Book Beginnings: City of the Dead

City of the Dead
(Alex Delaware #37)

Ballantine Books, February 2022

Opening Sentence

Four fifty-three in the morning was too early for anything.

 

About the Book

At 5am in the upscale neighborhood of Westwood Village, two removal men are making a routine pick-up when they make a fatal hit. It's a man — who appeared from nowhere — naked and with no means of identification.

Not long after, a woman is found dead in a house nearby, which neighbors suspect to be a brothel. Could the man have come from there?

When LAPD homicide lieutenant Milo Sturgis calls brilliant psychologist Alex Delaware to the scene, the case gets even more complicated. Delaware has met the woman before. She's a psychologist too.

Are the two deaths linked? Or is there a darker force at work? (--Penguin Books UK website)

 

Initial Thoughts

Ah, yes. When I read that first sentence, my first thought was "Amen!" I definitely admire all those people who can start getting things done that early, but I have trouble waking up before ten or eleven A.M. Even back when I was working and had to be in the office by eight A.M., I didn't wake up until ten or eleven. 

This is number 37 in Jonathan Kellerman's super-successful mystery series starring forensic psychologist Alex Delaware. I've only read one other book in the series, but really enjoyed it. And so far, I'm really enjoying this one, too. I had been going through a bit of a reading slump earlier this year, but City of the Dead has helped lift me out of it, at least for the moment. Hope to finish it up over the weekend. 

The first book in the series, When the Bough Breaks (1985) was adapted into a film starring Ted Danson as Alex Delaware. I haven't seen it, and Ted Danson doesn't really match my mental picture of Delaware, but he'd probably be good in the role. I'm not usually enthusiastic about seeing film versions of books I've enjoyed, but I do think this series would be great on screen. 

Have a good weekend, everyone.

And happy reading!

Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Friday. As she says, the idea is to post the first sentence (or so) of the book you're currently reading, along with any first impressions or thoughts you have about the book, the author, etc.  It's a wonderful way of adding new books to your must-read list, and a chance to connect with other readers and bloggers.