Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis have to do some deep investigative work to solve the difficult case of The Ghost Orchid by Jonathan Kellerman.

Thanks to NetGalley for an early read of the latest book in the Alex Delaware series. As with all of Jonathan Kellerman’s books, I couldn’t put the book down. A double homicide - a married woman and her lover. The husband perhaps a too convenient suspect? A sordid tale begins to evolve as more becomes known about the woman’s past, uncovered by the dogged determination of Alex and Milo to leave no stone unturned to identify the murderer. Great to spend time once again with this dynamic duo and their counterparts.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC of this book. I've been a fan of Alex and Milo for many years and this story didn't disappoint. It's a good old-fashioned mystery with distinctive dialogue I'd come to expect from JK. Two dead naked bodies at a luxurious home in LA. Figuring out who the target was and who was collateral damage was up to Milo's with help from Alex. I enjoyed the story of how they figured out the puzzle and came to a carefully constructed conclusion. Once solved Alex was back to doing what he does best.- being a psychologist. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a solid mystery.

Ebook/Thriller: I thought this book wasn't going to have an ending because sometimes you can't get into the mind of a malignant narcissist. I really liked this book because it was procedural with lots of Milo.
The interviews at the end and the parallelism between Milo's case and Alex's client wrapped it up nicely.

I am proud to say I have read all 39 books in the Alex Delaware series! I've been a fan since When the Bough Breaks came out in 1985. All 39 are good books with most being really, really good. This one was really, really good. Detective Milo Sturgis asks friend/consultant Alex Delaware to help him with a double-murder. The son of the owner of an Italian shoe empire and his married neighbor are the victims. Question is.... who was the intended victim? What follows is a pretty crazy story. I love the rapport between Alex and Milo and their long friendship. That aspect seemed a little more back on track, as I didn't quite feel it as much in a couple of the previous stories. It was also great to see a little more of Robin, Alex's longtime girlfriend with a little bit bigger part. These characters are all like old friends to me and I highly recommend the entire series. This can be read as a standalone if you prefer, you will just miss out on so much history and backstories, but either way, don't miss out on Alex Delaware!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Jonathan Kellerman and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Instagram and other retail and social media sites upon publication.

Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware Series is one of my favorites! This was a well written and engaging book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

"In an isolated area of Bel Air, a pool boy discovers a man and woman shot in the backyard of a house. Milo brings Alex in to consult and they quickly find the couple was having an affair. As they dig into each victim's background, they struggle to find which one the killer came for. Was it both? Jealous husband? What secrets are worth killing for?"

Kellerman still finds ways to keep a story fresh. Milo is dealing with the guilt of the assault on Alex from the last book so he's using kid gloves to keep Alex as far from things as possible. This is a straight-up police procedural. They follow clues to find answers. With Alex there is always a psychological aspect. This often drives the direction the team will search. Kellerman keeps the killer right out of view so you won't guess.
I like that Kellerman throws in an Easter Egg for one of his nonfiction books. And Robin's work as a luthier is always fascinating.

Another great Alex Delaware story. Can be read as a standalone.

Thanks to Random House-Ballatine Books and Johnathan Kellerman for the opportunity to read THE GHOST ORCHID, to be published 6 February 2024. 4/5 Stars for this police procedural in which a forensic psychologist, Alex Delaware and a detective, Milo Sturgis, work to solve a double homicide in Los Angeles. I felt the frustration they incurred trying to get to the bottom of this crime. The definition of the Ghost Orchid fits it perfectly as it has "no solid roots, is parasitic, rare and hard to locate." Great read. #RandomHouse-Ballantine #TheGhostOrchid #JohnathanKellerman

love Alex and Milo. Meagin March and itailian shoe empire heir are found murdered. Meagin is a married woman who lives dowm the street. Meagin is not who she is protraying. So who is she. Will Milo be able to figure it out. Thanks Netgalley

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced digital copy of this book.

The ghost orchid is a rare parasitical plant that attaches itself to a tree for sustenance, but doesn't really do any harm to the tree. It has a weird, some would say ugly, bloom and is found only in one specific marshy area of Florida. Apparently, one of the victims of a grisly double murder identified with this plant enough to pain it.

But who WAS this woman? She was, as the detectives finally realize, an enigma. They have trouble tracing her further back than a few years when she left Las Vegas on a whim with three other women and moved to Los Angeles. She was murdered alongside a wealthy Italian man/boy whose family supported his extravagant lifestyle as long as he remained outside of Italy. They were found near the swimming pool at his house, where they had been swimming, drinking and having sex. All while her husband was out of town on business and seemed not to know anything about his wife before their marriage a year and a half before.

Why were these two murdered? Was just one the target and the other collateral damage? Detective Milo Sturgis calls in his psychiatrist best friend Alex Delaware to help get some answers. And they DO finally get some answers, but now before facing several dead ends and no answers.

As usual, this is a weird one, but that seems to be the only ones Alex Delaware gets involved with. The final result is not very satisfying, as far as answers and justice, but it is VERY sad.

This is not one of the best Alex Delaware novels. I found it very boring and struggled to finish the book. There is not enough of Delaware’s home life, which should be integral in the book, as in the previous novels. Yet again we are subjected to the endless descriptions of the roads he and Milo travel to locations. If you really wanted to have the reader know where they were going, include a map in the book instead of this boring page filler. Once the case begins to be interesting, we are then subjected to more filler as the plot then dribbles along. Even the detectives are bored and pulled off the case. I thought the shootout plot portion unrealistic.

Reading any Kellerman novel is a great way to spend a weekend. In this one Milo is investigating the murders of a young man and older (a Cougar?) woman in Bel Air. They are found at the pool and unclothed. Alex had been badly hurt previously and was bored because Milo had not brought him into any new cases. That alone made him more than willing to step in. They learned the man (the owner of the house) was a twenty something son of wealthy shoe manufacturers in Italy. The woman was the wife of an exceedingly wealthy realtor and when they examined the house, they found hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of her jewelry in the bedroom. Their investigation leads to false identities, more murders, childhood abuse and a plot that was not only complex but also complicated. The ending, even better. Thanks to Net Galley and Ballantine Books for an ARC for an honest review.

This is the 39th book in the Alex Delaware series and the third one I’ve read. As with all of the books, this can be read as a standalone, but they are a much richer experience if you have the back story between Alex and Milo that the previous books give you.

Alex and Milo’s relationship takes a story that would typically be a traditional police procedural and turns it into much more. The development of their friendship and interactions adds a layer that most similar stories lack. I loved witnessing Alex and Milo traverse this period after Alex was injured on a case with Milo and Milo’s reluctance to put Alex again in a dangerous situation. It felt authentic and provided an exciting plotline as the case progressed.

This is a thriller, so I don’t want to say too much about it, but I have one non-spoiler tidbit to share. This story has two murders, and our duo doesn’t know which person was the target. So not only does the reader have a murder mystery they can solve, but they also can solve the mystery of who was the target. It was so much fun and helped keep the pacing consistent, the suspense level high, and me focused.

This is another excellent story in the Alex Delaware series!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
"The Ghost Orchid" is #39 in Mr. Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series & I have been a fan & reader of this series from the very beginning.
As I have stated before, I love this series because I love the relationship that exists between the 2 main characters, Alex & Miles, & I love how all of the murder mysteries that they are involved in are very complex, original & well thought out.
Many series authors become stale over time but not in this case.
"The Ghost Orchid" was another winner for me. It had alot of twists & turns that kept me very interested & entertained that I couldn’t wait to find some free time everyday to be able to continue reading it.
I am anxiously waiting for book #40.

More like a 3.75 stars for me but I can round up. A solid Alex Delaware novel with characters I am comfortable with after an astonishing 39 novels. An interesting premise to have two murder victims and have it not be clear for sometime who was the actual target and who was collateral damage. I did find the side story related to the custody dispute to be a bit random and seemed tacked on. But otherwise, a solid job in teasing out the mystery in a compelling way.

I've been a fan of Jonathan Kellerman's since swiping his books from my mom's nightstand, so I was excited to receive this ARC. In The Ghost Orchid, Dr. Alex Delaware and his longtime friend Milo Sturgis investigate the double homicide of a playboy and his married lover. As always, the story moves along briskly and is enjoyable from start to finish. If I had one criticism, it would be occasional purple prose ("ocular emeralds" to describe Milo's eyes, for example), but that small issue aside, this is another solid entry that longtime fans are sure to enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I have been reading Jonathan Kellerman's books since the very first one was published. Once again, Kellerman doesn't disappoint. This book starts off where the last one ended, with psychologist and police consultant Alex Delaware recuperating from being attacked by a serial killer. He's on the mend, struggling with the aftermath of the brutal attack, and missing his best friend, Los Angeles homicide detective Milo Sturgis, and the rest of the team he consults with. Milo is giving Alex time to R&R, not to mention bottling up his own feeling that he could have prevented his friend's attack. After Alex's girlfriend Robin calls Milo to say Alex is ready to return to work consulting, the plot segues to the latest murder mystery. Alex's psychological expertise is critical to solving what seems to be an unsolvable murder case, since one of the victims seems to have no history. Once again, Kellerman skilfully and sensitively draws the reader in to the case, the cast of characters. His beautiful prose and masterful storytelling, as usual, caused me to read the entire book over 2 days, slowly savoring every word.
Jonathan Kellerman is one of my favorite authors, and I eagerly await his new book, often unable to get into the next book in my TBR pile, because his books are so great that I am disappointed by anything that isn't as good. If you like murder mysteries and good storytelling, read this book, then go back to the first book in the series and keep reading. You'll be glad that you did.

Sometimes, even psychologists get the blues. This, the 39th book in the series, opens with Dr. Alex Delaware not quite sure how to deal with his longtime friend, Los Angeles Police Detective Milo Sturgis. As they worked together on a previous case, Alex was seriously injured, and Milo feels responsible and has been keeping his distance by not calling Alex in to help with investigations as he usually does. That changes a little bit, though, when does need help at a crime scene in Bel Air; two victims, a man and a woman, have been shot through the heart, and Milo doesn't yet know who to blame.

The man, part of a family that owns a ritzy Italian shoe company, lives here, and the woman - who's married to someone else - lives in an even more oppulent home just down the street. With the bodies found outside and no signs of anything missing from the house, both Milo and Alex suspect that their presumably illicit affair could be a motive. But the husband, a successful businessman who's on the road far more often than at home, insists he knew nothing about the affair.

Little by little, clues pile up that suggest the dead woman might not be who she's been claiming to be - thus raising the possibility of an entirely different motive and an expanded search for the killer. Ferreting out her background, though, is no easy task - and Milo brings in other trusted department colleagues who are familiar to fans of the series to help. In the midst of the investigation, another body turns up - further complicating matters. A major turning point comes when Alex's longtime main squeeze, guitar restorer Robin, identifies an important clue (one that relates to the book title). To that end, I must say it was a treat to see Robin play a bit greater role than usual in this installment - as well as a little less of the descriptions of every street that Milo and Alex drive down (don't get me wrong - I enjoy that part, but sometimes it gets to be a bit much).

Of course, everything works out in the end, as does a potentially nasty situation with one of Alex's private patients that's a secondary thread throughout the latter part of the book. And oh yes, for those who haven't read other books in the series, don't sweat it; this one stands on its own. As for me, I'll just thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me once again to read and review a pre-release copy. Now bring on the next one!

Milo Sturgis and Alex Delaware are back in The Ghost Orchid - Book 39 in the series.

"In an isolated area of Bel Air, a pool boy discovers a man and woman shot in the backyard of a house. Milo brings Alex in to consult and they quickly find the couple was having an affair. As they dig into each victim's background, they struggle to find which one the killer came for. Was it both? Jealous husband? What secrets are worth killing for?"

Kellerman still finds ways to keep a story fresh. Milo is dealing with the guilt of the assault on Alex from the last book so he's using kid gloves to keep Alex as far from things as possible. This is a straight-up police procedural. They follow clues to find answers. With Alex there is always a psychological aspect. This often drives the direction the team will search. Kellerman keeps the killer right out of view so you won't guess.
I like that Kellerman throws in an Easter Egg for one of his nonfiction books. And Robin's work as a luthier is always fascinating.

Another great Alex Delaware story. Can be read as a standalone.

Ghost Orchid is a suspenseful and gripping novel by renowned author Jonathan Kellerman. The story is centered around a psychologist, Alex Delaware, as he delves into a mysterious murder case that leads him into the dark and twisted world of the rich and powerful. Kellerman expertly weaves together complex characters and a riveting plot, keeping readers on the edge of their seats until the very end.
In this book, Kellerman skilfully combines psychological suspense with intense storytelling to create a thrilling read that will captivate readers. The intricate web of secrets and lies will keep you guessing until the final page.
I highly recommend this book.