"Deception" by Jonathan Kellerman: 4 stars

I have to start by saying I enjoyed the book. I didn't love it but I enjoyed it. Even so, I didn't feel like I was reading an Alex Delaware novel -- at least not the kind Kellerman used to write. As I read this book, I felt that Delaware wasn't acting as a psychologist but more of a ridealong sidekick to Milo. Other than the periodic references to Robin and his French bulldog, I felt it could have any been another detective with Milo and the book would have been the same. Delaware even did internet searches that any rookie cop could have done.

As a basic detective mystery, I enjoyed it. The plot had plenty of twists and turns that kept me from guessing the killer. Just when you think it is one kind of murder mystery, things change and you start to think it is something else and then it changes again. That kept things interesting.

The book didn't have as strong a sense of place as previous novels in the series, but I did learn a new architectual term -- dingbat. When an apartment building was described as being a dingbat, I had to go online to see what kind of building that was -- and it must be a fairly California type because I've never seen anything like that in Minnesota.

I hope Kellerman brings back more psychological aspects to future books in the series, but at least it was an interesting and entertaining read.

I got this book from the library.  Support your local library!