The Conspiracy Club

Rating:
Summary: So-so Kellerman
Review: Jonathan Kellerman, a hit-or-miss writer with more misses in recent years, has something in the middle with the Conspiracy Club, a rather average thriller that takes a break from series character Alex Delaware to present a similar character named Jeremy Carrier. Carrier is a psychologist who is recovering from the murder of his girlfriend, a death that is more devastating because he is a suspect in the crime. He is drawn out of his funk by two people: Arthur Chess, a retired pathologist whose mysterious actions start to point Carrier towards the real killer, and Angela Rios, a doctor who he starts dating.

As if working a puzzle, Carrier is presented piece by piece the solution to the murder. This is not a whodunit: there is no way the reader can figure out the killer before Carrier does. In addition, the reason behind Carrier's manipulation is not that plausible; there are easier ways to do things that seem to escape the characters.

I have said for a while that Alex Delaware has become more and more of a nondescript, boring character (although there has been a little improvement in recent books). Carrier seems to be Kellerman's attempt to recreate Delaware under a new name. There is even a cop in this story named Doresh who has a similar gruffness to Milo Sturgis, although Doresh and Carrier have a more antagonistic relationship.

The last time Kellerman did a non-Delaware novel, he excelled with Billy Straight; this effort is okay, but not as successful. Although it does have its problems, this book is a generally entertaining read, neither exceptionally good or bad. It is strictly a three star work, of more interest to Kellerman fans than to mystery fans in general.