Self-Defense (published in 1995) - Authored by Jonathan Kellerman

We meet Alex Delaware in his ninth adventure - along with Milo Sturgis, LAPD detective and friend. Although Dr. Delaware does not see private clients anymore, he has made an exception for Ms. Lucy Lowell, at the behest of Milo, a juror on a case involving a brutal serial killer that he was assigned to. Lucy has a history of being tormented by nightmare with a recurrent theme - a young child of four alone in a dark forest, privy to a strange act - a sleeping woman being carried away by three men. She has a past that is marred by abandonment and emotional abuse, as a twenty five year old, she lives with these scars, that have resurfaced and are beginning to cloud her ability to remain lucid.
Her father, once a celebrated author - Mr. Bayard Lowell is now a cripple, discontented with life. He’d enjoyed his laurels while they lasted, once the novelty of popularity faded, Bayard chose to open ‘Sanctum’- a retreat for artists and writers, who lived off ‘free love’ in the 1970s. The retreat is now an abandoned and rundown, ramshackle structure.
Although Lucy seems to have no memory of her time spent there, her half brother Ken recalls the summer when Bayard’s kids from both his marriages, came over to the Sanctum. On further investigation, it is revealed that a young woman called Karen Best had gone missing from the retreat; she was a waitress at a restaurant not far from Sanctum. Lucy’s dream may have its roots in that she had witnessed her father and two other men carrying Karen’s body into the woods.

Relief for the reader is at hand, though, for amidst all this chaotic investigating and gore - Lucy becomes infatuated with our suave Detective Sturgis, creating a few blushing moments - not for her, but him! As for Alex and Robin, the two are house hunting, and find a nook in Malibu, affordable, thanks to the recession, with the French bulldog, who was rescued by Delaware in ‘Bad Love.’

The sub plot is interesting as well - the trial of Job Shwandt has captured the attention of everyone, including Gothic-types who think he’s god; the man is on trial for a series of killings in which he brutally ripped his victims to shreds. The worst had been the case of Carrie Fielding, a ten year old girl from Brentwood. She was kidnapped, raped, strangled and mutilated. Milo stepped in and took over the case thereafter, bringing the perpetrator to book. He is picked up by the police, who find a mummified hand (not Carrie’s) in the glove compartment.

As Shwandt’s trial progresses, so does Lucy’s nightmare, which is now taking over reality, she starts to believe that she has an insight into the details of the crime scene: how he defecated into holes that he bore into the victim’s body, lacerating them and dishonoring the once live person in the most horrific manner imaginable. The book is longish, compared to Kellerman’s other works, with fifty chapters in all; in spite of the time travelling, it makes an interesting read, and gives an in depth view of the ‘70s.