When the Bough Breaks was published by Atheneum in 1985, introducing Dr. Alex Delaware — a child psychologist in semi-retirement who consults with the LAPD through his friend Detective Milo Sturgis. A seven-year-old girl is the sole witness to the murder of a psychiatrist, and Alex is asked to help her remember what she saw. The investigation leads through the world of Los Angeles child therapy, academic psychology, and the specific geography of the city’s canyons and hillsides.
Kellerman, himself a clinical psychologist specializing in pediatric oncology, brought genuine professional expertise to the mystery genre. Alex Delaware is not a detective who happens to know psychology; he is a psychologist whose understanding of human behavior — childhood trauma, defense mechanisms, the ways damaged people repeat their damage — makes him uniquely equipped to understand criminal motivation.
The Alex Delaware series would eventually encompass over forty novels, making it one of the longest-running series in American mystery fiction. The Los Angeles setting — specific neighborhoods, specific streets, the city’s stratified geography of wealth and poverty — becomes as important as any character.
Collecting When the Bough Breaks
First edition (Atheneum, New York, 1985): Boards with dust jacket.
Market values:
- Fine in dust jacket: $300–$800
- Very good: $100–$300
- Signed first edition: $500–$1,500
Projected values (2026–2036): Strong appreciation. As the debut novel in one of the longest-running mystery series in American fiction, first editions will continue to appreciate.
Frequently Asked Questions
What order should I read the Alex Delaware novels? The series is best read in publication order, starting with When the Bough Breaks (1985). While each novel is self-contained, the Alex-Milo relationship and Alex’s personal life develop cumulatively across the series.
Is Jonathan Kellerman a real psychologist? Yes. Kellerman earned his PhD in clinical psychology from USC and worked at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, specializing in pediatric oncology. He draws extensively on his clinical training, and Alex Delaware’s professional methods are based on real therapeutic techniques.