A Cold Heart: An Alex Delaware Novel

By Jonathan Kellerman

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Jonathan Kellerman's Guilt.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
 
LAPD homicide detective Milo Sturgis summons his friend psychologist-sleuth Alex Delaware to a trendy gallery where a promising young artist has been brutally garroted on the night of her first major showing. The details of the murder scene immediately suggest to Alex not an impulsive crime of passion but the meticulous and taunting modus operandi of a serial killer.
 
“No one does psychological suspense as well as Jonathan Kellerman.”—Detroit Free Press
 
Delaware’s suspicions are borne out when he and Milo find a link between the artist’s death and the murder of a noted blues guitarist. The twisting trail leads from halfway houses to palatial mansions, from a college campus to the last place Alex ever expected: the doorstep of his ex-lover Robin Castagna. As more killings are discovered, unraveling the maddening puzzle assumes a chilling new importance—stopping a vicious psychopath who’s made cold-blooded murder his chosen art form.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Apr 29, 2003
• ISBN: 9780345463654

Jonathan Kellerman

Jonathan Kellerman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty bestselling crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher’s Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted, and True Detectives. With his wife, bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, he coauthored Double Homicide and Capital Crimes. He is also the author of two children’s books and numerous nonfiction works, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children and With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and has been nominated for a Shamus Award. 

Reviews for A Cold Heart

[allthesedarnbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fast, twisted Kellerman. A good read.

[jenspeaks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Audiobook - listening to it on commute.Typical Kellerman - good stuff if disturbing subject matter.

[fmrox · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Alex Delaware, foresenic psychologist to the LAPD works with Milo Sturgis, LA Detective to solve a case that began with a phone call from a former child killer. Eventually the case involves eight dead bodies, abuse of the foster care system, and a rift with Alex's new girlfriend , Allison.I don't get the ending of this story. The who dunnit was all supposition. And, the why was never fully disclosed. The resolution was weak and only brought more questions then answers. Kellerman likes to bring backcharactes but I don't think he's going to finish this story in another book. Also, the whole strain on his relationship with Allison seemed forced and out of place.

[marthahuntley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I read Jonathan Kellerman books years ago and really liked them, and then for some reason stopped. This one I got as an audio book, and find that, for me, Kellerman is perfect for listening-in-the-car. The dialogue is engaging, very interesting and clips along and there is enough of it that it simplifies trying to keep the somewhat complicated plot in mind. This story was bloody and sad, but certainly held my attention and had me rooting for the good guys and "agin" the villain. I thought the ending,which was criticized by some other readers, indeed left a lot of things up in the air, but was very satisfying. I liked Rage so much as an audio read that I went out and bought three more Alex Delaware audio books.

[fantasma_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really like Kellerman's books, but I was always feel he goes on and on for too long...

[capewood · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A long forgotten blues guitar player is attempting a comeback when he is brutally murdered outside the club he is playing at. After a police detective see some superficial relationships between this killing and murders of other artists he calls in Alex Delaware, LA psychologist and part-time police consultant. This is the 17th Delaware book but I've only read a few. The stories are pretty good but Delaware comes across to me as a bit whiny in his personal life.

[cyndavaz · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A passable entry in the Alex Delaware series; not horrible, but not something to highly recommend.Spoiler alert - I'm glad Robin and Alex are no longer together, as I never liked her from the beginning ... but I can't help but feel that the author is attempting to paint the newest love interest in an unflattering light. This became evident in the way he described how she looked while sleeping. Perhaps this is a petty issue, but my dislike of Robin is such that anyone other than her is greatly appreciated - but the author seems to feel differently. So I can't help but wonder ... if Kellerman feels that way about Robin, then why even create the final separation between Alex and Robin in the first place - unless it was a desperate attempt to breathe fresh life into a series that has become just 'so-so'.

[readingwithtea · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

“The witness remembers it like this:…”The LAPD are perplexed when a middle-aged blues guitarist and a promising young artist with a druggy past are murdered in quick succession. Petra Conner, reserved detective with a recent break-up, and Alex Delaware, ex-police psychologist, are both intrigued by the cases and feel duty-bound to follow them up.This had the potential to be a great thriller – two sort-of linked cases, both of which are pretty cold, with tenacious investigators, and all sorts of crazy characters lurking on the sidelines. The main characters are strong, tough people with recent personal relationship issues but no bizarre behaviour which can be so limiting in police procedurals.HOWEVER.The two main characters (ignoring Milo, who according the blurb is the lynchpin but I didn’t even know who he was when I read the blurb again to do this review) are so similar, with such similar recent relationship troubles, and both perspectives are told in the first person singular, that I actually got the characters mixed up and was really confused when they seemed to be hanging out with people they didn’t know.Ergo – narrative weakness. And when the plot hadn’t grabbed me by page 100 enough to overcome the extremely confusing double/same character issue, on the DNF list it went.

[henrimoreaux · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Overall I found this to be okay, however I found that the first person narrative from a mixture of characters detracted from the ease of reading. For example one chapter began "When I left Robin's house..." however you have no idea who the "I" is as the last chapter was a different character in a different location and there are no indicative titles per chapter.

In terms of the plot, it was actually quite good, it wasn't one of those books where you already know who did it before your a quarter of the way through so it has that going for it.

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was not one of the best Alex Delaware books but I still enjoyed it. Petra makes another appearance in this book with a new partner Eric. Alex is with a new love interest and Robin is living with a new man. Lots to complicate their personal lives.

There are several murders in and around the LA area as well as others around the country that Alex thinks might be related. Petra is trying to solve one, Milo another and others have given up on some of theirs or put them down to things like drugs. There are many heads required to solve this one.

[mrtall_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I remember trying an Jonathan Kellerman/Alex Delaware potboiler some time ago, and not being all that impressed. Well, either he's improved or my standards have been compromised, because I found this recent offering to be good entertainment.

[mahallett · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

ok. had trouble remembering the peripheral characters on cd.

[amacmillen_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Another serial killer thriller. Alex Delaware is involved in solving a series of murders where want-a-be arts are being murder. The person committing the killings is a college professor who thinks he is better artist than his victims.

[lbswiener · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A Cold Heart is a book that picks up speed as it goes along. Not until the last few chapters does it really have a good suspenseful story. It is not one of Jonathan Kellerman's better Alex Delaware stories but it is still worthy of the four stars that were awarded in this review.

[darrol_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked this one. Good police work abetting Delaware's (still too good) guess. The identity of the perp followed a too obvious pattern, and the initial suspect too much of an obvious red herring. I was hoping that it was a red herring for something else, something that did play a role, but the good police work saved the story. Petra Conner's new partner is interesting, and I hope he continues.