Kellerman and son's Deputy Coroner Clay Edison series

You'll know how much I love Jonathan Kellerman if you've read my posts on book 37 and book 39 of the Alex and Milo series. Kellerman, a former psychologist and researcher, is an author who has been part of my reading life for as long as I can remember. His approach in his novels to exploring the human psyche in the context of both homicide and child custody cases is interesting, perceptive, and heartfelt.

Kellerman's main series features child psychologist, Dr Alex Delaware, who consults for long-time friend, Detective Milo Sturgis, to help him solve crimes that have a 'psychological' angle. Milo is gay, but that's not the most interesting thing about him. The books are set in LA and Kellerman has done a bang up job of world-building over the now-39-soon-to-be-40 books. Alex and Milo, their enduring friendship, the cast of supporting players, and their LA haunts are like old friends to me now.

Kellerman has written six standalone novels, but I've only read one of them, The murderer's daughter, published in 2016. I loved this book and was hoping, as I have seen other reviewers comment, that Kellerman would make it into a series. Grace Blades, the main character, is a psychologist and wicked smart. Grace was raised by her loving adoptive parents after witnessing her biological parents' death in a murder-suicide. Grace has built a successful career but she has a dark side that is exposed when the murder of an associate brings the police to her door. The book is dark and twisted and Kellerman is completely unapologetic is his characterisation of Grace. She's a total bad ass and I loved reading her backstory. Highly recommended!

Kellerman has now penned two series with his son, Jesse, who writes crime novels in his own right. There are two 'golem' books, published in 2013 and 2015, The golem of Hollywood and The golem of Paris, featuring Detective Jacob Lev. I've read both novels. The books are interesting but a bit weird. I didn't really come to grips with the supernatural element. Kellerman is Jewish and I liked learning about Jewish customs but the whole paranormal thing wasn't for me. I get that it was a tough ask to pair a police procedural with a fantasy story with biblical elements, but the two genres were an odd mix. I haven't read any of Jesse Kellerman's solo outings so perhaps these books are more his thing than his father's.

The second series written by father and son has Alameda Country Deputy Coroner, Clay Edison, as the main character. There are five books in the series. I rather like Clay - he's a good guy who is meticulous and persistent in his work, showing a huge amount of care and attention to the victims of crime. He does tend to stick his nose into criminal investigations and pushes boundaries, though! The coroner stuff is super interesting and I've learnt a lot about this aspect of homicide investigations.

There's plenty of character development in the first five books as lots happens in Clay's personal and professional lives. The books more closely align with Jonathan Kellerman's Alex and Milo series although the writing is different. There are shorter, staccato sentences and lots of dialogue fills up the pages. The first three books had plenty of depth to the them but book 4 wasn't great and I had some issues with the writing in book 5 although it's a fascinating story in a unique setting.

I'm going to re-read books 1 to 3 and I will update this post with my reviews of those books when I'm done. I know I enjoyed reading the first three in the series, especially Lost souls (Book 3).

Rating for Clay Edison books 1-3: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This post reviews books 4 and 5 in the series.

The burning | Clay Edison book 4 | Published September 2021 | Re-read December 2024

We find Clay in the middle of a California wildfire in The burning. His pregnant wife and young daughter have evacuated to another part of California leaving Clay on his own in a blackout. He is called to the murder of a wealthy man in his hilltop mansion and while working the scene, Clay discovers a link to his troubled brother, Luke, who goes missing shortly afterwards. Clay then goes completely off script as he searches for Luke, trying to sort through what part his brother may have played in the crime.

I didn't mind Clay pushing the boundaries in the first three books as the stories were intriguing, inventive and had interesting cases at their heart. I especially liked book 3, Lost souls, and the discovery of a decades-old child's skeleton.

Of course what Clay did in pushing those boundaries is unrealistic, but so is Alex's 'consultancy' in the Alex and Milo books and I take no issue with that. In The burning, Clay is way past boundary-pushing and is doing The Wrong Thing so he can find his brother. Clay's behaviour risks his career and his life. He also seemed more intent on making sure Luke wasn't doing something wrong (Luke having been a drug addict and in prison and all) than using his head. He also came across as kind of judgy. Clay made a bunch of both stupid and unethical decisions along the way and the book didn't make a whole lot of sense in terms of Luke's involvement. It was all just a bridge too far for me with the character I'd grown to like over the past three books.

I can see now that I have read The lost coast that The burning created the set up for book 5. If you don't want to read any spoilers for book 5, hold off reading my review below of The lost coast until you have read The burning.

Rating: ⭐⭐

The lost coast | Clay Edison book 5 | Published August 2024 | Read December 2024

The lost coast is set 12 months after book 4 and we now find Clay working as a private detective. Book 4 will tell you all you need to know about why Clay is no longer with the coroner's bureau.

The story kicks off when a client alerts Clay to a potential fraud, after examining his grandmother's will as its executor and discovering a recurring charge that doesn't make sense. This discovery leads Clay to investigate a decades-old scheme targeting the vulnerable in a small town, Swann's Flat, on the Lost Coast. Clay does not receive a friendly reception when he goes to the town to follow up. It's an odd place, where the residents don't care much for outsiders. They certainly don't like Clay asking questions. about the scheme and another related case that Clay stumbles upon during the course of his investigation.

First off, I googled the Lost Coast and discovered that it's an actual place. The town in the story is fictional but the natural and undeveloped area of the northern coast of California in the Humboldt and Mendocino areas does exist. The area experienced depopulation in the 1930s, hence the lost coast moniker. It is still isolated and without major highways due to geotechnical challenges that mean only a rough, steep and winding road joins communities to the rest of California. Cool. The location of The lost coast is one of the highlights of the book. The authors made this landscape completely come to life in the book and built a world that I was easily immersed in, with closed-off local residents who clearly had things to hide.

Book 5 felt like Clay had matured and returned to being Sensible Clay, not the guy who made poor decisions and threw his ethics out the door in book 4. I've always liked the way the Kellermans have written Clay's relationship with his psychologist wife, Amy, as it has developed nicely and authentically over the five books. I like the way that Alex and his partner, Robin, are written in Jonathan's books as their relationship feels authentic, too, and Robin isn't needy. Clay and Amy are similarly written, showing how to craft a supportive spouse with some depth of character who is realistically concerned for their partner's safety.

On the surface, the story may not have seemed complex, but the Kellermans made something clever and intricate out of a basic premise - a fraudulent real estate scheme. They did this by delving into the town's secretive, corrupt and a-bit-bonkers locals and weaving a second mystery into the main event.

The other highlight of the book for me was the introduction of Regina Klein, a PI who assisted Clay on the case. She was an absolute hoot and I hope she returns in future novels.

My one niggle was the writing. I realise that the Clay books are written by Jonathan Kellerman and his son, Jesse, and I can tell. The writing isn't as polished as Jonathan's books. There was also way too much dialogue for me, sometimes pages of it to show a conversation. I also understand that books should stand alone, but there's no connection between books 4 and 5 for longtime readers of the series.

I look forward to book 6 (hoping for some more of Regina!) as the series seems to be gaining its footing again after losing it in book 4.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐