UNNATURAL HISTORY: REVIEW

 

Kellerman takes us on an interesting and intricate journey as Sturgis and Delaware’s quest to solve the case takes them into many of the temporary encampments in and around Los Angeles, meeting homeless, and at times despairing people (Review by Barry Meehan)

In Jonathan Kellerman’s Unnatural History, psychologist Alex Delaware is once again called upon by his long-time friend, Lieutenant Milo Sturgis and the Los Angeles Police department to give his input into what would at first appear to be a simple “robbery gone wrong” case.

But all is not what it would appear. The victim is a well-known photographer who has been receiving rave reviews for his latest project – a series of carefully-staged photos of homeless people dressed up according to their fantasy lives. Most critics have praised the project for its artistic merit, but there are many who firmly believe that the photographer has been exploiting his models. The homeless are reasonably well-paid for their posing, so the question becomes – who is exploiting who?

The investigation starts looking into the victim’s family, and turns up some unexpected characters, including the photographer’s father, who is wealthy enough to live life the way he believes it should be lived – most certainly not the “normal” way, especially as regards family units and interaction.

Kellerman takes us on an interesting and intricate journey as Sturgis and Delaware’s quest to solve the case takes them into many of the temporary encampments in and around Los Angeles, meeting homeless, and at times despairing people – all with stories to tell. But are all the stories the truth, or does wild fantasy exist among the homeless, especially when brought to the fore by the photographer’s pet project?

There is also the financial side of things – the photographer and his siblings have easy access to cash supplied by their father – too much cash, it would seem. Are there others after it?

Sturgis and Delaware wind their way around Los Angeles, their routes described in great detail by Delaware (his only failing, in my humble opinion) to get to the bottom of the mystery as more and more killings pile up.

Apart from the aforementioned gripe about Delaware’s obsession with Los Angeles roads and freeways, Unnatural History is very well-written and a real page-turner. Highly recommended, especially if you’re an Alex Delaware or Milo Sturgis fan.

Unnatural History is published by Century Publishers, Penguin Random House UK. ISBN 978-1-529-12597-9 – Barry Meehan