She Treads Softly: Open Season

Thursday, January 9, 2025

Open Season

Open Season by Jonathan Kellerman
2/4/25; 288 pages
Ballantine Books
Alex Delaware #40

Open Season by Jonathan Kellerman is a very highly recommended procedural and the fortieth novel set in LA featuring Psychologist Alex Delaware joining Homicide Detective Milo Sturgis in an investigation.

The body of a young woman who was drugged and murdered is dumped near an emergency clinic. As soon as they seen to be narrowing in on a suspect, the man is found murdered, shot in the neck by a bullet with a full metal jacket from a .308 rifle. A sniper is suspected, but who and how does it tie to the murdered young woman. Soon, based on the weapon used, the case expands to previous incidents with similarities.

As expected, the writing is excellent, the pace is fast, and the journey to the finding the killer is compelling. Following the investigation to the different cases, directions, and questions that arise with the detectives is intriguing. All of this is naturally accompanied by Alex's keen insights that assist in discovering what is really going on with these cases. It is a pleasure to follow the disclosure of new information and where each new clue leads the team.

At this point, fans of the series know these characters well and what to expect from them. For anyone not following the series, this can be enjoyed as a standalone procedural. You won't have the history, but you will still be able to appreciate the twists the investigation takes on the way to a surprising final denouement.

Thanks to Random House/Ballentine Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.