Blog Tour: book Review Lost Souls by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman

Available here

Absolutely thrilled to bits to be part of the Lost Souls Blog Tour and to be posting my review today. 
Thanks to Century Books, Cornerstone Publicity and Netgalley for the opportunity to be part of the Lost Souls Blog Tour.
Lost Souls is available from 23rd July in Hardback and is a stunning collaboration between father and son Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman

Here's The Blurb

A DETECTIVE UNDER PRESSURE

Deputy Coroner Clay Edison is juggling a new baby who won’t sleep with working the graveyard shift. For once he’s trying to keep things simple.

A HAUNTING DISCOVERY

When infant remains are found by developers demolishing a local park, a devastating cold case is brought back to light.

A DESPERATE SEARCH FOR ANSWERS

Clay has barely begun to investigate when he receives a call from a man who thinks the remains could belong to his sister – who went missing fifty years ago. Now Clay is locked in a relentless search that will unearth a web of violence, secrets and betrayal.

Because in this town, the past isn’t dead. It’s very much alive. And it can kill.

My Thoughts

I've long been a fan of the Kellermans writing and have followed both Jonathan's Delaware series and Faye's Decker/Lazarus. This collaboration between father and son is fantastic. The third in the series, it is the first one I have read, but it can easily be read as a standalone. 

I often wonder with collaborations if the narrative will be stilted, but fear not, the narrative is seamlessly woven and compelling throughout.

I particularly loved the juxtapositon of Clay, the coroner, being a new father and the mystery of the remains of a child found in Peoples' Park, in Berkeley traditionally associated with the Free Speech movement, plus the fifty-year old disappearance of  a baby girl. I enjoyed Clay's character as a father juggling his love and responsibility to his wife and daughter with his innate desire to solve the historic mystery - it made for a thought-provoking and empathetic read. 

Throw in some racists, demonstrations against the demolition work in the park, the many questions that Clay keeps unearthing as he digs deeper and you are guaranteed a thrilling read. 

I love a good mystery where the clues are dropped in at key points and the twists keep coming to keep me on my toes.  The atmosphere was further enhanced by skillful description of the area, reminiscences and the ongoing demonstrations to protect free speech. In many ways this is a novel of our times. A novel that values truth, honesty and integrity whilst working within the parameters of reality and the constraints of day to day struggles. 

I found Clay a particularly likable character and now I have some new books to add to my ever increasing TBR pile. This is a series I'll definitely be catching up with. 

Meet the authors

Jonathan Kellerman is the Number One New York Times bestselling author of more than forty crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, The Butcher's Theater, Billy Straight, The Conspiracy Club, Twisted, True Detectives , and The Murderer's Daughter. With his wife, bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, he co-authored Double Homicide and Capital Crimes. With his son, bestselling novelist Jesse Kellerman, he co-authored Crime Scene, The Golem of Hollywood, and The Golem of Paris. He is also the author of two children's books and numerous nonfiction works, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children and With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars. He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association, and has been nominated for a Shamus Award. 

Jesse Kellerman won the Princess Grace Award for best young American playwright and is the author of Sunstroke, Trouble, The Genius (for which he won the 2010 Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle), The Executor, and Potboiler (for which he was nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel). He lives in California.