Capital Crimes

October 16, 2006
The second collaboration by bestsellers Jonathan and Faye Kellerman (after Double Homicide
) offers two thin novellas that dedicated fans will most appreciate. In the first, My Sister's Keeper
, Faye Kellerman's LAPD detective Peter Decker makes an extended cameo role in an inquiry into the murder of an activist lesbian California state representative, Davida Grayson. Grayson, who was the focus of threats from politicians and members of the radical right opposed to her support for stem-cell research, is found shot to death in her Berkeley office; an uninspired pair of local police find that the dead woman's personal relationships, rather than her politics, may have motivated the killer. The second story, Music City Breakdown
, gives Jonathan Kellerman's consulting psychologist, Alex Delaware, a little more to do after Nashville detectives probing the stabbing murder of recording artist Jack Jeffries learn that Delaware had been treating the dead man. The solution is as unsurprising as that of My Sister's Keeper
.

November 15, 2006
In their second joint volume of novellas (after Double Homicide), the Kellermans allow cameo appearances by their series characters Detective Peter Decker (Faye's LAPD hero) and Dr. Alex Delaware (Jonathan's consulting psychologist). In "My Sister's Keeper," the murder of California state legislator Davida Grayson has numerous suspects, including those opposed to her sexual orientation and her advocacy of stem-cell research. With wit and wry humor, a pair of unconventional partners cracks the case. Nashville is the scene of "Music City Breakdown," in which detectives must determine who had the motive and opportunity to murder a hard-living, has-been 1960s icon. While the sleuths on this case are less engaging, the plotting still works until the final chapters, where the culprit's behavior and tone don't fit with this character's first appearance in the story. This is a better collection than the Kellermans' first joint mystery. Both novellas exhibit a strong sense of place, fast plotting, solid character development, and good dialog; the first piece is the stronger of the two. Neither story is definitively attributed to either writer. Recommended for all public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 8/06.]Amy Brozio-Andrews, Albany P.L.

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2006
The Kellermans have been writing together and separately for decades. Their latest collaboration seems thrown together and listless compared with the high suspense they are capable of generating. This book houses two novellas set in two different state capitals. Each has a different writing style, grating in its own way. The first novella, "My Sister's Keeper," takes the high-romance road toward inflated writing. Set in Berkeley, California, the story centers on the murder of Congresswoman Davida Grayson in her office. Berkeley Police Detective William Barnes, who has known Grayson for years, takes the case, which, naturally presents a host of suspects including Davida's partner, who announces dramatically (and unnecessarily in 2006): "I'm Minette. Her lover." Hackeneyed plot with stilted dialogue. The second novella, "Music City Breakdown," swings the other way, with self-consciously tough-guy prose and a formulaic plot focusing on the murder of an L.A. singer transplanted to Nashville. The dialogue sounds forced throughout, the plot plods along, barely overcoming nearly indigestible chunks of backstory. The Kellermans' track record ensures demand for this distinctly lesser effort, but even devoted fans are likely to be disappointed.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)