THE WEDDING GUEST

4 stars out of 5

Ah, what could be better than another get-together of two of my favorite characters - police consultant and psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware and his curmudgeonly but lovable cohort Milo Sturgis? In this one, their back-and-forths seemed more frequent and provided greater insights into their characters (and their relationship) than usual - for me, much appreciated. Besides that, Alex's long-time love and guitar-maker Robin landed a more featured role - still another plus.

As the title suggests, this one begins with a wedding guest who didn't appear on the invitation list - not even as a plus one - and who for sure didn't get a great reception. In fact, she turns up dead; murdered with a combination of injected knockout drug and wire garrote reminiscent of a guitar string. No one can come up with an identity, and Milo calls Alex for help with the case. Fairly early on, it is learned that the somewhat unconventional venue used to be a seedy bar known for its equally seedy pole dancers, thus expanding the search beyond the rich and not-so-rich who enjoyed wedding guest-list status.

Despite their denials of anything connected to the victim, the families of the bride and groom - and the bride and groom themselves - remain on the suspect list (some very near the top). That in turn leads Alex and Milo down a number of aisles, most of which don't lead to blissful solutions. Finally, a previous case comes to light that rings bells in harmony, lifting the veil under which the real killer has been hiding.

And that brings me to the part that bothered me just a tiny bit. I can't be specific without spoiling things, but the ending seemed somehow disjointed - as if the usual suspects just weren't cutting it and a new ending was needed to deliver a more effective punch. That said, I enjoyed the book as a whole as always - Alex is in absolutely zero danger of dropping off my Top 10 list of all-time favorite book heroes. Given that this is the 34th in the series (all of which I've read), that's gotta be some kind of record. My undying gratitude goes to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.

The Wedding Guest by Jonathan Kellerman (Ballantine Books, February 2019); 384 pp.