Author: J. D. Robb
Series: In Death (Book 49)
Publication: St. Martin's Press (September 3, 2019)
Description: Lieutenant Eve Dallas must keep the predator from becoming the prey in Vendetta in Death, the newest thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author J.D. Robb.
She calls herself Lady Justice. And once she has chosen a man as her target, she turns herself into a tall blonde or a curvaceous redhead, makes herself as alluring and seductive as possible to them. Once they are in her grasp, they are powerless.
The first victim is wealthy businessman Nigel McEnroy. His company’s human resources department has already paid out settlements to a couple of his young victims―but they don’t know that his crimes go far beyond workplace harassment. Lady Justice knows. And in one shocking night of brutality, she makes him pay a much steeper price.
Now Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, are combing through the evidence of McEnroy’s secret life. His compulsive need to record his misdeeds provides them with a wide range of suspects, but the true identity of Lady Justice remains elusive. It’s a challenging case, made even more difficult by McEnroy’s widow, who reacts to the investigation with fury, denial, and threats. Meanwhile, Lady Justice’s criminal crusade is escalating rapidly, and if Eve can’t stop this vigilante, there’s no telling how much blood may be spilled…
My Thoughts: In this 49th in the In Death series, Eve pits her wits against a murderer who tortures, mutilates and murders men and who calls herself Lady Justice.
The first victim is Nigel McEnroy who is a wealthy businessman with a genius for matching the right person to the right job. He is also a serial rapist who has a thing for redheads and the habit of drugging them and then videotaping the sexual encounters. As she and Peabody look into his life, they find a couple of women who worked for him and took settlements to keep them from reporting him. When talking to the women, they find their way to a support group called Women for Women.
They also run afoul of Mrs. McEnroy who refuses to believe that her husband did the things that Eve and Peabody have ample evidence to prove. She vows to go all the way to the Mayor with complaints and she does. Fortunately, Eve's superiors know who they can believe.
The second victim is Thaddeus Pettigrew. He cheated on his wife, divorced her, cheated her out of the company she was the brains behind, and chose to live with the woman who helped him cheat. Darla Pettigrew is the granddaughter of famous actress Eloise Callahan. She lives with her Grand who is getting over a rather serious illness. Darla has also attended the support group.
The third victim is a man who raped and beat his wife and who didn't pay attention to the restraining order she took out on him. She is also an attendee at the same support group.
With Lady Justice picking a new victim every day, Eve and her team are under time pressure to discover and stop the murderer. We, along with Eve, learn who the murderer is by about the mid-point of the book. However, Eve doesn't have any evidence that supports her instincts and that would generate a search warrant.
I love this series. The relationship between Roarke and Eve is my favorite of all the romantic relationships I've read. Their banter and Eve's banter with her partner Peabody is always entertaining and humorous. I like that Eve is learning to deal with the many traumas of her childhood through the love of her husband and friends.
Favorite Quote:
"We joke about what each would do if the other strayed - and I admit you usually outdo me in creativity there. But the fact is we never would. It's not only love that keeps us faithful. It's respect, for each other, for ourselves. That's a bond that holds."I received this one in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.
"I know it. Still, I cn be even more creative if you ever tested it."
"And I know that."
This sounds very entertaining. I'd love to read it myself.
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