Obsession

Author: Joseph Kellerman
Michael Joseph Ltd., £14.99

I RATHER felt that I should have read, or at least heard of, Joseph Kellerman before embarking on Obsession, the latest of his thirty-plus titles.

If you already know Kellerman’s books, this addition to the Alex Delaware series will no doubt be a very welcome addition. If not – a few words of warning. This book is best read in an American accent and might not appeal to the purist English grammarians out there. Why, some bits aren’t even proper sentences!

I was gripped by the very first paragraph: “Patty Bigelow hated surprises and did her best to avoid them. God had other ideas!” Granted, it was a gentle, curiosity-led gripped, rather than a ‘by your throat and won’t let go’ gripped, but Joseph had me. It was in chapter two my problems started – you know the bit where they rewind or fast forward and you suddenly don’t know where the heck you are?

Despite my confusion though, this is where the really clever bit came as I realised I was going to devote a fair chunk of time reading nearly 350 pages to try and uncover the crime and the victim. Yep – you read that right – we ‘know’ who committed the crime right up front. What psychologist Alex Delaware and his assorted buddies have to try and fathom out is: what ‘terrible thing’ was done and secondly, to whom?

If you like a good mystery, a story that romps along and a cast of interesting and dubious characters, you’ll certainly enjoy Obsession. It’s unlikely to keep you awake at night but it will keep you coming back for more. I can’t say I was that bothered about the victim by the time we finally caught up with them, but hey, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

8/10