Jonathan Kellerman

Jonathan Kellerman is an American author and clinical psychologist whose Alex Delaware series -- begun with When the Bough Breaks in 1985 -- helped popularize the psychologist-detective as a crime-fiction archetype. Delaware, a child psychologist who consults with the LAPD, works alongside gay detective Milo Sturgis in cases that lean on Kellerman's own clinical background in child abuse and trauma, giving the books a psychological grounding that set them apart from more procedural crime fiction of the era.

Before writing fiction, Kellerman had an academic and clinical career treating pediatric cancer patients and researching childhood psychological trauma, and he has continued to draw on that expertise across more than three decades of Delaware novels. He is married to fellow bestselling crime novelist Faye Kellerman, and their son Jesse Kellerman is also a published novelist.

A new reader should start with When the Bough Breaks, which sets up the Delaware-Sturgis partnership and Kellerman's blend of psychological insight and Los Angeles noir, though the series is largely readable out of order after the first few books. There is no screen adaptation of the Delaware novels; Kellerman's reputation rests on the sheer consistency of the print series, which remains active with new entries most years.