Blood Test (published in 1986) - Psychological drama written by Jonathan Kellerman

Kellerman’s second novel after When the Bough Breaks in the Delaware series, written in 1986, opens with Alex at the courtroom listening to the final judgment being delivered against one Richard Moody - who has been declared unfit by Delaware – due to which he is not allowed custody of his children. Moody approaches Alex, pleading with him to tell the judge otherwise, when the latter refuses, Richard assaults him, but is over powered by Delaware.
Meanwhile, Alex is approached by a friend, a pediatric oncologist - Dr. Raoul Melendez-Lynch to speak to the Swopes, a family whose five year old son Woody, is suffering from leukemia. Alex must try and convince the parents not to discontinue the child’s chemotherapy sessions, who are certain that the best way to deal with the disease is to administer non chemical, holistic medication. The Book follows these two families, the sub plot and the plot- the Moodys and the Swopes - and how Delaware is intrinsically involved with both, the shades that layer his dealings with both are different, yet the aim is the same - to ascertain that the children involved remain unscathed as far as possible.
When Alex arrives at the hospital, he learns that the child has been kidnapped by his own parents, his mother posed as a lab technician and on the pretext of running some tests, spirited him away, leaving only a portentous blood stain in their wake.

The Swopes are horticulturists who lost most of what they had after they tried their hand at cherimoya farming - the South American fruit, believed to protect against cancer and Parkinson’s disease. So confident is Mr. Swopes of his future success, that he asks buyers to pledge that they would purchase only his fruit for the first year. He slogs for a decade, pampering the soil and the buyers, unfortunately, the crop fails due to bad weather conditions, and the couple end up losing most of their assets - the father, loses more than that- for he takes to sexually abusing his daughter, an understandably sullen and gloomy teenager, who, unbeknownst to Delaware, is actually Woody’s mother, not his sister. To make matters worse, the parents are found dead, whilst the girl, Nona, is part of a drug dealing, holistic-meditative cult called The Touch.
Alex uncovers the dark life at the commune, including details of drug abuse and group sex. He just about manages to escape harrowing attempts on his life, but eventually saves Woody.
Alex, with a penchant for walking into trouble, a fall out of snooping around all by himself as Milo is out of town (although knowing Alex, one is certain he’d  go digging, partner in tow, as well!), he seems indestructible - a fact which readers would find hard to accept!
The characters of Alex and Milo are really well defined and impact-ridden, but what with every person having dark shades that lend them an air of foreboding; child molesters, drug dealers, murderers - the extreme of ugly, therefore, the other characters are lacking in credibility! The story is intriguing and gripping, however, the deviant nature of most of the characters – makes it unbelievable and too dark, it’s almost as if the reader is pushed into a tunnel of endless darkness with no hope of a light at the end of it! Thankfully, real life isn’t half as dreary as the book.