The Alex Delaware/Milo Sturgis series written by Jonathan Kellerman have always been reliably enjoyable. The oddball partnership between psychologist and homicide detective made for an unusual focus on most of the books. Kellerman usually tells a good story and I like Alex and Milo so I always grab these off the shelf when they become available, but this one was pretty disappointing.

Honestly, I'm really not sure why Alex was even a part of this case - there wasn't a strong psychological element to the crime nor did it deal with children in any way (both hallmarks of past Alex/Milo pairings). The case was pretty run of the mill with eco-terrorists and a revengeful woman burning up fancy L.A. houses. Even though he was the narrator, Alex's presence felt forced and he came off as a kind of tag-along.

This has been a strong series in the past, but I'm wondering if Kellerman is running out of steam. I've seen that happen in so many other series like this (Patricia Cornwell, I'm looking at you) and it's kind of sad and disappointing. I wish he'd wrap the series up if he's stopped caring about these characters. He has other characters he's written a little about (Petra, the Hollywood homicide detective and Daniel Sharavi, the Israeli homicide detective) and he could expand on their stories. Mostly I think Alex and Milo deserve a whole lot better than this and so do Kellerman's readers.