The Wedding Guest: Alex Delaware Book 34 - Bestselling Psychological Thriller & Murder Mystery Novel by Jonathan Kellerman | Perfect for Crime Fiction Fans & Suspense Lovers (Great for Vacation Reading & Book Club Discussions)

THE WEDDING GUEST is the newest addition to Jonathan Kellerman's Delaware/Sturgis novels. I would describe it as solid. The format is straightforward. Parker used to talk about detective novels in which the protagonist drives around, knocks on doors and asks people questions. That is a perfectly apt description of THE WEDDING GUEST. The novel is absolutely linear. The author's challenge is to create interesting new characters, bring back interesting old characters and create dialogue that is well above the ordinary. That, JK does.The dialogue is, in some ways, the most special element in the novel. JK catches the different voices and crafts the different characters in a simple yet endlessly skillful way that would make Elmore Leonard proud. The interview with the principal victim's mother is heartbreaking in its reality. You want obnoxious? JK can give it to you in a handful of paragraphs. You want intellectually arrogant? JK can characterize it with a single devastating word or detail.The concept is out of the ordinary. A couple are holding their wedding reception in a former strip club. There are few women's restroom stalls downstairs, so a wedding guest goes upstairs, her bladder bursting. When she enters a dingy, remote bathroom she finds a murder victim. The victim was not invited to the wedding, though she was dressed to the nines, wearing a Fendi red dress and some totally unnecessary shapers. She has been garroted with a guitar string after being injected with enough heroin and fentanyl to render her unconscious. At a wedding reception? To which she wasn't invited?The novel consists of the interrogation of the guests, the bride and groom, the parents of the bride, the parents of the groom and related family members. From there Alex and Milo look at clues, details, timelines. They sift and winnow and eventually find the perpetrator. Not all will be happy with the way that they finally do that, but this is a novel about people and not really about crime per se. While it looks as if the plot is everything, the plot is subsidiary to the exploration of our contemporary culture and the individuals who people it. It is not a particularly pretty picture, but it is drawn with a master's touch.I enjoyed it, read it in two sittings and look forward to the next installment.Solid.