Kellerman, Jonathan (1949-…), an American author of detective fiction, created the amateur detective and child psychologist Alex Delaware. Kellerman was a practicing clinical psychologist who specialized in treating children before he turned to detective fiction. Children often figure prominently in his stories. Kellerman has gained praise for his suspenseful plots and his atmospheric southern California backgrounds. Faye Kellerman, his wife, is also a best-selling author of detective fiction. Jesse Kellerman, his son, is a novelist and playwright.
Jonathan Seth Kellerman was born in New York City on Aug. 9, 1949. He earned a Ph.D. degree in clinical psychology from the University of Southern California in 1974. He then spent several years as a child psychologist and professor of pediatrics. He wrote three psychology books on children, Psychological Aspects of Childhood Cancer (1980), Helping the Fearful Child (1981), and Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children (1999).
Kellerman turned to detective stories with When the Bough Breaks (1985), featuring Alex Delaware. He continued the “Alex Delaware” series with more than 30 other books. Kellerman introduced homicide detective Petra Connor in Survival of the Fittest (1997). Connor also is featured in Billy Straight (1998) and Twisted (2004) and appears in several other “Alex Delaware” novels. Kellerman has written a number of stand-alone suspense novels, including The Conspiracy Club (2003), True Detectives (2009), and The Murderer’s Daughter (2015).
Kellerman collaborated with his wife on two pairs of short mystery novels published as Double Homicide (2004) and Capital Crimes (2006). He and his son Jesse collaborated on the thrillers The Golem of Hollywood (2014) and The Golem of Paris (2015). They also collaborated on the “Clay Edison” detective series about deputy coroner Clay Edison, which began with Crime Scene (2017). Kellerman wrote the nonfiction book With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars (2008).
