A psychologist's attempts to trace the origins of a former patient's breakdown place him at the hub of the investigation into a string of vicious serial murders.

Child psychologist Alex Delaware examines a disturbed young girl and uncovers evidence of a brutal double murder, a child molester's grisly suicide, and a horrible forty-year old secret that continues to have an effect today.

Little Woody Swope was gravely ill. Treatment was possible, if painful. But his parents, members of a bizarre sect called the Touchers, threatened to take him out of hospital. Then Woody was gone. So were the Swopes, leaving their motel suite heavily bloodstained. Enter Alex Delaware, child psychologist, young, burned out, and semi-retired. He and his LA cop friend Milo find a heap of suspects - an ageing ex-hippy doctor; a back-country police chief;...

"No one in Seven Poplars, Delaware, expects Anna Yoder ever to marry. Among her six pretty, petite sisters, big and plain Anna feels like a plow horse. But then Samuel Mast, the handsome widowed father she has secretly loved for years, asks if he can court her. Surely Anna has misheard?Samuel has his pick of lovely brides! She's convinced he seeks a wife only as a mother for his five children. Or could a man like Samuel actually have a very romantic...

"Bold widow Johanna Yoder stuns Roland Byler when she asks him to be her husband. To Johanna, it seems very sensible that they marry. She has two children, and he has a son. Why shouldn't their families become one? But the widower has never forgotten his long-ago love for her; it was his foolish mistake that split them apart. This could be a fresh start for both of them. Until she reveals she wants a marriage of convenience only. It's up to Roland...

Years after failing to help troubled teen-turned-stripper Lauren Teague, psychologist Alex Delaware ignores the advice of friends to solve her murder, delving into the victim's past and the sex industry of southern California.

Professor Hope Devane is murdered on a quiet street of L.A., and homicide detective Milo Sturgis asks for help from Dr. Alex.

"After growing up in privilege and marrying into money, Lila Alders has gotten used to the good life. But when her happily-ever-after implodes, Lila must return to Black Dog Bay, the tiny seaside town where she grew up. She's desperate for a safe haven, but everything has changed over the past ten years. Her family's fortune is gone-and her mother is in total denial. It's up to Lila to take care of everything...but she can barely take care of herself....