Measure of Darkness by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman

Measure of Darkness by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman is the second book in a series called Clay Edison #2. The authors are father and son who bring a strong element of suspense, curiosity and interesting characters and situations to this novel. I was bummed when I realized that this was the second novel in a series, because I missed the first one! I have been a fan of Jonathan and Faye Kellerman and now I need to add Jesse Kellerman to my list.

The main character is Alameda County Coroner's Deputy Clay Edison. As a coroner he has a different way of looking at a murder and how they might have occurred. Clay is also a man who struggles with letting something go when it does not make sense to him. His most recent case starts with a huge party where things got out of control and there were victims of gun violence. However, there was one victim that did not fit the crime. As Clay goes out to investigate, we learn more about what has happened as well as more about Clay. I found the mystery, the characters and Clay’s life fascinating. I actually waited to finish the novel when I had time alone so I could savor the resolution and conclusion.

I am looking forward to reading the first novel, Crime Scene and following this series into the future! It didn’t hurt that Dr Alex Delaware had a small cameo appearance, which I loved! Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. A Measure of Darkness by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman was a great read!

It’s dry and oh so grim. But it’s a good police procedural and an interesting story. The author’s have woven together a seamless plot and of course the writing is stellar. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

A Measure of Darkness started out well but it just wasn't the book I expected from these two. Sorry, it dragged on. I nervous I it up again and if so will review it again.

The first thing to know is that Clay is not Alex Delaware (especially not the early Delaware, who was, I think, better done than the more recent books.). He's a deputy coroner. However, like Delaware, he is relentless in trying to untangle mysterious deaths. In this case, one of the victims doesn't match but how did she get where she was found and more importantly, who is she. There's a connection and it takes a while to find. For want of a better description, Delilah Nwodo is sort of his Milo Sturgis and she's a fun character. He's also got a brother Luke, a reformed addict who continues to have issues. I didn't especially like the first book in this series but this is an improvement. It would, however, have benefited from some paring of "stuff" to make it tauter and a faster read. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. I'm curious where this will go next.

Being a fan of the Kellerman’s, it pains me to say that this story was written completely straight forward. There was nothing that catches the reader and holds them until that very last page. There was no suspense and it was actually somewhat boring (gasp!). The book was methodical and never reached that aha moment. The ending shouted more books in the series and my hope is the next one will have everything that this one is missing!

Review by 2shay..........

I have had a long running relationship with Alex Delaware, although it’s doubtful that he’s aware. So, I guess the relationship is with an iconic character created by Mr. Jonathan Kellerman. When this book became available on NetGalley I was all over the request button. I was a little disappointed.

Everything I loved about the Alex Delaware novels is missing. Mr. Kellerman brought a certain kind of verve and passion to the Delaware books. This one is actually a fairly mundane police procedural. It’s well enough written, with good flow and progression, easy enough to read...but it’s just a little boring. I apologize to hard-core fans, but that’s my opinion.

A lot of readers will like this book. You may be one. Pick up a copy and...

Enjoy! ARC graciously provided by Random House and NetGalley for an honest and voluntary review.

The Kellerman family must have a secret writers gene. Mom and Dad now have a new generation of writers. I've been wondering about how the co-authors write. How much belongs to which Kellerman?

A Measure of Darkness is the second book in the Clay Edison Series. Clay works at the Alameda County Coroners Office. In this office the employees do a variety of tasks:notifications, investigations and not autopsies. He's called to investigate a shooting across the street from an interesting old house that hosts big parties twice a month. The only requirement for entry is ten dollars so chaos reigned. A young unidentified woman was found in the alley. It was apparent she had been hit by a car and dragged for a ways. This is not the only victim found that night.

Most of the story was interesting but it seemed a bit disjointed at times. There were issues with Clay's knee injury and problems with his brother who just got out of prison. I thought the book was okay but definitely not great.

This second Clay Edison, a California deputy coroner, novel was a fantastic police procedural. Having the main character as a deputy coroner is a great change of pace. Love this father/son writing duo. Will recommend to my customers who are looking for a great vacation read this summer.

I LOVE CLAY!!! I have been a huge Kellerman fan for a number of years but this is one of my favorite series...love the writing combination of Jesse and Jonathan. I could read this series every day

Great story and I loved the main character. But I found there were so many other characters and delelooing leads that I got confused at times! Good think I am not a detective. Or maybe I should just take notes when I read this genre!

I was not wild about this book. It sort of meandered along. It's a multi murder mystery, but I never got pulled into book. Would I read again? Definitely not.

As a long time fan of Jonathan Kellerman, especially his Alex Delaware novels, I was really looking forward to reading this book. I usually fly through his books however I found myself having a really hard time getting through this one, it seemed choppy to me, I found I couldn't get caught up in the plot. Perhaps because I had not read the first in the Clay Edison series. I do look forward to reading more of Kellerman's work in the future.

I like Clay Edison, but this story fell just a little flat for me. There were a bit too many, “And I said...”. It chopped up the conversation and didn’t allow it to flow naturally.

I did enjoy the multiple incidents he had to deal with. Trying to find multiple Jane Does and shooters while dealing with cross precinct bureaucracy.

4 stars because if the conversations weren’t so choppy, it would have been a 5 star read.

Grab it and enjoy the Kellerman guys duo.

Unable to share review. Ghostwritten for a website client. NDA protected (between website and writer).

I just finished reading A Measure of Darkness by father and son Kellerman. I have read all of Jonathan Kellerman and Faye Kellerman’s books and have enjoyed them immensely. I was looking forward to this collaboration and was not disappointed. I don’t doubt that Jesse Kellerman will soon stand on his own merits and hopefully this series will be the beginning of a long writing career with Clay Edison as the main character. I somehow missed the first book in the series but will definitely get the first book too. I am excited to recommend this book to everyone who loves a good mystery and give the book a deserved 5 star rating. I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review. A great job to the two Kellermans!

In the past, I have loved Jonathan Kellerman's crisp writing style as well as his complex story lines. In A Measure of Darkness the main character Deputy Coroner Clay Edison is called to a shooting at a part at a home on Almond Street. The mystery has three levels in that there is the issue of how a racially fueled shooting occurred as well as the finding out the identity of an individual struck by a car in the aftermath of the shooting as well as the identity of a separate woman who is discovered strangled in the yard of the house. It wasn't until toward the end of the novel that I got any sense of how these stories might be inter-related. The problem was that it took so long to establish any meaningful connections that I was almost tempted to quit reading. In the end I was glad that I stuck with it but felt the book was dragged down by too many characters as well as dialogue that often at times was way too descriptive. Sometimes descriptions can actually take away from the story. In the end, I think that there were two distinct writing styles that competed with each other and neither came out a winner. This had the potential to be an excellent novel but ended up being just adequate enough to rate as 3 stars.

I am truly disappointed in A Measure of Darkness, I love Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman books but this one was very disjointed and confusing. The character of deputy coroner Clay Edison is a great one but not in this book. The story deals with Edison responding to a multiple shooting, sparked by an argument about noise from a large party. The victims include a six-year-old boy and a female pedestrian. Edison reviews the evidence and eventually solves the case, but the complexity of the story bogs down in so many places. I nearly stopped reading this book and I rarely do that.

Clay Edison is a conscientious deputy with the Coroner's office and gets called in the middle of the night to a shooting with multiple victims. In addition to trying to maintain and move forward his relationship with his girlfriend, his brother is out of prison and back in his life, and Clay's bum knee has a way of slowing him down, especially in a foot chase with criminal suspects.

I’ve been a Kellerman fan for years so I was eager to read an advance copy of this book when I heard about it through NetGalley. Maybe I’m spoiled by so many great Delaware and Sturgis mysteries, but this wasn’t the thriller I anticipated. Mystery, yes, with a little suspense, but it the lacked intrigue and intensity I’ve come to expect from Jonathan Kellerman.

It was a good story and I kept reading because I wanted to find out how everything worked out, but there was no compulsion to stay glued to the page until the end. It never really sucked me in, and truthfully, I could have just as easily set it down and not finished it. The main characters lacked dimension and unique characteristics to make them stand out in my mind, with the secondary characters of Clay's brother and fiancée being the most memorable. If you’re a Kellerman fan, you’ll enjoy this book well enough, and I’ll probably try another novel by this father and son team at some point, in hopes I find a more gripping story in future work.

*I reviewed this book freely and voluntarily, having made no commitment to provide a review and receiving no compensation of any kind from any source for this review.

Good story and read,, but I guess I have come to expect more from Kellerman.
I will hope for better and better from this team.

I really find myself enjoying this series of books written by one of my favorite authors and his son. The main character, Clay Edison, is the perfect mix of obsessed with his job and walking a fine line of doing too much for his job. He has his personal weaknesses, but what I really love is how the mystery unfolds. This mystery has many layers and you're never quite sure how many will need to be peeled before it's all wrapped up in a nice pretty boy bow but when it all comes together, it comes together very well.