, so deep there\u2019s little hint of the killer until a couple of pages before Kellerman turns a plot corner we really didn\u2019t see coming. All in all, Kellerman gives us guilty pleasure galore, and a well-hidden villain who gets his just deserts. That\u2019s Motive<\/em> aplenty to read this 30th\u00a0episode.<\/p>\n