Open Season by Jonathan Kellerman

Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio (6 February 2025)

Series: Alex Delaware – Book 40

Length: 9 hours and 10 minutes

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Still going strong after 40 Alex Delaware crime fiction novels, the always dependable Jonathan Kellerman presents another clever and captivating read with Open Season, an intense novel that proves very hard to put down.

Jonathan Kellerman is an excellent veteran author, whose massive body of work has been impressing crime fiction readers for decades. While he has a couple of big series, Kellerman is best known for his long-running Alex Delaware series, which follows titular protagonist Alex Delaware, a child psychologist, and his best friend, LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis as they investigate unusual or deranged murders around Los Angeles. This is a really great series, and ever since I came across it, I’ve made a major effort to read each new entry, especially as they also provide some great mysteries and complex police investigation narratives. Books like (The Wedding Guest, The Museum of Desire, Serpentine, City of the Dead, Unnatural History and The Ghost Orchid), have all been extremely amazing, and I eagerly await my new Alex Delaware hit at the start of each year. The latest entry in the series, Open Season, is the 40^th Alex Delaware novel, with Kellerman still going strong this far into the series.

Los Angeles is filled with all manner of dreamers and aspiring stars, but when one of them meets a tragic end, it falls to psychologist Alex Delaware and veteran homicide detective Milo Sturgis to find them justice. Called in to investigate the dumping of an aspiring actress’s drugged body near a hospital emergency room, Alex and Milo soon set their sights on a known abuser as a likely culprit. However, their hunt is prematurely ended when their suspect is found murdered, shot by a sniper.

Forced to switch to a new investigation, the two friends and their team are surprised to discover that the execution of the sexual predator is connected to two other unsolved homicides, with both additional victims shot from a distance using the same rifle. Determined to figure out how the cases are linked, the team uncover a web of seemingly unconnected innocent victims, each of whom appeared to have been killed for very different reasons.

With additional bodies starting to pile up around the city, Alex and Milo find themselves in a race to solve the case before more victims can be cut down. But are they facing a dangerous spree killer with no rhyme or reason to their actions, or a darker figure with their own complex rationales for murder? To solve the case and stop the shooter, these two friends will need to use all their combined skills to decipher their strange motivation before even more people wind up dead.

Jonathan Kellerman continues to deeply impress with this new addictive and captivating crime fiction novel that I couldn’t get another off. Featuring another brilliant and unique case, Open Season was an exceptional 40^th entry in the Alex Delaware series that takes the reader down some dark and twisty paths. This was a truly excellent read that I powered through in a very short amount of time.

Open Season was a particularly strong murder mystery from Kellerman, and I loved the compelling, multi-layered narrative that emerged. Once again bringing together his two loveable main characters, Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis, the two initially begin the book by investigating the murder of a young aspiring actress, drugged and dumped near a hospital. Starting off with the typical look at the victim and anyone who knew her, the detectives are quick to narrow in on a suspect, only for the story to take an interesting turn when their potential killer ends up dead. From there the story becomes a lot more complex, as the protagonists and a larger team begin to investigate the shooting of the first suspect, as well as several connected crimes. This allows for a larger story with a ton of distinctive potential witnesses and suspects, and the protagonists investigate in several different directions, adding a lot of different pieces to the puzzle.

Thanks to a series of varied clues, compelling research and additional discovered killings, the protagonists eventual narrow down on a potential suspect with interesting connections to each of the victims. Without giving too much away, I felt that the overall solution for Open Season’s investigation was very clever, and it nicely tied into each of the victims/cases that make up the larger mystery. The motivations for the killer were very unique and memorable, so it proved quite fascinating to see how the protagonists identified the antagonist and led to a great conclusion to the overall story. I particularly enjoyed the final confrontation that the protagonists had with the killer towards the end of the book, and it wrapped the story up perfectly. An overall excellent murder mystery narrative that will have you hooked all the way to the end.

I deeply enjoy Kellerman’s style for the Alex Delaware books and he really knows how to pull together a fascinating and intense police investigation narrative. The author prefers a slow and methodical style of investigation as the protagonists pull together various clues and connections and work them into their various theories, which always adds a great touch of realism to proceedings. There is a particular reliance on diving into the personal histories of the victims and suspects that Kellerman enjoys, which works to drag the reader further into the plot as they become even more invested in the investigations. I felt that Kellerman’s typical style worked particularly well in Open Season, and I loved the complex investigation that emerged. The multiple separate murders and the large array of connected people associated with each case allowed for a particularly elaborate story, and Kellerman carefully allowed his protagonists to explore these different elements allowing for compelling drive to the big conclusion around who was responsible. I felt that Kellerman did an excellent job layering the more important clues around the case throughout the entire story, and it was very interesting to see what discussions or personal details came into play later. I really got invested in Open Season’s complex case as a result, and this proved to be a particularly clever and well written mystery that deeply enhanced Kellerman’s already excellent story.

In addition to the very well-written story, Kellerman features some interesting characters and interactions in Open Season that help to create a unique feel that fans of the Alex Delaware series will be very familiar with. Much of this lies with the two main characters, Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis, who have an established and comfortable way of speaking with each other. These two characters, both of whom are quirky in their own ways, are an excellent centre for the story, and I love how well the play off each other. While their dialogue can be a little unique and occasionally flippant, Kellerman has spent a lot of time developing their patter, and you grow to appreciate the way these two characters work together. In addition to their usual discussions, Open Season also had some more personal interactions between the two, especially when Alex is forced to keep some information from the team to protect the confidence of a medical professional. I also liked how this was one of the Alex Delaware novels where the protagonist got to use his expertise as a psychologist to try to get to the root of the various suspects potential motivations. This psychological work comes into play nicely, especially once they identify who the killer is, and it helped to give Open Season more of a distinctive edge away from other crime fiction reads.

While most of Open Season’s focus is on Alex and Milo, Kellerman also introduces an array of interesting supporting characters, each of whom are connected to the case in some specific way. I really enjoyed the unique collection of characters that emerged, and there are some interesting storylines and connections that emerge thanks to the protagonists constant digging into the past. The characters that get the most attention are some of the victims of the case, whose lives are explored in detail by the detectives. Despite not interacting with the protagonists or readers while alive, you get to know all the victims thanks to interviews with their friends and families. These many detailed interviews not only provide key information about who the victims are and potential motivations for their murders, but they also provide compelling and emotional testimony from those that loved them, which ensures that the reader becomes very invested in finding out who killed them. You also meet a compelling group of people connected to the victims, who serve as witnesses, sources of information or suspects (sometimes all at once) in the case. Due to the nature of Open Season’s story, you meet quite a few supporting characters, often for only a scene or two. Kellerman makes these appearances count, though, and I liked some of the unique interactions that occurred, even if some of these characters were a little weird or had an unrealistic way of communicating. The eventually revealed killer was particularly outrageous when eventually revealed, which I personally thought was very entertaining, although I could see some readers finding him to be too over-the-top. Still, all these characters added something to the plot, and I enjoyed the effective way in which Kellerman introduced and utilised them throughout the book.

While I usually try to get physical copies of the Alex Delaware novels, for Open Season I ended up listening to the audiobook version, which I felt was an excellent way to enjoy this amazing book. I personally find that the audiobook format does wonders for helping readers appreciate detailed and multilayered crime fiction narratives and Open Season was a great example of this, as I soon got drawn into every level of the author’s compelling mystery. Part of the reason this worked so well was narrator John Rubinstein, who has lent his voice to a large chunk of the Alex Delaware series. Rubinstein has a fun voice that lends itself to the occasionally zanier style of the Alex Delaware books and really brings the author’s complex narratives to life. I especially enjoy how Rubinstein perfectly captures the characters featured in Open Season, including the main protagonists, Alex and Milo. A great example of this is the very distinctive voice that Rubinstein utilises for Milo, which really captures the man’s complex and entertaining nature, and frankly I don’t know any other way how this character could be voiced. The narrator also successfully captures the distinctive patter that the two main protagonists have between each other, and the way conversation flows between them in the audiobook is a ton of fun. The various other characters featured with Open Season are also well represented, and I loved the colourful array of voices and accents that Rubinstein utilises for the supporting cast and various witnesses that protagonists encounter. While a few of these voices are a little over-the-top, I personally liked them, and I felt it fit the long-running and distinctive series tone extremely well. This exceptional narration allowed me to absolutely power through Open Season’s roughly nine-hour long run time, and I had such a blast picking up every single clue or compelling character interaction in this format. As such, I would strongly recommend the audiobook version of Open Season to anyone interested in checking this mystery out, and I can personally guarantee it makes for great entertainment on a long trip.

Even after all these years, Jonathan Kellerman still shines as one of the masters of the crime fiction genre. The 40^th Alex Delaware novel, Open Season, was an outstanding addition to the series, and I love the compelling and awesome narrative that emerged. Slick, addictive and featuring some interesting twists, Open Season was a truly impressive read, and I am still having so much fun with Jonathan Kellerman’s incredible books.