Jonathan Kellerman, True Detectives

True Detectives

Jonathan Kellerman

Ballantine, Mar 24 2009, $27.00

ISBN: 9780345495143

Half-brothers Moses Reed and Aaron Fox share the same mom, but have different fathers. Both became cops working for LAPD. However that is where the similarities end as Moses is middle class all the way while Aaron is upper crust. Finally Moses remains a police detective while Aaron left the force to open up an upper class private investigative firm.

Fox is hired to investigate the disappearance of twenty year old student Caitlin Frostig. He is shocked how good the coed behaved as Mother Teresa could not have been better and her grades are all "A"s. His inquiry runs into Reed who is doing his own investigation into the missing student. Both look closely at her college boyfriend Rory Stoltz and her single father. Clues lead to filmmaker Lem Dement and actor Mason Book.

The brothers made an appearance in the last Delaware-Sturgis thriller BONES and star in this investigative tale; Delaware and Sturgis play tertiary roles this time. The inquiry is fun to follow as the lead pair compete and team up in the search for an alleged perfect teen. However the emphasis on the antagonistic relationship bordering on dysfunctional between the siblings feels forced and intruding as their "Odd Couple" lifestyles would have been more than enough to emphasize their differing philosophies; though in fairness neither is close to the extremes of Oscar or Felix.

Harriet Klausner