''The Murder Book'' is a

mystery novel Mystery is a fiction genre where the nature of an event, usually a murder or other crime, remains mysterious until the end of the story. Often within a closed circle of suspects, each suspect is usually provided with a credible motive and a reas ...

by American author

Jonathan Kellerman Jonathan Seth Kellerman (born August 9, 1949) is an American novelist, psychologist, and Edgar- and Anthony Award–winning author best known for his popular mystery novels featuring the character Alex Delaware, a child psychologist who consult ...

Plot introduction

During a surprise trip to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Alex Delaware Alex Delaware is a literary character created by American writer Jonathan Kellerman. The Alex Delaware detective series begins with ''When the Bough Breaks'', published in 1985. Delaware appears in 32 of Kellerman's popular murder mysteries. Kel ...

's girlfriend Robin announces that she will be working as part of the road crew for a rock music tour, while Alex remains at home. The split is hard on Alex, who uses the time to question his relationship with Robin as well as to start drinking heavily. An enigmatic package arrives at Alex's house containing a photo album of violent photographs depicting victims of various cases. Labeled the Murder Book, Alex's friend, homicide detective Milo Sturgis, inspects the book and is disturbed by the image of the body of a young woman, who had been tortured, strangled and dumped. The murder was one of Milo's first cases as a rookie homicide cop.

Characters

*Alex Delaware - A psychologist and Milo's best friend *Milo Sturgis - A gay Police detective who is Alex's best friend *Pierce Schwinn - A former detective who was Milo's partner *Marge Schwinn- Pierce's widow *Robin Castagna- Alex's partner *John G Broussard - Chief of Police *Bert Harrison- an old friend of Alex, a psychologist *Janie Ingalls- the girl who was murdered *Melinda Waters- a girl who was with Janie the night she died, now an attorney *Willie Burns- a blind former junkie who witnessed the murder *Craig Bosc- a detective who messes with Milo in the investigation *Allison Gwynn- a rape victim of one of the suspects *Rick Silverman- an ER doctor and Milo's partner *Wayne Covey- a rich car repairman 2002 American novels Novels by Jonathan Kellerman Ballantine Books books {{2000s-crime-novel-stub