Night Moves: An Alex Delaware Novel

In bestseller Kellerman’s exceptionally well-plotted 33rd mystery featuring L.A. psychologist Alex Delaware (after 2017’s Heartbreak Hotel), Alex’s close friend on the LAPD, Lt. Milo Sturgis, asks for his help in investigating a gruesome murder. When Chet Corvin, a senior vice president in a reinsurance firm; his wife, Felice; and their two children returned home from a restaurant one night, they found a dead man in their den with his face blasted off and his hands severed. The Corvins all insist that they have no idea who he is, let alone why the killer would have left him in their house. The only potential lead is Chet’s alerting Alex and Milo that one of their neighbors, Trevor Bitt, is weird. The pair soon learn that Bitt is a legendary artist, best known for comic book illustrations of disturbing subjects, and their suspicions are heightened by Bitt’s refusal to speak with them. Another murder only makes the case murkier. The leads’ bantering friendship lightens an otherwise grim story. Newcomers will find this an easy entry point into this long-running series. Agent: Barney Karpfinger, Karpfinger Agency. (Feb.)