Books like Self-defense by Jonathan Kellerman
When Los Angeles detective Milo Sturgis brings Lucy Lowell to Dr. Alex Delaware, he is looking for a warning. Lucy survived the brutal trial of a serial killer, yet nightmares of a child in a forest now seep into her waking life. Delaware, who rarely takes private patients, senses the dream could be more than a torment—it may be a suppressed childhood memory tied to a real crime. As he probes deeper, the case unravels a complex web of trauma, memory, and murder.
First publish date: 1995
Genre: Mystery & Detective/Private Investigator
Authors: Jonathan Kellerman
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Books similar to Self-defense (27 similar books)
Alicia Berenson, a celebrated painter, shoots her husband Gabriel and then falls silent, becoming a media sensation. In North London’s Grove secure unit, psychotherapist Theo Faber devotes himself to uncovering why she became the Silent Patient and his own true motives.
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A 2012 crime thriller that explores a marriage in turmoil as one wife disappears, leaving her husband to confront suspicion and secrets.
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Reporter Camille Preaker returns to her hometown after a brief stay in a psychiatric hospital to cover the murders of two preteen girls, and must confront the trauma of her own past to uncover the truth.
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Walter Hartright, a drawing master, becomes entangled with Laura Fairlie, Sir Percival Glyde, and the scheming Count Fosco as questions of identity and madness intertwine in 19th‑century England.
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Psychologist Alex Delaware stalked by a sinister voice and a series of untimely deaths linked to a former child‑psychology clinic, forcing him to unravel a dark pattern before he becomes the next victim.
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An eleven-year-old boy’s corpse is found in a park, and all evidence points to Flint City’s beloved coach, Terry Maitland. A detective’s quick arrest leads to a tense investigation where DNA, alibis, and hidden truths collide.
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Psychologist Alex Delaware and LAPD cop Milo Sturgis team up to chase a serial killer whose twisted motives and clever tactics keep the police and forensic psychologists on their toes.
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Psychologist detective Alex Delaware is drawn into a tangled mystery when a former lover, Sharon Ransom, dies under suspicious circumstances, forcing him to confront a web of secrets spanning California's elite and his own past.
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Psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware and Detective Milo Sturgis race against a dangerous inmate’s foreknowledge to stop a string of brutal murders in Los Angeles.
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When Los Angeles celebrity author Hope Devane is murdered, retired psychologist Dr. Alex Delaware is recruited by homicide detective Milo Sturgis to uncover the hidden truths behind her volatile public persona and academic life, revealing a web of betrayal and obsession.
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Alex Delaware and detective Milo Sturgis investigate a shocking case of abuse and murder at a prestigious Los Angeles prep school, uncovering hidden crimes among the elite.
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A New York Times bestselling thriller set in Los Angeles, “Evidence” follows homicide cop Milo Sturgis and psychologist Alex Delaware as they investigate a brutal murder in a half‑built mansion, uncovering a web of eco‑terrorism, blackmail and conspiracy.
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Psychologist and detective Alex Delaware is drawn back into his past when teen‑turned‑stripper Lauren Teague is found murdered, forcing him to investigate her life and the South California sex trade.
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Jonathan Kellerman’s mystery thriller set against a California backdrop, featuring a private investigator and psychological intrigue.
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Psychologist Alex Delaware investigates a series of murders in Los Angeles where each victim had a disability, uncovering a neo‑Nazi plot tied to racial purity.
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After witnessing a brutal stabbing in Griffith Park, 12‑year‑old runaway Billy Straight must evade a serial killer while LAPD detective Petra Connor races to protect him and solve the mystery before the hunt ends in tragedy.
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Psychologist and detective Alex Delaware battles his past and a chilling mystery when a mysterious photo album surfaces, forcing him and rookie cop Milo Sturgis to confront a brutal unsolved murder that threatens both their lives.
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A gripping psychological suspense novel set in Dublin, focusing on two detectives investigating a series of murders in the woods.
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When a schoolyard in California is rocked by a sniper attack, psychologist Alex Delaware is summoned to help the children and, unexpectedly, to uncover the attacker’s true identity—revealing a deadly conspiracy that extends beyond the school grounds.
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Psychologist Alex Delaware investigates a double murder that entwines the lives of a clinical therapist and a homicide detective in Los Angeles.
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In "Rage," psychologist Alex Delaware and LAPD detective Milo Sturgis revisit a chilling 8‑year‑old kidnapping case to confront a haunting killer who may exact brutal revenge.
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