Hmmm...not quite sure how to describe this one. You do not need to read the first book to enjoy this one. It's full of twists and turn and sometimes over descriptive. You may skim parts but then you'll get hooked again with a new direction the investigation takes.

This is an incredibly solid, engaging police procedural that explores the effect of crime on several different marginalized communities. As someone who reads plenty of crime novels, I was struck at how accurately and articulately our protagonist described the universal human experience of grief. Often crime novels only indulge in the gallows humor about death, but this novel shows tenderness and understanding of human pain in a way that really impressed me. The authors do a tremendous job efficiently navigating a diverse and large number of characters and honoring their stories.

*I received a copy of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

ARC/Procedural Crime Novel: I have read/listened to several Jonathan Kellerman, but this is the first one with the added Jesse Kellerman. (The Golem books are definitely on my reading list). This book has not come out yet, so no spoilers here. I will tell you how I felt about the characters and plot course.

I did not read the first book, but it was easy enough to figure out Clay. He does have a personal life which consists of his girlfriend and ex-addict brother. The book takes place over the holidays, so you get to see how Clay acts and reacts around his family, which makes him come off the page more as a human. His loser brother comes across as what he is, a conman with good intentions and you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. I liked Clay in this setting simply because of his reaction to every sentence his brother spoke. He has no problem calling out his brother.

As for Clay’s professional life, he has a little more control. He is a Quincy, an employee of the Coroner’s office in charge of finding evidence, hauling off bodies, and after identifying them, notifying the next of kin. Clay, of course, can’t leave stuff alone and wants closure in the cases he comes in contact with. He does overstep his bounds in this, but his character has the respect and support to go off course, to a point. You know when you watch a show like “Castle”, there’s a quick resolution to identifying a Jane or John Doe? Well, this book delves into just how hard that can be. There’s no Javier or Ryan to come to the desk with an ID. Clay has to deal with multi-jurisdictions, witness’s lying, and weeks of waiting for reports to get on his desk. The issue I had was that there were too many victims in the case and I would get confused on which case he was working on when he was talking to witnesses. Overall, the plot is somewhat satisfying. There were some holes that were filled, but I wish they were better explained and glossed-over in the epilogue. There were a lot of characters so I would not suggest reading this on breaks at work. I finally had to read the last third of the book in one sitting because I was getting confused.

I want to thank Amazon and NetGalley (I entered for the e-book on NetGalley and a few days later I was offered the book on Amazon Vine. I got it thinking I would not get picked on NetGalley and a few hours later I was chosen. It worked out well. I read the hardcopy at work and the e-reader at night).

I guess it says something that I finished A Measure of Darkness a few weeks ago, and I can barely remember anything about it. I've been enjoying Jonathan Kellerman's books for years (and also love his wife's novels), but this one just left me bored. The story is about a Coroner's Deputy, Clay Edison, and his investigation into a multi-victim shooting in Oakland, CA, that also uncovers a Jane Doe unrelated to the shooting. I understand that this is the second book in a series to star Clay Edison, I'll now go back and read the first in the series (Crime Scene) because I really liked the Edison character and was intrigued by his job. I would have liked to know more about his job, and I'm hoping the first book went into greater detail about it.

Overall, I just felt the plotline in this novel was unnecessarily complicated with a slew of characters and subplots, and I just found it slow going. I remain a big fan of the Kellerman family, but I can only give this book 3 stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing me an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Not as good as other books by this author. I had a hard time getting through it. It failed to hold my attention. Not at all to my liking.

I am very disappointed with Jonathon Kellerman. Unless he just added his name to the book to boost sales for whom I presume to be his son, his skills at mystery writing have gone way down.

I have read almost 20% of the book and don't know what it is about. And if I have read that much and don't know what it is about, I certainly don't want to continue.

And yes, it is a murder mystery and a murder mysetery has a death. So this one has a death. So what? And it wouldn't be a murder mystery without a murder. So the death is unexplained? It wouldn't be a mystery novel if we knew who dunnit, why and how, right off the bat.

What this is lacking is intrigue, a plot, something that propels a reader to keep reading. At almost 20% we don't have anything interesting except there are unexplained deaths. We don't even have a clue as to the character of the narrator, and know almost nothing about him, so rght there we lose a great amount of interest. Other characters ahave similary popped up, with no description of who they are outside of a name and title and one wbo isn't even properly identified.

We DO have boring police procedure for a murder we are not yet interested in! This is putting the cart before the horse....first comes a reason to read the book and then, perhaps, the procedurals, if, of course, they have anything to do with finding the murderer.

And what is that first chapter about? It is just hanging there with no relation to subsequent chapters or the story. Does it have anything to do with the plot? Maybe yes, maybe no, but then, we don't know what the story is about and by the time we do, we will have long forgotten what was in the first chapter.

A Measure of Darkness is the 2nd book in the Clay Edision series by collaborative Father and Son authors Jonathan & Jesse Kellerman . The series takes place in Northern California, centered around Oakland. The story opens up shortly after the close of Crime Scene , with what appears to be a request to quiet down a neighborhood party, but turns out to be far more.

The overall story has lots of possibilities, but I felt that the pace was uneven, there were too many characters, and just too much going on.

The multiple storylines include:
• The death of Jasmine, a transgender character, and some of the family and societal issues surrounding her choice.
• The death of Wynemah “Winnie” Ozawa, a young woman and her link to the Watermark School.
• A homeless man, his choice of living arrangements and his sex offender status.
• Clay’s brother Luke and his personal life.
• The neighborhood fight, which may or may not be a gang-related event.
• Clay & Amy’s personal life.

I wanted to like the book, as I enjoyed the previous book Crime Scene, and I like Clay’s character. The working relationship between the detectives and the coroner’s office was humorous at times and offset the clutter of the story for me. By the time the Watermark School entered the story, I just couldn’t wait for the book to end, I just wanted to know how and why Winnie died.

In a way, I almost think the authors felt that too much had happened in the book as well, as there was a “wrap-up” chapter to make sure the reader left without those nagging questions.

For me this was a 2.75 star read out of 5 stars, which I will round up to 3.0 stars.

I wish to thank the Publisher, Ballantine Books; the authors; and NetGalley for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

The book will be available in multiple formats, the expected publication date is July 31st, 2018.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Several deaths, family drama, a new character, the story moved along and kept you engaged. I think it helped to have read the first one. Several current issues addressed in the plot line. A good summer read.

Have read several books by these authors and have always enjoyed them. This book was no exception. I recommend this book.

I am a huge fan of Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series. This was an enjoyable read but didn't have quite the character development or plot intrigue as the Alex Delaware novels. Recommended though for fans of Jonathan Kellerman.

One never considers the role of the coroner is solving murder, but after being introduced to the Kellermans' protagonist, Clay Edison, you will.. In A MEASURE OF DARKNESS the Kellermans do what they do best - give us convincing characters and a great mystery to solve. But best of all (or at least my favorite part) the Kellermans show us Clay's personal life and how it affects him. In MEASURE OF DARKNESS, Clay investigates the identity of a Jane Doe and the death of an accident victim while trying to feel compassion from his recently-released-from-prison brother and his deeply annoying girlfriend. The plot is good and twisty and the reader will empathize with Clay's antipathy toward his brother and his attempts to overcome it. Good book.

Clay Edison, a Coroner's Deputy Clay Edison gets a call in the middle of night regarding a shooting at a party in West Oakland. There are multiple victims, including one that get run over from a frightened party guest and another that had nothing to do with the shooting. Additional complications are finding the family of the vehicle victim and the identity of the mystery victim. The investigation takes twists and turns to final get resolved. Meanwhile, at home Clay is getting serious with his girlfriend and he also has to deal with his brother who was just released from prison.

A lot going on, but it all flows evening. More of a police procedural drama. Not a lot of action, but good character development and a imaginative plot.

A Measure of Darkness by Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman was just not very interesting. The book begins describing a young man, Isaiah visiting his elderly grandmother Hattie. They both seem to be interesting characters but they don't return until almost he end of the book. Isaiah attends a party across the street from his Grandmother's home and a crime is committed while he is there. The coroner's office is called in and Clay Edison gets involved. He doesn't give up until he solves the case.

Another good solid read from Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman. This is the 2nd book in this series and so far it's adding up to be a great series. Thank you Netgalley and the Publishers for allowing me to read this ARC book and give my own personal opinion.

I am really Clay. He doesn't let anything go when he thinks something doesn't add up. Clay, a coroner in Oakland, is called out along with his coworkers to a shooting that occurred at a pay your way party in a neighborhood that was changing. It isn't a pretty scene with a number of people that were casualties especially when it's found out that a child was killed by a stray bullet. The plot is remarkably complex and as interesting as it is complicated. The characters are believable which I love in a book. Thank you Ballantine for an ARC for an honest review. (l

There were several story lines and several characters -- actually too many. It got complicated trying to keep each separate. The main character is a coroner,but he spends most of the book as a detective! I'm glad I read the book, but it's not my favorite!

Clay Edison and his devotion to righting wrongs and speaking for the dead who can no longer speak for themselves makes for an engrossing story. Clay is called to a crime scene where a house party devolved into a shootout. In helping to determine the details of their deaths, he manages to gain insight into their lives. The mystery element adds dimension to this book that is really a character study in human nature.

great father son book great new serie would make a good television serie on any of the television network

Another Clay Edison, coroner story. I enjoy this collaboration between Johnathon and Jesse. Clay will go to almost any length to solve a mystery/death. The characters are believable, you can picture them in your head.. I didn't feel the end of the story was necessary, unless they are planning to keep this series going.

Thank you to both netgalley.com , as well as Random House/Ballantine publishing for allowing me a chance to preview this novel before it comes out later this summer.

To begin, I am a fan of Jonathan Kellerman novels, specifically the Alex Delaware/Milo Sturgis books. Always well-written with a good plot that keeps me intrigued until the end. Although I have not read the 1st Clay Edison novel, "A Measure of Darkness" was an enjoyable read.

The novel kept my interest - the story opened with Clay Edison, a deputy coroner, at an overnight party that ended with gunfire and death - was a good start. As the novel continued, though, the story worked its way to a side mystery at the party - the strangulation death that seems to be unrelated to the party. Kellerman works his magic in keeping the story easy to follow and enjoyable. I like Clay Edison as a new Kellerman character, and hope there will be future novels with this interesting character.

Why 4-stars and not 5? Although this was an enjoyable book that held my attention, it didn't "wow" me. This is a good read - and I plan to now go back and read the first novel in this series. Rarely do books "wow" me - meaning stay in my mind for a meaningful amount of time - but this was a good read.