True Detectives: A Novel

PI Aaron Fox and L.A. cop Moe Reed, interracial half-brothers who played minor roles in 2008's Bones, take center stage in bestseller Kellerman's routine 24th Alex Delaware novel. When Fox, who used to work for the LAPD, looks into the missing-persons case of 20-year-old Caitlin Frostig, he runs into conflict with Reed. The brothers end up pursuing some predictable lines of inquiry, checking out Rory Stoltz, Frostig's college boyfriend, as well as links to a filmmaker, Lem Dement, who's suspected of domestic abuse. More A-list connections surface after the investigators learn Stoltz was the personal assistant for actor Mason Book, whose rumored suicide attempt came shortly after Frostig's disappearance. The strains between Fox and Reed don't generate much heat, while the pacing and writing aren't up to Kellerman's best. Hopefully, Delaware and detective Milo Sturgis, relegated to cameos, will be back in their usual starring positions next time. (Mar. 24)
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Instead of the usual Delaware/Sturgis investigative duo, Kellerman returns to two new crime solvers, stepbrothers who appeared briefly in last year’s Bones. Though both are sons of cops, they couldn’t be more different. Biracial Aaron pulls in a sweet six figures as a PI, which allows him to indulge in Ferré shirts and Magli shoes; younger Moses, a forthright, muscle-bound blond, does things by the book for the LAPD. Childhood rivalries, misunderstandings, and different personalities have kept them at odds throughout their lives. Then, suddenly, they find themselves working on the same case: the disappearance of a young college student. Competitors at first, the brothers gradually become a kind of team, each one adding bits and pieces to a sprawling case that morphs into something completely different from what it was to begin with—involving a washed-up celebrity, an abusive Hollywood director, a drug pusher, a couple of prostitutes, and a missing baby. Kellerman continues to play fast and loose with his plotting, but everything eventually comes together here, with a few surprises. What’s best, though, is seeing Kellerman step outside of the all-too-familiar he relies on in the Delaware novels and introduce a couple of characters that have the potential to take his work in fresh directions. --Stephanie Zvirin