Notes say that I've read this before but it wasnt until near the end that I remembered it, so suspect I wasnt paying real good attention last time. Anyway, am playing "series catch up", including the Delaware books, and this was on the list.

Once again, Delaware and Sturgis are investigating what appears to be unrelated murders and they finally pull all the threads together. There is a certain regularity about the books that fosters a sense of comfort (but can also be a little frustrating, where you hope he'd come up with another plot device occasionally).

Compulsion is another good story. The amazing thing about the Kellerman books is there is a murder and seemingly no leads as to who did it. But the characters treat the murder as a puzzle to solve. Bit by bit they are able to piece together just in time the identity of the killer(s). This is a well written and thought out story. Four stars were awarded to this book. ( )

killer in luxury vehicle, various victims

Another great offering from a master in psychological-themed thrillers, this book delves into the a shape shifter and seemingly unconnected murders. It features Alex Delaware and a newly-healed Milo Sturgis, and starts with a tipsy twit who thought her other friend was going to be the designated driver for the evening.

Then there is a financial genius who mentions his luxury car was stolen but returned, and a request by a condemned death row inmate who can offer the whereabouts for a missing 15 year old young man, and you have threads and twists of those threads that kept my attention riveted.

What I like about Kellerman's writing is how well and compassionately he draws his characters. Yes, Alex and Milo are able to pull all-nighters and speak in coherent sentences the next day, which is a trademark of any detective fiction, but throw in a whiny son and a sex-changed prostitute and a potential suspect who seems to disappear and re-appear at will, and I found myself reading "just one more" to find out what, really, was going to happen next. ( )

Review: “Compulsion” by Jonathan Kellerman. It started out slow then flowed smoothly up to the slow drawn out ending. I feel this wasn’t one of Jonathan Kellerman’s best but still a good read.

It started out with a missing young girl which led to a stolen Bentley. Then the story moves on to a witness claiming a man about the age of 40, getting out of a luxurious Mercedes ran up to an older lady and murdered her while she was walking out into her driveway to retrieve her morning newspaper. As the psychologist/detective Alex Delaware begins his investigation on these two incidents he also has a sixteen year old unsolved mystery of a young teenage boy disappearing while selling magazines house to house re-opened that he was working on.

The story reminded me of a Sherlock Holmes book. Interesting, intriguing, suspense, and having a mastermind put together all the connections and confusion of disguises and compulsions……
( )