Crime Scene is the first in the Clay Edison series, written by a father and son team. Big thanks to Random House Ballantine for the DRC, which I received in exchange for this honest review. I rate this mystery 3.5 stars and round it upward.

Edison is a coroner’s investigator, and he finds himself drawn into an ugly, complicated murder, seduced by the lovely Tatiana, who I found myself disliking much earlier than the protagonist does. There’s the psychological component here that’s similar to the movies, where the audience yells, “Don’t go through that door” as the main character strolls obliviously forward; however, where the Kellermans take the story once Edison has wised up is interesting, original, and well played.

I enjoy the snappy banter that I associate with the elder Kellerman’s other novels, and there’s a hugely entertaining side character named Afton that I’d love to see again. The setting of the down-and-out neighborhood is resonant enough that I am convinced at least one of these men has actually spent time in such a place.

That said, the first half of the story is better paced than the second, and there’s a racial component that appears well-intentioned but awkward.

This promising series is now available to the public, and is recommended to Kellerman’s fans.

Have t read a Jonathan Kellerman book and I really enjoyed the change.

Once again Kellerman draws the reader in with his use of language, depth of character and interesting relationships and case

I've read all of Kellerman's Alex Delaware novels, but I had a hard time getting into this book. Maybe his son Jesse writes different than he does, and that's what I had difficulty getting used to.

However, once I got into the book, it took off running. Coroner Deputy, Clay Edison, falls for the daughter of the deceased. Was her father murdered? What about another similar death years ago? Are they connected?

Read on, and you will see. Posting no spoilers here.

This book was provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

Clay Edison works for the coroner’s office and is called out to a case that appears to be a an accident, or a medical incident – anything but a homicide.  Nonetheless, Edison doesn’t seem to be able to let it go, due in large part to his attraction to the deceased’s daughter.  Even though his boss tells him not to investigate, he does so, ultimately leading him to uncover the truth about a case. I liked Edison and his determination but at the same time the amount of time he spent digging up the past on his own time didn’t seem feasible. After all, he still had to do his actual job.
This well-written novel also touched on pertinent issues related to mental illness and the influence of TV and computer games on violent behavior.  The plot moved along at a steady pace, with several unexpected turns, making for an enjoyable and interesting read.  I look forward to reading more books featuring Clay Edison if this becomes a series.

Exciting, suspenseful and page turning! I couldn't put the book down as the plot twists just kept coming.
I can't wait for the next book from the Kellermans.

A police procedural from a different perspective, from the Coroner...Wonderful writing by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman, father and son! I have long been a fan of anything Jonathan wrote and this book is no exception. Deputy Sheriff Clay Edison works in the coroners office, where he tries to put people's minds at ease when investigating the death of a loved one. Called to a 'fall' death, he meets the daughter of the deceased, a young woman who believes her dad was pushed. This starts an investigation in which Clay has to question himself,what is he hoping to prove, and how far is he willing to go behind the work of fellow officers! As he keeps investigating there is pushback from others cops who worked a connected case years ago, putting his job in jeopardy. The characters are strong, you either like someone or you don't, with intense scenes as this young officer keeps investigating where others feel he doesn't belong...I really enjoyed the viewpoint from the coroners office, causing this to be 'not your regular police story',an enjoyable read and great teamwork from the Kellermans.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley,the author and publisher from which I am ableto write my thoughts and I thank them.

Being a big fan of the Alex Delaware series by Jonathan Kellerman, I was really looking forward to this new collaboration with Jesse, his son. It did not disappoint! A page turner that is finely tuned, very well written and introduces a wonderful new character named Clay Edison. Loved the cameo appearance by Dr. Delaware. Looking forward to reading more books in this excellent new series!

“Crime Scene” by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman is a look at police procedure crime thriller written from a different perspective, that of a coroner. Clay Edison has worked in the Alameda County Coroner’s for five years. Clay’s days are filled with the ordinary and the very unordinary.

“Crime Scene” is written as a first person narrative by Clay, and this strategy delivers an interesting and insightful look at Clay’s feelings and at the events that surround him. He talks to the readers as he talks to himself. The dialogue and responses within the story reflect the characters as Clay interacts with them. Geography, problems, questions, feelings, and scenarios are as Clay sees them and makes judgments about them.

People weave in and out of Clay’s daily life. Clay’s job haunts him; it lives with him. The work clings to him. He thinks about the dead everywhere he goes. He is not haunted, but he is never quite alone. Every time Clay is called to a location, he is about to ruin someone’s day. Someone is dead, by natural causes or by homicide, but dead. With a click of a button he decides which it is.

One case nags at him, presents an underlying question. The case is not even a “homicide” that he feels compelled to solve; it is just that his mind will not let this case go. While trying to resolve this accidental death of an elderly man, he discovers a tangled web of deceit, loyalty, buried secrets, and murders. Secrets from the past creep into the present, and old cases become entangled with recent events. Nothing is really as is appears at first.

“Crime Scene” is an interesting new look at crime fiction. It is not a typical murder mystery. There is no graphic violence, no revolting accounts, just regular people doing a distinctly unpleasant job. I was “connected” with Clay and his quest throughout the book. I have read other books by the Kellermans, and this is one of the best.

I was given a copy of “Crime Scene” to review by Ballantine Books, NetGalley, Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman, and I really enjoyed it. I highly recommend this to everyone.

I loved this one! While the mystery itself wasn't super exciting, I enjoyed Clay Edison and his team immensely. The scenes with the camaraderie and the witty repartee between his co-workers in the office was so well done and felt so real to me; I could picture these scenes so vividly. Their interactions with one another was so on par and realistic. I really liked Clay, too-- he's not annoying perfect or terribly damaged, he's just a good guy you can root for. Kellerman struck the exact right balance between the mystery and the issues going on in Clay's personal life. I already can't wait to read the next installment!

Clay Edison is an investigator for coroner’s office of the sheriff’s department when he gets a call to come investigate a possibly suspicious death. Arriving at the scene the victim’s daughter, Tatiana, has insisted that her father was pushed down his stairway and that it couldn’t possibly have been an accident. Tatiana insists her father has been living in fear of a man from his past for years that had already killed someone else.

After digging into the scene and the evidence including an autopsy of the victim Clay is pretty certain that the death was not a homicide. Something about Tatiana’s story though intrigues Clay to look further into her father and his past until he finds himself following clues from years before and unable to just close his current case.

Crime Scene is the first book in the new series Clay Edison by Jonathon and Jesse Kellerman. Being new to anything by either Kellerman I was eager to give this book a try after hearing good things and wanting to check out their work. I’m happy to say that this was a nice little mystery/thriller following along the twists and turns to find out the truth to what happened.

My only thing I wondered about while reading this story that had me a bit curious was Clay only seems to keep digging into the case due to his attraction to Tatiana, not sure if I find that completely believable as most would have a lot more work coming their way. I also found this a tad slow in parts to me but still enjoyed the story quite a bit and will definitely look for more from the Kellermans.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Prolific writer Jonathan Kellerman has teamed up with his son, Jesse, to write this psychological thriller. They managed to make an interesting story out of what seems like a nothing case.

I enjoyed the vivid detailed descriptions of various locations, some of which were amusingly metaphorical. A lot of the language made me chuckle such as the image of a “unicorn vomiting up a rainbow” or the mention of a Donner golf course…”Think of the clubhouse lunch menu”.

Fans of the Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware character will enjoy the good doctor’s cameo appearance.

A compelling, quick read, it seems this may be the first of a series featuring Clay Edison, a deputy sheriff working in the county Coroner’s Bureau. Let’s hope so!

Innovative Detective in a good solid mystery.

Crime Scene is the first book in a new series by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman. It features sworn Coroner Division Deputy Clay Edison. Clay's job is to investigate the scenes of deaths to determine the manner of death. There are only five choices: homicide, suicide, natural, accidental and undetermined. Clay is called out for Walter Rennert, who appears to have slipped on the stairs inside his home. It looks accidental to both Clay and Berkeley Police Officer Schickman so why does Walter's daughter keep insisting it is murder?

The characters and dialogue in this novel are excellent. Each person had their own voice and motivation. The plot had a couple of twists that were surprising. My only complaint was that I wanted more details about Clay's other cases. I wanted to learn more about how coroner investigators do their work and decide whether an autopsy is required or not. Hopefully, this will be addressed in forthcoming books in the series.

I would recommend this book to fans of unconventional police procedurals like John Sandford's Virgil Flowers and CJ Box's Joe Pickett. Even though Clay is technically not with the police, it has the same atmosphere.

Thanks to the publisher, Ballantine Books, and netgalley for an advanced review copy of the book. It will be published on August 1, 2017.

This book does not disappoint! A solid thriller!

Crime Scene by father and son duo, Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman, is the first book in a new exciting series that features Clay Edison, a Deputy Sheriff with the Coroner's Office, and former basketball star. Clay will easily become a fan favorite with his winning personality and strong character.

Clay Edison finds himself drawn into a complicated investigation, the death of Walter Rennert, a retired psychology professor. His death brings on multiple new questions about an old crime where one of his students was brutally murdered.
Tatiana, Walter's daughter, insists he was murdered - pushed down the stairs. Clay believes he died of natural causes - Walter had a history of drinking and heart problems. The more Clay digs deeper into Walter's investigation, the more it seems to have to do with an old case. Will Clay discover the truth? Will he lose his job for digging deeper into the past?

Extremely well-written with a well thought out plot and well-developed characters... A fantastic start to a new character and new series! I'm already waiting for the next book. Highly Recommend!

*I want to thank NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for this ARC.

I read The Golem of Hollywood by this father-son duo, and I loved it. Not surprising, my favorite fiction couple is Alex Delaware and Milo Sturgis (psychiatrist and police detective duo from the mind of Jonathan Kellerman).

But I felt like I struggled through more of this story than I would like. The characters felt one sided and the crime solving was making such big leaps that even the other characters were telling Clay Edison that he needed more.

It had a fairly consistent flow, it just felt so...flat. It was a lot of Clay did this, and did this and then he did that. and neither the characters nor the plot had much development beyond the presentation.

I would give them another chance, but I'm not sure if I will read another Clay Edison. I didn't have a hard time reading this story, and I enjoyed picking it up and working through it. I just expected more, and I really hope that if they do write a 2nd one, that they'll kick it up a few notches.

I love it when these two write together they make a wonderful thriller team

Jonathan Kellerman, veteran bestselling author of the Alex Delaware series, as well as other standalone thrillers, has teamed up with his son, Jesse Kellerman, in CrimeScene. Clay Edison is a deputy coroner who works closely with the police and is called to a death where Walter Rennert is found dead at the bottom of a staircase. Although the autopsy comes back showing Rennert died of a natural heart attack, his daughter Tatiana insists that he was murdered. As Clay investigates what looks like a natural death, he oversteps his bounds and almost loses his job when he becomes involved in looking into the twelve-year old death of Rennert’s partner who died in almost the same way as Rennert. At the time, both were running a psychological study regarding seeing violence in video games and its connection to real-life violence. Julian Triplett, a student with a very low IQ, who was in the study, was convicted of the brutal murder of a coed; Julian is now out of prison. Because of the study, Rennert had resigned his position as professor of psychology and felt shamed because of the consequences of the study and the subsequent murder which he blamed on himself.

Having read all of Jonathan Kellerman’s novels, it was not unexpected that this would be good; it seems Jonathan has had a good influence on his son Jesse, and Jesse is an excellent storyteller in his own right. Being the son of a bestselling author has its perks, too, and Clay Edison calls on Alex Delaware (Jonathan’s famous and beloved character) to help with his investigation. As the novel progresses, it is a bit disappointing that Edison becomes romantically involved with Tatiana (which would never happen in his father’s books). Luckily it isn’t an ongoing romance, since Tatiana isn’t particularly good for Clay and wouldn’t be a viable ongoing character in subsequent novels.

The book flows easily and the suspense builds throughout; readers won’t want to put this book down and once they discover that things are not as they appear, will be impatient for the outcome. Most of the characters are likeable, especially Clay Edison, and it won’t be a surprise if this novel becomes the first in a series starring him. Readers who enjoy the Kellerman’s (both Faye and Jonathan) novels will certainly enjoy this novel. It seems their son is also talented and has the Kellerman flair for writing.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I'm a huge fan of Jonathan Kellerman; I can't read enough of his books and have been this way for two decades. I was eager to read this and although I had some problems with it, I ended up closing the book and wanting more. I do like Clay, although this book was about the third I'd read in a row where the main character keeps overextending himself into an investigation. I hope that the Clay getting in trouble for digging too much into a case doesn't become a running theme in the books. Otherwise, it was a nice case, reminded me a lot of the Kellerman books I love and I even liked the ending bit of romance. I look forward to seeing what comes next from this duo.

First of all let me just say I'm a huge fan of both Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman and have read almost everything they've written, so when I saw that they had collaborated, I was thrilled! This book did not disappoint and as much as I love the Alex Delaware series, Clay Edison is clearly a favorite as well with the same humble, wry sense of humor and self-effacing personality. The pacing of the mystery is always perfect with small leads, setbacks, and red herrings that keep you guessing until the final pages--and just enough romance to show Clay is human and vulnerable. A great page-turner!

Obviously, the combination of the established talents of the Kellerman family almost guarantees a well-written novel, so no great surprise that the action was well-paced and the story filled with characters with whom you empathize. Tension on an even keel, and a plot with plenty of sub-layers. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and highly recommend it.