Like her husband, Faye Kellerman is known nationwide as a successful crime novelist. Those skills that make her books bestsellers do not translate well to the short form, as evidenced by THE GARDEN OF EDEN AND OTHER CRIMINAL DELIGHTS, which collects about two decades’ worth of pieces, 17 in all (two of them being heart-in-the-right-place essays on family).

Leading off the book are the only two new stories, “The Garden of Eden” and “Open House.” Because they both utilize her popular series characters of Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus, it almost assures brisk sales, akin to a band tacking on a fresh single or two to a greatest-hits CD. However, the problem with these tales (and most of the rest, unfortunately) is that – while well-written – they don’t work so hot. For someone so revered in the crime field, her mysteries are either too easily solved or too staid from the outset.

With subjects that range from gardening to Realtors, perhaps the contents are too female-centric for my tastes. But even those stories that aim for less preciousness still come off as middle-of-the-road. Since she obviously has talent in weaving words, one wishes she’d shake things up and not play it so safe. Kellerman flirts with the bizarre in “Mummy and Jack” – co-written with her son, Jesse – but straddles it and grinds away in “Bonding,” easily the book’s darkest and best selection. It’s an account of a teenage girl caught in a downward spiral, one that begins with her trying prostitution just for fun and goes down paths even more forbidding. Here’s a big clue: “My dad is all right in the sack.” And that ain’t even the half of it.

Given its dreary subject matter, “Bonding” gives Kellerman license to explore her imagination, and reels us in. More of that kind of danger would have made this generic GARDEN grow. –Rod Lott

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OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• DOUBLE HOMICIDE by Jonathan & Faye Kellerman