When the Bough Breaks

Dr. Alex Delaware, a brilliant but troubled child psychologist, is thrust into a terrifying case when he's called to help seven-year-old Melody Quinn. Melody is the sole, silent witness to a brutal double murder, her trauma rendering her unable or unwilling to speak about the horrific events she witnessed. As Delaware meticulously delves into the fractured psyche of the young girl, he begins to unravel not just the immediate crime, but a far more sinister and widespread network of depravity. His investigation plunges him into the dark underbelly of Los Angeles, revealing a shocking world of perversion, violence, and corruption that threatens to consume him and everyone involved. This groundbreaking debut novel, which launched Jonathan Kellerman's iconic Alex Delaware series, masterfully blends psychological suspense with a gripping detective narrative, establishing a formidable new voice in the thriller genre as Delaware races against time to uncover the truth and protect Melody from a predator far more sinister than anyone imagined.