I received an ARC of The Wedding Guest. It was read as a stand alone story, although it was #34 in the series. Missing the characters back stories, it lacked character development and I had a hard time following the cast of characters, understanding their motives and methods.
I found the story intriguing and the mystery difficult to unravel. The ending was unexpected and left room for #35 to develop. 3 stars.

A young woman is found dead at a wedding. She has been drugged then strangled and no one at the wedding admits to knowing her and she isn’t on the guest list. The families of the bride, groom, and attendees at the wedding are all on the suspect list. Other deaths also seem to be connected to the unknown woman and provide clues that lead them on a trail to the solution of the case, but not before they follow a few dead ends.

I always enjoy reading the Alex Delaware series. The interactions between Milo and Alex are entertaining. This is book 34 in the series but it could easily be read as a stand alone. Murder, mystery, and twists in the plot will keep you turning the pages. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

It’s been years since I read an Alex Delaware novel, but I always enjoyed them for the psychological aspect to solving crimes and the interesting cases Delaware and Milo Sturgis work. This installment in the series is true to form. The mystery of the victim’s identity and how she ended up dead at the wedding reception of people who don’t seem connected to her was fun to watch unspool. This is a solid crime novel, but is not as engaging to me as the series once was. Perhaps because the personal lives of the main characters wasn’t much in evidence as I remember from the early books.

The last few Kellerman mysteries have been a bit slow, but The Wedding Guest was a refreshing change. It had some interesting characters, interesting twists and a surprising end. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jonathan Kellerman and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC.

This is the thirty-fourth Alex Delaware book. You'd think that his story and "adventures" would get boring or stale, but you'd be completely wrong.

This is another exciting novel by Jonathan Kellerman. I love Delaware's character, and I love Milo Sturgis, but I love them even more when they work together.

Once again, Detective Milo Sturgis has invited Dr. Alex Delaware to the scene of a murder, this time at a wedding reception with a theme of Saints and Sinners. But before they can determine the who and why of the murder, they first need to identify the victim. As with all the other stories in this series, there is a great rapport between Milo and Alex. I enjoy the repartee between the two men, as they bounce ideas off of each other. This story provided a good concept of police procedures necessary to identify the suspect and determine what in her past could have led to her murder. There were suspects and potential motives galore, before the final denouement. The reason for the 4 stars, is while Alex participated in Milo's thought process, I am not sure that his forensic psychology background truly helped in this context. But despite that, it was a good and detailed murder mystery, and I will definitely follow this series for future stories. Disclosure: I am voluntarily reviewing this book received through NetGalley, and all opinions expressed are my own.

I don't know why I hadn't read an Alex Delaware mystery in maybe 10 years!! I fell right back in with Alex and Milo. The mystery was fast paced and an overall enjoyable read.

Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis are back in the 34th Alex Delaware novel by bestselling writer, Jonathan Kellerman, The Wedding Guest. Fans of this psychologist/detective duo will welcome their favorite characters as they investigate the death of a gorgeous woman found murdered in the restroom at a wedding reception. The victim wasn’t a guest, and no one at the reception recognizes her. The bride and her family are furious that this woman ruined the wedding, which seems a bit shallow since the woman lost her life. The novel is half over before the victim is even identified, which hinders the investigation. As is Kellerman’s style, the investigation goes through a methodical process, with small clues that may lead to finding the murderer, but in this case, Alex and Milo aren’t getting many good clues.

During the course of the novel, family members and friends – even the bride and groom – are possible suspects. Kellerman is a master storyteller, and has a way of weaving scenarios in his novels that finally lead to the right suspect and keep readers’ interest. However, during that time, there are ups and downs, as well as building suspense to keep readers engrossed. Kellerman has developed his characters over the course of 34 novels so that they seem like real people; reading Alex Delaware novels is like getting updates on a friend who lives far away.

This novel isn’t as fast moving as some of the previous novels in the series, and there are a few places that the story lags. However, this is a good novel, especially for Alex Delaware fans. The essential elements for a good thriller are in this novel, including a surprise ending.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

4 stars

LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis and his good friend psychologist Alex Delaware are called to the scene of a murder in a seedy “party” venue. Once a strip bar, now the site is used for get-togethers such as wedding receptions, bar mitzvahs and the like.

The victim is a young woman who was strangled to death. The problem is establishing her identity. No one at the reception claims to know her. Who was she and what was she doing there?

There are 103 people there including the disc jockey and the wait staff.

Alex and Milo slowly make some connections through interviews with the family of the bride and groom and their acquaintances. And what a collection of oddballs they are. Following several leads, complete with apparent dead ends, they locate a photograph under the bed of another person. The dead woman’s name is Suzanne Kimberlee DaCosta. Finally!

Now that they have a name, they are able to move a little more quickly on the case. Alex and Milo begin to make connections, and they lead to one place. In an exciting denouement, the killer is found.

This story moves along fairly slowly, but is redeemed somewhat by Milo, Alex and Robin’s relationships. I like the way they all get along – and have for years. Jeez, how many years have I been reading this series? Since the very first one! I feel old (-er). The book is well written but the plotting is a little slow. Is the author getting tired of his characters? I have enjoyed all of the Alex Delaware/Milo Sturgis novels, and will continue to read them as long as Mr. Kellerman continues to write them.

I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine/Ballantine for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read, enjoy and review.

I always enjoy this series. I like the contrast between the two detectives. The Southern California setting is also a compelling reason to read this series. The books are well plotted, with this title being one of the better plotted books. I liked the idea of the extra guest at the wedding theme. Overall, well worth a read.

Let’s just get this out of the way — I love Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series. It’s a series I’ve been reading for twenty years and have yet to grow bored. I was a little disappointed in his last book but this one brings it back solidly into Alex and Milo and an interesting mystery. I thought I was going to struggle at first because the bride especially is fairly unlikeable, but the mystery fairly quickly moves away from the newlyweds and down new paths and takes new turns. I had a few issues with the end of the book, mostly that it seemed it came out of nowhere and there was no connections to any other part of the book. I enjoyed the characters of Alex, Milo and Robin though and maybe wished for a bit deeper connection with any of the secondary characters/victims. It felt like a Alex/Milo book, which I don’t mind at all, but the crime was secondary. Not going to take away stars for that because it’s still very well written and I will never turn down a chance to spend time with these characters.

Thank you again to Jonathan Kellerman. What a satisfying read. Always a pleasure to greet old friends like detective Milo Sturgis and Dr.Alex Delaware. This time the pair start with an unidentified victim at a wedding reception and as tempted as I am to say the plot thickens the better word would probably be spirals. We are kept guessing just as they are and each little piece adds just the tiniest bit of information. We find ourselves building the case right along with them. They learn a name, but it turns out to be false. They find a location but can't make the connection to the players. I can even feel the frustration when they get stuck in LA traffic! When you follow a series there is always the danger of a disappointing sequel, that the author will tire and become repetitive. It happens. But not here - this one is as good as.it gets. Well done. The only downside is now I'm sure the next one can't be as good. Or maybe it will. The waiting begins.

Perhaps beginning a series on the Thirty-fourth book is not always the recommended place to start, but that’s what i did. Absent background and character history, one can certainly dig in.

Kellerman offers us a murder mystery in modern day Los Angeles filled with vacuous empty-headed wanna-be stars and strippers and Calabasas doctors who can’t be bothered. It’s a city filled with traffic, plastic people, bubble headed fools, and the like.

And into this city we get a wedding at a former strip club and a body turns up spoiling that special day. Who is the corpse? That question haunts our investigators for much of the book.

Ultimately, the book was an easy read, but not for me stylistically.

“The Wedding Guest” may be the book’s title, but it’s really the Alex and Milo show. Their monologues and dialogues make an otherwise forgettable plot well worth the read.

Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC of #TheWeddingGuest

This is the first novel I have read by Jonathan Kellerman and in this series. While the novel can be read as a stand alone, having some background with this series would serve the reader’s interest. While the characters were well crafted, there was a slight feeling of disconnect in not having the enough background. The narrative aimed at being character driven but the constant “back and forth” between the two main entities became disrupting and eventually slowed the pace of the plot, shifting focus to the wrong aspects of the writing. The novel offers a narrative that revolves around the murder of an unidentified woman whose been found at a strange, chaotically themed wedding. None of the guests claim to know her and the list of suspects keeps growing. Overall it was a good read but didn’t heed the suspense factor that so many readers in this genre seek. 4 stars.

Reading kellerman is like seeing an old friend after being away for awhile. We pick up where we left off in the reader’s relationship with Alex, Milo, Robin and others (even the Koi are doing well). Interesting as always, never guessing the correct ending and enjoying the journey. Although I don’t care for most author’s scenic descriptive writing, Kellerman has such a deft hand you know the atmosphere/location with a minimum of words with maximum impact. As a visual reader everything from characters to situations come alive
Thank you Netgalley and Random House for allowing me to read this arc for my honest review

I'm a huge fan of Kellerman and have read all his novels. I adore Alex and Milo and their quirky friendship and, of course, incredible working relationship! This one revolves around a murder at a wedding reception and yet, who is the woman as she was not an invited guest! Lots of suspects, so many red herrings that now I just stop trying to figure it out along the way as Kellerman always has a surprise at the end! You can't be anxious to finish his books as I guarantee you won't figure out who the murderer is. So just go along for the ride as he's an awesome writer with incredible attention to detail!

First, full disclosure, I have read Jonathan Kellerman's books for years. I love him, his attention to detail, and I'm a huge fan of how much detail he includes in his books (you will know what his characters eat, but you will not mind).

I look forward to the newest adventures of Alex, Milo, Blanche each year, although I could do without Robin, and this new book does not disappoint. This novel centers on an unidentified death at a wedding that leads Milo and Alex to investigate far away crimes and the motives of several characters involved in the wedding.

The characterization was deftly handled, and I was surprised about how I felt about certain characters by the end.

While I love this author and was satisfied by the book, it is not one of his best. The plot meanders and the ending, while it makes sense, is not really all that interesting as there is very little motive and exploration of the killer given after the reveal.

This book seemed to be less about psychology and more about a straight police case, making me wonder why Milo even needed Alex at all.

That said, Kellerman is great and always worth the read, just start with another book.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley.com for my free advanced reader copy.

Another smash hit from the author. Another Delaware book filled with ongoing mystery and suspense. This is a book that I would recommmend to all.

I've been reading Jonathan Kellerman - Alex Delaware/Milo Sturgis - for over 20 years. One of my all time favorite series. I just love the relationship between Alex and Milo. This is a great installment to the series and I highly recommend it. Really enjoyed this one!

Thank you #netgalley and #randomhouse-ballantine for the eARC.