The Clinic

Starred review from December 30, 1996
Kellerman is at his page-turning best in his latest Alex Delaware adventure (after The Web), an investigation into the savage stabbing murder of Hope Devane, a psychology professor and celebrity author. The LAPD, unable to solve the case after three months, reassigns it to Lieutenant Milo Sturgis. Milo calls on his friend Alex, a compassionate, astute psychologist, for insight into the victim, who had a seemingly routine academic career and marriage until writing a pop-psych relationship book. Delving beneath the veneer of Hope's life, Alex uncovers possible enemies: a man with whom she clashed on a TV talk show; students brought before her committee on sexual harassment; patients at a beleaguered women's health clinic where she volunteered. Further questions are raised about the victim's relationships with her doctoral supervisee Casey Locking; about the fertility specialist, from whom she received hefty consultation fees; about her sex life; about a shadowy link to an organized crime figure and the murder of a Las Vegas call girl. Each new avenue of investigation leads Alex and Milo to a dead end until they reach back into Hope Devane's childhood, which reveals links to the present that provide the shocking answer to the puzzle. Kellerman may not be a great stylist, but his serpentine plot and cast of mysterious characters grip the reader to the final page. Major ad/promo.

September 15, 1996
Kellerman's popular series hero, psychologist/sleuth Alex Delaware (e.g., The Web, LJ 11/1/95), delves into a murder involving a controversial female author.

September 15, 1996
Kellerman is perhaps crime fiction's hottest author at the moment, so his latest is certain to draw a crowd. It begins with psychologist Hope Devane, a respected academic who wins fame and fortune with a radical-feminist, pop-psych book. But her promising career is cut short when she's brutally murdered outside her house. Three months later, there are no clues, no suspects, and no leads. The unsolved case winds up on the desk of LAPD detective Milo Sturgis, who figures the psychology angle could be an important one and quickly enlists the help of Dr. Alex Delaware, Kellerman's warm and cuddly hero. Probing both Devane's personal and professional life for clues, Delaware finds plenty of oddities, from the professor's ill-fated University Conduct Committee to the odd relationship she had with an unscrupulous fertility doctor to the mysterious past she tried so hard to hide. When one of Devane's students is killed, Alex figures he's getting close to the truth. This may be Kellerman's most riveting story yet, but even if it were his worst, libraries would still need to buy plenty! ((Reviewed Sept. 15, 1996))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1996, American Library Association.)