Jonathan Kellerman

Jonathan Kellerman is a highly acclaimed author, psychologist, teacher, and researcher, best known for his best-selling Alex Delaware series. He was born in New York City in 1949 and grew up in Los Angeles, where he developed an early interest in writing and music. Kellerman worked his way through UCLA as an editorial cartoonist, columnist, editor, and freelance musician, and won a Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award for fiction in his senior year.

After receiving his Ph.D. in psychology at the age of 24, with a specialty in the treatment of children, Kellerman went on to conduct groundbreaking research in the field of forensic psychology at the USC School of Medicine. He helped to pioneer the field by doing extensive research during his years at the school and was instrumental in establishing the Psychosocial Program, Division of Oncology, the first comprehensive approach to the emotional aspects of pediatric cancer anywhere in the world. Kellerman's work in this area has been widely recognized and has led to numerous publications in the field of behavioral medicine.

Kellerman's first published book was a medical text, Psychological Aspects of Childhood Cancer, 1980. One year later, he published a book for parents, Helping the Fearful Child. In 1985, Kellerman's first novel, When the Bough Breaks, was published to enormous critical and commercial success and became a New York Times bestseller. Since then, he has published a best-selling crime novel every year, and occasionally, two a year. In addition to the Alex Delaware series, Kellerman has also written novels featuring Petra Connor, who is part of the "Delaware universe." He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and has been nominated for a Shamus Award.

Kellerman is married to bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, and they have four children together, one of whom is also a bestselling novelist, Jesse Kellerman. Though no longer active as a psychotherapist, he is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Psychology at University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. Kellerman is highly regarded for his contributions to the field of forensic psychology and for his compelling crime novels, which have captivated audiences worldwide.