Are There Any Alex Delaware Novels By Jonathan Kellerman That Can Be Skipped In Order?
Starting a Jonathan Kellerman binge and wondering if some Alex Delaware mysteries are skippable for plot continuity, or all must-reads.
2026-07-26 10:16:45
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EdieEvans
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JesseHart
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The one with the puppetmaster villain, 'Therapy', is super polarizing. Some fans think it's a brilliant, creepy high-concept thriller. Others, like me, think it veers into silly cartoon villainy that doesn't fit the generally grounded tone of the series. The antagonist's level of control and manipulation stretches believability past its breaking point. So if you prefer your criminals to be psychologically complex humans rather than near-supernatural masterminds, you might want to give that one a pass or save it for last. It's an interesting experiment, but it doesn't feel like an Alex Delaware novel to me.
2026-07-27 02:57:06
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LittlePen
Helpful Reader
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You know what's skippable? Anything that leans too hard into the 'Robin is in peril' trope. It happens a few times, and it starts to feel like a lazy way to create personal stakes for Alex. Once was gripping, twice was concerning, but after that it just made me roll my eyes. It pulls focus from the actual procedural and psychological work that makes the series strong. I'd much rather see Alex untangle a complex family system or a institutional corruption case than have another kidnap plot. Those personal-drama books often have the least interesting external mysteries, too.
2026-07-27 07:01:22
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FaithCook
Book Guide
Pharmacist
Is it cheating to say skip the short stories? There are a few Delaware short stories in anthologies like 'Diagnosis: Dead' and 'Mystery Writers of America Presents...'. They're fun little snacks, but they're not necessary for the main series continuity. They often feel like deleted scenes or ideas that didn't become full novels. So if you're a completionist tracking down every single appearance, have fun. But if you're just a novel reader, you can safely ignore the short story collections without missing any character development.
2026-07-27 10:08:40
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LaneWest
Bibliophile
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The beauty of a long series like this is that you can sample different eras. The early 90s books have a raw, almost noir-ish feel to LA that slowly fades. By the 2010s, it's a much cleaner, more procedural world. So 'skipping' isn't really about bad books, it's about what flavor you want. Want gritty character studies? Stick to the first fifteen. Want comfortable, predictable mysteries with familiar friends? The later ones deliver that. I don't think any are outright bad, but the tonal shift is real, and not everyone enjoys both phases equally.
2026-07-28 17:32:35
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TheoBlue
Detail Spotter
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I have a weird metric: the quality of the side characters. In the best books, like 'Devil's Waltz', even the minor witnesses or suspects feel fully realized, with their own hidden motives and tragedies. In the weaker entries, everyone outside of Alex and Milo feels like a cardboard cutout delivering plot points. 'The Web' suffered from that for me—a cool, isolated island setting populated by characters who were just archetypes. The setting did all the work. So if a book is often cited as having a great 'setup' but a forgettable cast, that's a red flag for me that it might be skippable.
2026-07-29 07:18:55
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The Carrero Contract (series book 3)
L.T.Marshall
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CAMILLA WALTERS thought she had come to the end of the road when fate caught up with her. No where left to run or hide, on the verge of becoming fish food at the hands of drug runners she owed a lot of money to.
That was until fate brought her ALEXI, head of the family CARRERO - The unexpected hero who saved her ass and changed her life in one easy manouvre.
Who knew she would have to sign her soul over to the devil in a bid to stay alive and in doing so, lose her heart and mind in the process.
This is not your typical hearts and roses story - Let the games begin and the war commence.
This is book 7 in The Carrero Series, although you can read this without prior books. There are back story hints from previous books worked in, so this new trio can be read alone.
For a fuller understanding then start with The Carrero Effect .
Elle Davidson, orphaned at 12 with limited memory, is taken in by the Alpha and Luna of the New Moon pack. There she meets Damon Ledger, the future Alpha, and her nemesis. Damon does everything he can to control Elle's life, and his friends do everything they can to make her life hell. All of that changes after Damon comes home from Alpha training, and their undeniable chemistry makes staying away from one another impossible.
What will happen when Elle's past finally catches up to her, revealing unknown enemies and a secret identity? Will Elle be able to fight the increasing attraction she has for Damon? Or will she succumb to the lust she feels, risking everything?
This is book 1, can be read as a standalone.
The Silver Run Series:
Possessing My Alpha- Completed
Possessing My Mate- Completed
Possessing the Gamma- Ongoing; 5-6 updates weekly.
The 7 Gold Lifes are 7 Billionaires who rules America.
Aaron Samuel, Sky Locason, Alexander North, Maximillion Cesantio, Luke Hastington, Sebastian Cesborn and lastly the leader, Kenneth Domanco.
The work hard to get where they are. They have the money, the looks, the power and they can easily get women. They swore that they will never settle down but slowly one by one they're falling in love.
Will they decide to settle down or just fool around?
This series consist of 8 books in total.
Prologue: Loving Blake Coster
BLS #1: The Red String of Fate (Aaron Samuel and Sophia Celastio)
BLS #2: Challenging The Billionaire (Sky Locason and Janet Stanmore)
BLS #3: Dealing With Trouble (Alexander North and Angelia Selosvone)
BLS #4: Stabbed by Rose (Maximillion Cesantio and Rose Hastington)
BLS #5: Beautiful Nightmare (Luke Hastington and Hailey Anderson)
BLS #6: Locking Her Heart (Sebastian Cesborn and Alexis Sierra)
BLS #7: Breaking The Last (Kenneth Domanco and Chloe Regens)
Do you ever wish a secret billionaire would sweep you away to a tropical island? Do you ever wish that you could be like Cinderella and find your happily ever after with the prince? From New York Times bestselling author Krista Lakes, comes a sweet but spicy Billionaire Romance Series that will have you believing in happily ever after!
Each story in this series is a stand-alone one. But with all the stories happen in one world, characters will reappear in other stories.
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The First Set:
Saltwater Kisses– An accidental marriage between Jack and Emma.
Rainwater Kisses– Falling in love, and finding how they fit together with Owen and Kaylee.
Freshwater Kisses– Finding love in childhood friends with Robbie and Sam.
BONUS: Kisses From Jack: The first half of Saltwater Kisses, but from Jack's perspective!
Timeless Love Stories:
Champagne Kisses– A story of long lost love and second chances with Dean and Rachel.
The Second Set:
Sandcastle Kisses– Finding love in all the wrong places with Noah and Izzy
Hurricane Kisses– Surviving the storm together with Logan and Olivia
Barefoot Kisses– A Cinderella story with Aiden and Lena
The Third Set:
Sunrise Kisses– Ava and Bastian discovering true beauty
Waterfall Kisses– Leo finally succumbing to Charlotte's charms
Island Kisses: Gabe finally meets his match in Harper!
"Max DiSalvo gave his entire life to the SEALs. He would have married—he certainly enjoyed women—but he never could find one who understood his dedication to the Teams. It takes a certain caliber of woman to be a SEAL wife. Now, at 48, he is out of the SEALs, running his own commercial fishing company in Maine where he grew up, and waiting for his assignments from DHS.Regan Shaw, a SEAL widow, is an Intelligence Operations Specialist with DHS. Part of her job is analyzing information to assess threats, and she’s discovered a doozy—there is a secret group of very wealthy people who are smuggling terrorists into the country. And word has come down that a high-level member of the government is clearing the way for them.The group is about to have one of its executive meetings at an exclusive resort in Texas, and that’s where DHS is sending the two of them.SEAL Undercover is created by Desiree Holt, an EGlobal Creative Publishing signed author."
Jordan Carter has made a career out of defending the kind of clients everyone else is afraid to touch—without ever crossing her own line. So when a sealed, high-dollar retainer lands on her desk tied to Mercer Holdings, she expects a rich man’s mess and a clean paycheck. Instead, she’s driven through gates and cameras to a fortress of “security” men who watch her like prey, and introduced to Maddox Mercer—cold, controlled, and dangerous in a way no suit should be. A body has surfaced on his land: a violent trafficker killed in self-defense… and then buried. The district attorney, Silvia Smith, isn’t just looking for a conviction—she’s building a task force meant to destroy the entire organization. Jordan’s job is to keep the pack out of prison. Maddox’s job is to make sure she and her team doesn’t learn enough to ruin them.
But the deeper Jordan digs, the more personal it gets. The dead man’s name is tied to her father’s “wild animal” case—the call that ended his life and left her with questions no one would answer. Forced to live on Mercer land “for security,” Jordan finds missing footage, rehearsed stories, and an internal traitor with a grudge sharp enough to burn the pack down from the inside. Maddox can be her greatest threat… or her only ally, if she can survive the pull between what she feels and what she knows. Because if Jordan exposes the truth, she can win the case—and destroy him. If she protects him, she’ll become complicit in a secret that was never meant to survive daylight.
Check used bookstores! They always have piles of Kellerman paperbacks. I built my entire collection for a few dollars a book just by grabbing the next in order whenever I saw it. It's a treasure hunt that makes reading them feel even more rewarding.
Remember, the publication order is the chronological order. He hasn't done any prequels or out-of-sequence entries. So just find a list from 1985 onward and go straight down.
The early books have a different texture. 'When the Bough Breaks' is very of its time, with a rawness that later novels polished into a more streamlined procedure. Reading them in publication order lets you feel that shift. The pacing gets tighter, the dialogue snappier, but some of the gritty character moments of the first few are unparalleled. If you're a completist, order is non-negotiable. If you're just dipping a toe, maybe start with the mid-period stuff like 'The Clinic' or 'Monster' to see if you vibe with the style.
I love long series because they feel like visiting old friends. The Alex Delaware novels are the epitome of that. I don't even care about the mystery sometimes; I just want to spend a few hours with Alex, Milo, and Robin. That feeling is built entirely on reading them in sequence. You witness their friendships, fights, and quiet moments. The numbering is just the map to that familiar place.
Some people argue you can read them as stand-alones, and technically the mysteries are self-contained. But the heart of the series isn't the whodunit; it's the characters. You need to experience the fallout from 'Private Eyes' to understand Alex's mindset in 'The Clinic'. You need to see Robin's journeys to get their relationship dynamics.
Skipping the first ten books is like walking into a long-running family drama and trying to figure out why everyone is mad at Uncle Larry. You'll get the gist of the current argument, but none of the depth.
Honestly, I just wait for the annual new release. I've been reading them as they come out for fifteen years now. The order, for me, is just the calendar. Every fall, there's a new Kellerman. I don't have to think about it. It's a ritual. I buy the hardcover, spend a weekend with it, and then wait for next year. The backlist is there for people just discovering it, but for long-time fans, the order is simply time itself.
There's something nice about a series that outlasts trends, that's just always there. In a world of constant change, Alex Delaware is a constant. He might not age much, but I do, and revisiting him each year is like checking in with a steady, if fictional, friend.
The charm of the series is in the continuity. A throwaway line in 'The Clinic' might resonate again five books later. Reading out of order robs you of those little connections. The relationship between Alex and Robin has its ups and downs that progress logically through the sequence.
The used bookstore smell. That's how I associate this series. Picking up a slightly yellowed paperback with the old school font. That's the vibe. So maybe just go to a used bookstore, scan the K section, and pick the one whose spine is most worn from love. Let fate decide. The one that's been read the most might be the crowd-pleaser.