A review by boreal_girl
When the Bough Breaks by Jonathan Kellerman

2.0

This author/series came recommended to me, and of course, I needed to start at Book 1 (audiobook). The premise appealed to me, child psychologist, pulled into solving murder. No doubt the topic that this book covers was ahead of the curve in the time that it was written in the mid-80’s. It is certainly a time capsule of the rule of the straight white male, filled with racial stereotypes (he/she appeared . . . but was intelligent), and is a little too campy to be noir. From the point of view of a psychologist protagonist (mirroring the author), the language describing children with disabilities was particularly jarring and unwelcome. The protagonist is smug, pretensious, and lacks self-awareness regarding his own sociopathy, lying and manipulating his way through an unlikely investigation. On review of more recent publications of this series, it seems to have some loyal fans. Does the protagonist evolve over time? I don’t know that I’ll find out. I don’t think this series is for me.