Alex Delaware: A Mysterious Profile

By Jonathan Kellerman

The #1 New York Times–bestselling author discusses his early days as a writer and the creation of his beloved psychologist and sleuth.

In 1985, clinical child psychologist Alex Delaware made his debut in the mystery novel When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman. But how did Kellerman create a character who would go on to win him Edgar and Anthony Awards for best first novel and make him a number-one New York Times–bestselling author?


Discover in this short read how Delaware and his friend and partner, police detective Milo Sturgis, came to be. Inside, Kellerman shares his initial struggles with the publishing world and the story behind his first success. He also details when he realized he had a series on his hands and how he developed his heroes into the characters who continue to delight millions of readers decades later.

Praise for the Alex Delaware Novels
"Startling . . . Charged with suspense. This one is simply too good to miss." —Stephen King on Over the Edge
"Harrowing . . . The work of a novelist of uncommon insight and storytelling skill." —Los Angeles Times
"High-powered . . . Alex Delaware is no ordinary psychologist. . . . He is also a born detective." —The New York Times
"An engrossing thriller. . . . This knockout of an entertainment is the kind of book which establishes a career in one stroke." —Newsday on When the Bough Breaks

• Language: English
• Publisher: MysteriousPress.com Open Road
• Release date: May 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781504074469

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. 

Book preview

Alex Delaware

A Mysterious Profile

Jonathan Kellerman

Alex Delaware

Back when I practiced child clinical psychology if you visited my private office in Sherman Oaks, California; or my hospital digs at Childrens Hospital of LA, in east Hollywood; or the suite I shared with two pediatricians in Glendale, you’d find few clues about my personal life.

No photos of the wife or the kids propped on the desk, no shots of me driving fast cars or playing guitar or posed with Faye in Hawaii or Paris or Santa Fe or Jerusalem. Nothing but a few framed diplomas.

The successful—and ethical—practice of psychotherapy depends upon a thorough ego vacuuming: putting your own needs, desires, conceits, and fantasies into cold storage during the forty-five minutes you spend facing another human being in emotional crisis. Realizing it’s all about that person and not about you.

According to some schools of psychotherapeutic thought, an occasional smidgeon of self-disclosure—dribbling out judicious bits of autobiography in the name of empathy—can benefit the patient. But even proponents of that open approach are clear that the only shrinks qualified to risk exploiting their private lives as therapeutic tools need to be experienced, rigorously self-appraising, and acutely aware of psychological boundaries—the precise spots where they end and the patient begins.

One cardinal trait of an effective psychotherapist is the ability to actively listen, a talent that transcends gimmicky phrases such as I hear what you’re saying and depends on a sincere suspension of the judgmental self as well as a genuine interest in the emotional life of the patient. After a few years, learning to listen on twelve cylinders can carry over to the so-called real world. You start to do it outside the office.

During my years as a