As always, Kellerman
gives us a convincing and convoluted plot with many twists and turns, leading
the reader heading in different directions before bring everything to a
satisfactory conclusion. (Review by Barry Meehan)
Jonathan Kellerman’s latest thriller The Ghost Orchid kicks off with LAPD Homicide Lieutenant, Milo
Sturgis, and his trusty behavioural psychologist friend and colleague, Alex
Delaware investigating a double killing around a pool in the garden of a house
in the up-market residential neighbourhood of Bel Air, on the West side of Los
Angeles.
The victims – both naked and shot twice each – are definitely not suicides, so a murder investigation is soon underway. As it turns out, the man is Italian and a representative of his family’s very successful international shoe business, having been sent to Los Angeles to kickstart the business in the Americas.
The woman victim’s identity is tracked down pretty quickly. She is a neighbour from a few houses away, a fitness fanatic who prefers doing her running at night around the neighbourhood, making it easier for her to carry on her affair with the Italian shoe manufacturer.
The main question facing Milo and Alex is who the principal victim was – the handsome shoe man who has had many dalliances, or his older but well-kept female lover. Also in question is who would want to murder either of them, and why.
As with most good thrillers – and this is certainly a good one – the victims’ pasts have to be thoroughly investigated to shed light on the matter. In this case, turning up all manner of affairs and past indiscretions, along with identity changes surface as our investigators delve deeper into a murky world of past lives which would have been hidden from lesser detectives.
As always, Kellerman gives us a convincing and convoluted plot with many twists and turns, leading the reader heading in different directions before bring everything to a satisfactory conclusion.
The Ghost Orchid is highly recommended reading - Barry Meehan
The Ghost Orchid is published by Penguin Random House UK. ISBN 978-1-529-90037-8
Posts
