The Alex Delaware mysteries by Jonathan Kellerman are some of my favorites. Alex is a child psychologist who lives with his girlfriend, Robin, who builds guitars and other stringed instruments. Alex's best friend, Milo, is a homicide detective for LAPD so Alex consults on cases with Milo when the criminal is especially mentally disturbed, or children are involved, etc.
In Dr. Death, Alex has a conflict of interest when Milo seeks his help. A doctor who offers people assisted suicide is found brutally murdered. Due to the violent nature of the crime, Milo thinks that Alex should help give a psychological profile of the killer. The suspect list includes the widowed husband of a woman who the doctor supposedly help commit suicide. Alex knows the family because after the mother's death, he treated the woman's daughter.
As Alex explores the family dynamic further, he knows there are darker secrets and the possibility that the murdered doctor didn't even help the mother die. There are three layers of mystery in this book--who killed the doctor, who helped the mother die, and what caused the mother's depression that lead to the suicide.
I thought this book was great, it had lots of twists and turns and the three mystery threads keep every chapter speeding along. The Alex Delaware mysteries are darker than a lot of my "fluff" series that I enjoy, and I like going into Kellerman's mind every so often and read the more grisly and intellectual mysteries.
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