Review: Walking Shadows by Faye Kellerman

Kerry Hammond is here today to review the latest novel in a well-established series by Faye Kellerman.

Walking Shadows by Faye Kellerman is the 25^th novel in the popular Decker/Lazarus series. It released on August 28 in Hardcover by William Morrow. The Kellermans are a prolific family of mystery writers. I’m a fan of Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series and have even read and enjoyed the new series written by Jonathan and his son Jesse, which features Deputy Coroner, Clay Edison. Even though Faye Kellerman’s series had been around since 1986, I have to admit that I am new to her novels. What better place than to jump in at book 25?

In Walking Shadows, Detective Decker is called out to investigate an act of vandalism and ends up with a murder case. The victim is a young local man named Brady Neil and as Decker looks into his past he finds out that Neil’s father was sent to prison for robbery and murder. Decker needs to find out what, if any, connection there is to link Brady to his father’s crime. The stakes are raised when Decker links Brady’s murder to the disappearance of a co-worker and friend of the victim, and Decker relies on Rina Lazarus to help him sort through the past and find out just what the crimes have in common.

Sometimes you jump into a series midway through and can’t seem to get acquainted with the characters, or the author tries to throw so much of the back story at you that you are overwhelmed with knowledge that you don’t understand. I didn’t feel this way at all with Decker and Lazarus.  I felt like I was reading book one in a series, getting to know new characters in my own time and in my own way. The book had a standalone feel and I enjoyed it for the mystery that it was. The bonus is that I can now go back and check out the earlier books in the series. I really enjoyed the book and look forward to reading more by the author.

This book was provided to Mystery Playground by the publisher. The review is fair and independent.