Audiobook Review: Obsession in Death by J. D. Robb

Obsession in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Narrator: Susan Ericksen
Series: In Death (Book 40)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (February 10, 2015)
Length: 13 hours and 22 minutes

Description: Lieutenant Eve Dallas walks the thin line between love and hate in this fabulous 40th thriller from #1 New York Times bestseller J. D. Robb....

Eve Dallas has solved a lot of high-profile murders for the NYPSD and gotten a lot of media. She - and her billionaire husband - are getting accustomed to being objects of attention, of gossip, of speculation.

But now Eve has become the object of one person's obsession. Someone who finds her extraordinary, and thinks about her every hour of every day. Who believes the two of them have a special relationship. Who would kill for her - again and again....

With a murderer reading meanings into her every move, handling this case will be a delicate - and dangerous - psychological dance. And Eve knows that underneath the worship and admiration, a terrible threat lies in wait. Because the beautiful lieutenant is not at all grateful for these bloody offerings from her "true and loyal friend." And in time, idols always fall....

My Thoughts: Lieutenant Eve Dallas is a NYPSD murder cop. She's really good at her job and has solved some very high-profile cases. She's also married to a gorgeous and mysterious billionaire named Roarke. Putting those things together means that Eve has a much higher profile than she would like. 

Eve's fame has attracted a person who really admires her and wants to be her best friend. Her new best friend has decided to murder people they believe have done Eve wrong. The first victim is a high-profile lawyer. The lawyer defended a man Eve arrested for inventing a device that let him control people's minds which made some of them kill themselves. Once the court case was over, Eve didn't give the lawyer another thought until her new friend decided to murder her. Her friend left a note for her written in the wall with a Sharpie. 

The second victim was a third-rate junkie who accidentally bruised Eve's face when she went to him for some information about a case. Now his body was found impaled by a broken pool cue. Eve's friend has left a note on the wall for her. This one was still written with a Sharpie but was longer and less controlled then the first note. 

Even though they need to investigate each victim, it soon becomes clear that the only thing that connects the murders is Eve's involvement. Eve and her partner Detective Peabody have to search for people who might know about the details of the cases or who might be focused on Eve. 

Eve also has to find a way to protect her friends because her new friend doesn't want any rivals. This brings Eve to a realization of how many friends she now has and makes her wonder how it all happened. Eve life has changed and expanded in many ways since she fell in love with and married Roarke. 

There are lots of references to Eve's earlier cases since this is the 40th book in the series. There are also lots of references to her early life and the way she has overcome her childhood trauma. The romance is also strong in this one. She and Roarke are building unbreakable bonds. In some of the books, there are conflicts as she and Roarke are building their marriage. In this one, she and Roarke are on the same page. 

This was an excellent entry into this long-running series. 

I bought this audiobook December 1, 2023. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Big Jack by Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb

Big Jack
Author: J. D. Robb
Narrator: Susan Ericksen
Series: In Death
Publication: Brilliance Audio (February 23, 2010)
Length: 8 hours and 20 minutes

Description: In New York City in 2059, someone is pursuing missing gems from a decades-old heist…someone who’s willing to kill for them. Sharp-witted and sexy, NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas is used to traveling in the shadowy corners outside the law. And in a future where crime meets cutting-edge technology, she will attempt to track down the diamonds once and for all—and stop the danger and death that have surrounded the jewels for years.

My Thoughts: A jewel theft more than 50 years earlier and the novel that is written about it are the keys to this Eve Dallas futuristic mystery. 

Sam Gannon has written a best-selling novel about the jewel theft that brought her grandparents together more than fifty years earlier. The kicker is that one quarter of the diamonds were never recovered which excites modern day treasure hunters. 

When Sam returns from a whirlwind book tour, she discovers the body of her friend and house sitter who was brutally murdered. Eve Dallas gets the case and soon has to look into who killed the house sitter and why. 

The diamonds quickly become the motive requiring Eve, Roarke, Feeney and the rest of Eve's team to investigate a crime that occurred before any of them were born. A second murder, that of the woman who was Sam's housecleaner, adds to the mystery. 

This was another excellent adventure in the In Death series. Roberts has also written HOT ROCKS which tells the story of the jewel theft and investigation into it which also details the romance of the couple who will become Sam's grandparents. 

I bought this one June 5, 2025. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: New York to Dallas by J. D. Robb

New York to Dallas
Author: J. D. Robb
Narrator: Susan Erickson
Series: In Death (Book 33)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (September 13, 2011)
Length: 14 hours and 17 minutes

Description: It was one of Eve Dallas’s earliest takedowns, back in her uniform days. A monster named Isaac McQueen had been abducting young victims and leaving them scarred in both mind and body. Thanks to Eve, he wound up where he belonged, removed from civilized society in Rikers. But he’s not behind bars anymore.

After his escape, McQueen has two things in mind. One is to take up where he left off, preying on the young and innocent - when necessary, with the help of a female partner all too willing to be manipulated and to aid and abet his crimes. His other goal: to get revenge on the woman who stopped him all those years ago, now a high-profile lieutenant in the NYPSD and married to one of the city’s richest men.

Commanding Eve’s attention with a chilling and brazen crime, McQueen sets off the chase - forcing Eve down a road marked with blood and tears, a road that eventually leads southwest to Dallas, Texas, the home Eve fled long ago. And each new twist brings her closer to the harrowing memory of when she wasn’t a hardened detective but a vulnerable girl just like McQueen’s innocent prey. As her husband, Roarke, tries to rescue her from the nightmares that claw at her mind, and her partner, Peabody, doggedly works to support her, Eve must confront - and call upon - the darkest parts of her own soul in order to survive.

My Thoughts: NEW YORK TO DALLAS is the 33rd book in the In Death series and is one of the most emotionally intense episodes. 

The story begins with a case that she worked when she was a rookie. Isaac McQueen was a violent pedophile who has imprisoned more than twenty young girls in his apartment. Eve stumbles onto the situation when she is knocking on doors looking for witnesses to a mugging which resulted in death. McQueen was convicted of a number of crimes and sentenced to Rikers Island. The situation caused Eve to open the door a little bit to her past which she thought she had successfully buried.

At least ten years have passed, Eve has become a decorated Homicide Lieutenant, fallen in love, married Roarke, and uncovered more of the past she had buried. But now McQueen has escaped from prison leaving a dead guard behind and wants a rematch with Eve.

He moves his crimes to Dallas where he abducts one of his previous victims. Eve has to leave her comfortable setting and return to Dallas. Dallas holds only horrible memories for her. It was in Dallas that she killed her abusive father while he was raping her. She was nine. Found wandering and without any memory of her past, she was placed in the foster care system and name Eve Dallas by a social worker. 

Returning to Dallas triggers the nightmares that she thought she had conquered and flashbacks to a time when she was abused and raped by her father. But this time she's not alone. Not only is Roarke there with her to help and support her, but Dr. Mira has come too. Mira has gradually grown through the books to be almost a mother-figure to Eve. This is essential in this case because McQueen has a partner who just happens who has ties to Eve. 

And, besides Eve, McQueen is hunting for a new "bad girl" - a young, innocent thirteen-year-old girl. 

This was an excellent story. The relationship between Eve and Roarke is one of the best romantic pairings that I have ever read. 

I bought this one on sale from Audible December 1, 2023. I bought the hardcover August 15, 2011. You can buy your copy here.

Audiobook Review: Fantasy in Death by J. D. Robb

Fantasy in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Narrator: Susan Erickson
Series: In Death (Book 30)
Publication: Brilliance Audio (February 17, 2010)
Length: 12 hours and 50 minutes

Description: Bart Minnock, founder of the computer gaming giant U-Play, enters his private playroom, and eagerly can’t wait to lose himself in an imaginary world, to play the role of a sword-wielding warrior king, in his company’s latest top-secret project, Fantastical.

The next morning, he is found in the same locked room, in a pool of blood, his head separated from his body. It is the most puzzling case Eve Dallas has ever faced, and it is not a game.

Lt. Eve Dallas is having as much trouble figuring out how Bart Minnock was murdered as who did the murdering. The victim’s girlfriend seems sincerely grief-stricken, and his quirky-but-brilliant partners at U-Play appear shocked as well. No one seemed to have a problem with the enthusiastic, high-spirited millionaire of course, success can attract jealousy, and gaming, like any business, has its fierce rivalries and dirty tricks—as Eve’s husband, Roarke, one of U-Play’s competitors, knows well. But Minnock was not naïve, and he knew how to fight back in the real world as well as the virtual one.

Eve and her team are about to enter the next level of police work, in a world where fantasy is the ultimate seduction—and the price of defeat is death.

My Thoughts: This 30th book in the In Death series is a futuristic locked room puzzle for homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her team. Bart Minnock is the founder of a computer gaming company. He comes home with a new game that his company is developing, enters his holoroom to play it, and is found the next morning with his head cut off. 

This is Eve's case, and it is a complex one. There is no evidence that anyone was with Bart. His very good security shows that he was alone in his apartment. And the game can't be tested because a failsafe destroys it if anyone but the person to who started it tries to stop it. 

Bart had three partners in his gaming company. Roarke had mentored all of them as they were setting up their business. Roarke Industries also has fingers in the gaming business and they're working on a similar new game. Roarke is very involved in the case both in his role as "expert civilian consultant" and tech geek.

And while Eve and Roarke are trying to figure out what happened to Bart, Nadine Furst is getting ready for the publication of her new book chronicling one of Eve's earlier cases. Eve and Roarke have to attend the huge party that is going along with the book launch. 

This was an excellent addition to a long-running series. I enjoy seeing Eve and Roarke's marriage grow as they get to know each other more and more. I also like the way Eve's circle of friends has expanded through the course of the series. This was tilted especially to the science fiction end of the spectrum because of the gaming and hologram technology. 

I bought this audiobook December 1, 2023. I bought the hardcover in 2010. You can buy your copy here.

Book Beginnings: Remember When by Nora Roberts/J. D. Robb

Happy Friday!

Book Beginnings is hosted by Gillion at Rose City Reader. She asks that the first sentence is posted along with the author and title of the book and the reader's initial thoughts on the sentence, the book, or anything else it inspires.

Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower.org also provides a linky for sharing first lines and connecting with others. This meme asks that the chosen books be PG or marked as Mature if they are not.

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda at Freda's Voice. This meme is currently on hiatus but many of us are still including a sentence from page 56 or from 56% of the ebook. Anne @ Head Full of Books is picking up the slack until Freda is ready to return. I think this link will get you to the correct place.

Beginning:

A heroic belch of thunder followed the strange little man into the shop. He glanced around apologetically, as if the rude noise were his responsibility rather than nature's, and fumbled a package under his arm so he could close a black-and-white-striped umbrella. 

***

New York, 2059

She was dying to get home. Knowing her own house, her own bed, her own things were waiting for her made even the filthy afternoon traffic from the airport a pleasure.

Friday 56:

Max learned quite a lot about Laine over the next few hours. She was organized, practical and precise. More linear-minded than what he'd expected from someone of her background. 

This week I am spotlighting Remember When by Nora Roberts/J. D. Robb. It is a romantic suspense title with the second part being an In Death novella. I set a goal this year of rereading all the In Death novels (57 to date with a new one coming in January) and all the existing novellas which currently number 11. Nora Roberts/J. D. Robb is one of my favorite authors and totally re-readable.

Here is the description from Amazon:

Featuring Lieutenant Eve Dallas, Remember When blends present-day romance and futuristic suspense in a thrilling two-part novel that combines the incomparable talents of two #1 bestselling authors: Nora Roberts and her alter ego J. D. Robb.

Antiques dealer Laine Tavish is an ordinary woman living an ordinary life. At least, that's what everyone in the small town of Angel's Gap, Maryland, thinks. They have no idea that she used to be Elaine O'Hara, the daughter of a notorious con man...

Laine's past catches up with her when one of Big Jack's associates turns up in her shop with a cryptic warning and is then run down in the street. Now the next target of a ruthless killer, Laine teams up with sexy PI Max Gannon to find out who's chasing her, and why. The answer lies in a hidden fortune that will change not only Laine's life, but also the lives of future generations—including New York City detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas.

In a future where crime meets cutting-edge technology, Eve is used to traveling in the shadowy corners outside the law. She will attempt to track down the treasure Laine and Max sought once and for all—and stop the danger and death that has surrounded it for decades...

Book Review: Brotherhood in Death by J. D. Robb

Brotherhood in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Series: In Death (Book 42)
Publication: Berkley (February 2, 2016)

Description: In this thrilling novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling In Death series, Lieutenant Eve Dallas finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy when she investigates the disappearance of a former U.S. Senator.

Just as Dennis Mira is about to confront his cousin Edward about selling the West Village brownstone that belonged to their grandfather, he gets a shock: Edward is in front of him, bruised and bloody...and then everything goes black.

When Dennis comes to, Edward is gone. Luckily Dennis’s wife is a top profiler for the NYPSD—and a close colleague of Lieutenant Eve Dallas. Now Eve is determined to uncover the secrets of Edward Mira and learn what enemies he may have made in his long career as a lawyer, judge, and senator. A badge and a billionaire husband can get you access to places others can’t go, and Eve intends to shine some light on the dirty deals and dark motives behind the disappearance of a powerful man, the family discord over a multimillion-dollar piece of real estate...and a new case that no one saw coming.

My Thoughts: This is the 42nd In Death book but, in the internal chronology, only about three years have passed since Eve and Roarke first met. Eve (and Roarke) have made massive changes since the first book. Because Eve is the viewpoint character, we see her changes more closely. In this episode, Eve is called in when her friend Dr. Mira's husband is struck from behind in a house he inherited from his grandparents. He had come there to, very reluctantly, confront his cousin who inherited half the house and was determined to sell it despite the promises they made to their grandfather to keep it in the family.

Dennis Mira's cousin Edward is missing. This doesn't seem like Eve's kind of case since she is a murder cop but Dr. Mira is a friend and Eve has quite a crush on Dennis Mira who is a thoroughly nice man. When investigating Edward, she quickly learns how different he was from his cousin. They are quickly led to a number of women that Edward, very much married, had seduced in just the past year which leads Eve to think about marriage and fidelity. She knows she would not look the other way if Roarke chose to stray.

The case quickly turns to murder when Edward is found hanging from the chandelier in the foyer of his grandparents' house. He was beaten and tortured before his death. Because of the nature of the torture, focus turns to the crime being a result of some sexual relationship gone wrong which helps Eve's focus. 

I will say that the identities of the murderers were known pretty early in the story and the focus shifted on finding them before they could kill their next target. What made this story particularly interesting to me was that Eve had much more sympathy for the murderers than she had for the victims. However, her job was to stand for the victims no matter how unlikable or how unpleasant they were while they were alive. Also, the nature of the crimes committed by these men brought back memories of her own abused childhood. It was good to see the support network that she has built over the past three years. There's Roarke, of course, but there is also Dr. Mira and her partner Peabody who know her story. 

The nature of the case provides unique stress to Eve but so does Roarke's plan to redo her home office. He had created a duplicate of the apartment she lived in before they met and now he feels that it is time for a change. Eve was caught by surprise by the idea and it takes a while before she figures out why. This creates some tension between Eve and Roarke for a time. 

I loved this story and this opportunity to catch up on the lives of characters who are so real to me that I wouldn't be at all surprised to meet them on the street some day.

Favorite Quote:

"Could I what?"

"Forgive that. I mean, it's never going to happen, but hypothetically if, say, Roarke and I lost our minds for one wild night and had hot. crazed sex involving many multiple orgasms, then came to our senses and begged your forgiveness. Owned it, you know? Could you forgive us?"

Eve drove in silence a moment. "Well, it would be hard. It would be work, but marriage is work. So's partnership. I think I could. It would take time and that work, but I think I could forgive both of you. After I boiled you in big vats to make it easier to peel the skin, very slowly and carefully, off your bones while I danced to the music of your agonized screams. Then I made you watch while I fashioned people suits out of your skin for a couple of sparring droids I would then beat into rubble that I'd bury along with your quivering, skinless bodies in unmarked graves. After that," Eve said with a considering nod, "I think I could forgive you."

I bought this one in 2016 and read it right away. I chose to reread it now because I saw that Nora Roberts' publicist was pulling quotes from this one on their Facebook page. You can buy your copy here.

Book Review: Naked in Death by J. D. Robb

Naked in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Series: In Death (Book 1)
Publication: Berkley (July 1, 1995)

Description: In the year 2058, technology completely rules the world. But for New York City Detective Eve Dallas, one irresistible impulse still rules the heart: passion…

Eve Dallas is a New York police lieutenant hunting for a ruthless killer. In over ten years on the force, she's seen it all—and knows her survival depends on her instincts. And she's going against every warning telling her not to get involved with Roarke, an Irish billionaire—and a suspect in Eve's murder investigation. But passion and seduction have rules of their own, and it's up to Eve to take a chance in the arms of a man she knows nothing about—except the addictive hunger of needing his touch.

My Thoughts: This story begins with Eve - Lieutenant Eve Dallas of the NYPSD - dealing with the aftermath of a case when she killed an addict just after the addict has sliced up and murdered a three-year-old child. Before she can go into Testing, she's called in for a Code Five case.

Licensed Companion Sharon DeBlass has been murdered with an illegal firearm. This is a political hot potato because her grandfather is Senator DeBlass. The Senator is a strong right-wing conservative against legal prostitution, the gun ban, professional mothers and all sorts of other realities in the United States in 2058. He also has a great deal of influence with her superiors in the NYPSD. 

As Eve begins to investigate, with the help of her former partner Ryan Feeney, she learns that one of the last people to see Sharon was Roarke. Roarke is a mysterious billionaire with no first name and no past that anyone can find. She certainly doesn't expect to be powerfully attracted to the mysterious Roarke. And he wasn't looking for her either. 

When Sharon's death is only the first with two more following - also licensed companions but not having anything else in common - Eve along with an assist by Roarke has to find out why someone wanted them all dead and stop him before he kills again. 

I liked the way the worldbuilding was woven into the story without long info-dumps. I liked the way the characters were introduced with just enough information to begin to get to know them. I loved the beginning of the romance between Eve and Roarke who were remarkably alike despite outward appearances. 

Favorite Quote:

God, what a face, he thought. All those angles and expressions, all that emotion and control. Just now she was fighting off showing both surprise and pleasure as the taste of the wine settled on her tongue. He was looking forward to the moment when the taste of her settled on his.

I bought this one in 1995 and read it the first time then. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Naked in Death by J. D. Robb

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

She woke in the dark. Through the slats on the window shades, the first murky hint of dawn slipped, slanting shadowy bars over the bed. It was like waking in a cell.

Friday 56:

Eve treated herself to one precious cup the next morning. Even her temperamental AutoChef hadn't been able to spoil the dark, rich flavor. She drove to the station, with her faulty heater, under sleeting skies, in a wind chill that came in just under five degrees, with a smile on her face.

This week I am circling back to a book I first read in 1995. Naked in Death by J. D. Robb is the first of (currently) 56 books in the In Death series. While I have kept up with the series and, in fact, eagerly anticipated each new one, it has been quite a while since I read the first book. I found that it held up very well for me and made me want to read more.

Here is the description from Amazon:

In the year 2058, technology completely rules the world. But for New York City Detective Eve Dallas, one irresistible impulse still rules the heart: passion…

Eve Dallas is a New York police lieutenant hunting for a ruthless killer. In over ten years on the force, she's seen it all—and knows her survival depends on her instincts. And she's going against every warning telling her not to get involved with Roarke, an Irish billionaire—and a suspect in Eve's murder investigation. But passion and seduction have rules of their own, and it's up to Eve to take a chance in the arms of a man she knows nothing about—except the addictive hunger of needing his touch.

Book Review: Faithless in Death by J. D. Robb

Faithless in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Series: In Death (Book 52)
Publication: St. Martin's Press (February 9, 2021)

Description: In the new Eve Dallas police thriller from #1 New York Times-bestselling author J. D. Robb, what looked like a lover’s quarrel turned fatal has larger—and more terrifying—motives behind it…

The scene in the West Village studio appears to be classic crime-of-passion: two wineglasses by the bed, music playing, and a young sculptor named Ariel Byrd with the back of her head bashed in. But when Dallas tracks down the wealthy Upper East Side woman who called 911, the details don’t add up. Gwen Huffman is wealthy, elegant, comforted by her handsome fiancé as she sheds tears over the trauma of finding the body—but why did it take an hour to report it? And why is she lying about little things?

As Eve and her team look into Gwen, her past, and the people around her, they find that the lies are about more than murder. As with sculpture, they need to chip away at the layers of deception to find the shape within—and soon they’re getting the FBI involved in a case that involves a sinister, fanatical group and a stunning criminal conspiracy.

My Thoughts: Eve's next case starts out simple. What looks like a lover's quarrel leaving a young female sculptor dead in her studio quickly becomes a much deeper and darker case. First of all, why did Gwen Huffman wait more than an hour before calling in the discovery of the crime? And why did she call her lawyer-fiancé before she called the cops?

Gwen's lies and inconsistencies quickly alert Eve and Peabody to the idea that something is being hidden but neither could have imagined the scope of her secrets. As they investigate Gwen and her background and contacts, they discover that she is part of a cult called Natural Order. It hates anyone who isn't straight, anyone who is mixed-race, and women generally. 

Founded by Stanton Wilkey who Roarke describes as "a charismatic lunatic", it has been growing in great secrecy for years. Eve's friend reporter Nadine Furst tried to investigate it when she was a young reporter with no success. All attempts to get the details, including the FBI's attempt to get an agent undercover, have been unsuccessful. But when Eve goes to interview Wilkey, she is surreptitiously passed a note which indicates things are even worse than everyone feared; a young woman is being held captive after being abducted and having her identity erased.

As Eve investigates possible killers of the young sculptor, she also discovers the members of the cult are imprisoning women and forcing them into marriages and motherhood. This triggers all sorts of reminders of her own childhood and deepens Eve's determination to destroy this cult and its members. Luckily, her contacts in the FBI and Interpol are also determined to do the same thing.

While this story deals with a deep and dark crime, there are still happy notes. Mavis and Leonardo have bought a house with the intent to grow their family. The house also has a sort of guesthouse/mother-in-law suite that they intend to rent to Peabody and McNab. Roarke found the house, which is a real fixer-upper, and is helping with the rehab. There are also the usual problems with idioms this time including "lo and behold," "a flash in the pan," and "irons in the fire" that added some humor to a story with lots of darkness.

Fans of the In Death series will enjoy this latest episode and be glad to spend time again with Eve, Roarke, and the family they have built around themselves. 

Favorite Quote:

She made her way downstairs and found Peabody walking her way.

"My charm's on high today." After a little hip wiggle, Peabody tried a hair toss.

"Never, never do that again."

"You're going to want to do the same when I tell you Dickhead already had the sheets done. Two separate DNAs from fluids, both female. One from the victim, one not in the system."

"Good, solid. But I don't do the wiggle and toss."

"'Cause you've got no hips and really short hair. But inside, you're wiggling and tossing."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Faithless in Death by J. D. Robb

 Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

Paperwork could kill.

Nothing, to Eve Dallas's mind, reached the same heights -- or depths -- as paperwork's terminal boredom.

And if the boredom didn't kill you, the frustration would.

Friday 56: 

"She wouldn't be the first to kill to maintain appearances."

This week I am spotlighting Faithless in Death by J. D. Robb. It is the 52nd in this futuristic mystery series. It is a real favorite of mine! Here is the description from Amazon:

In the new Eve Dallas police thriller from #1 New York Times-bestselling author J. D. Robb, what looked like a lover’s quarrel turned fatal has larger—and more terrifying—motives behind it…

The scene in the West Village studio appears to be classic crime-of-passion: two wineglasses by the bed, music playing, and a young sculptor named Ariel Byrd with the back of her head bashed in. But when Dallas tracks down the wealthy Upper East Side woman who called 911, the details don’t add up. Gwen Huffman is wealthy, elegant, comforted by her handsome fiancé as she sheds tears over the trauma of finding the body—but why did it take an hour to report it? And why is she lying about little things?

As Eve and her team look into Gwen, her past, and the people around her, they find that the lies are about more than murder. As with sculpture, they need to chip away at the layers of deception to find the shape within—and soon they’re getting the FBI involved in a case that involves a sinister, fanatical group and a stunning criminal conspiracy.

Book Review: Shadows in Death by J. D. Robb

Shadows in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Series: In Death (Book 51)
Publication: St. Martin's Press (September 8, 2020)

Description: In the new novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series, Lt. Eve Dallas is about to walk into the shadows of her husband’s dangerous past…

While Eve examines a fresh body in Washington Square Park, her husband, Roarke, spots a man among the onlookers he’s known since his younger days on the streets of Dublin. A man who claims to be his half brother. A man who kills for a living—and who burns with hatred for him.

Eve is quick to suspect that the victim’s spouse—resentful over his wife’s affair and poised to inherit her fortune—would have happily paid an assassin to do his dirty work. Roarke is just as quick to warn her that if Lorcan Cobbe is the hitman, she needs to be careful. Law enforcement agencies worldwide have pursued this cold-hearted killer for years, to no avail. And his lazy smirk when he looked Roarke’s way indicates that he will target anyone who matters to Roarke…and is confident he’ll get away with it.

Eve is desperate to protect Roarke. Roarke is desperate to protect Eve. And together, they’re determined to find Cobbe before he finds them—even if it takes them across the Atlantic, far outside Eve’s usual jurisdiction…

My Thoughts: This mystery centers on an old enemy of Roarke's from his childhood in Dublin. It begins with the murder of a woman in a park. While Eve is investigating, Roarke spots an old enemy in the background. He knows that Lorcan Cobbe has become a paid assassin.

It doesn't take Eve long to prove that the woman's husband is guilty of hiring Cobbe to murder his wife so that he can get revenge for her daring to have an affair and so that he could inherit her substantial wealth. Eve's willing to make a deal on the sentence if the husband will turn over information on Cobbe.

The main thrust of the book is trying to track down Cobbe before he can get his revenge on Roarke by killing everyone he loves and then killing Roarke. Eve's detectives are quick to join in on the hunt because they consider Roarke to be one of their own. Also, Cobbe has a previous history of murder in New York which was never solved but which Commander Whitney and Captain Feeney worked. They both want to catch Cobbe and throw in their expertise too. 

I enjoyed all the details of the investigation to find Cobbe. I liked the strong relationship between Roarke and Eve and its contrast with the life of Cobbe. Cobbe was jealous of Roarke when they were kids and always claimed that Roarke's father was his father too and that he was the older son who should be his heir. That jealousy is leading him to make mistakes in the case Eve is investigating that will allow her to finally capture him.

I both read the Kindle version and listened to the audio version of this book. It is the first I've listened to. I thought the narrator sounded a little too old to be Eve and didn't think Roarke sounded Irish enough. Otherwise it was an engaging experience to listen to. 

Favorite Quote:

"Eve. For all my life before you, and had fate been so cruel as to deem I'd never meet you, I'd have nothing, just nothing that could compare even to this single moment."

"Where we're standing in your closet strapped with weapons?"

He laughed, cupped her face. "Yes."

"Let's go find this bastard, and make an even better moment."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Shadows in Death by J. D. Robb

 Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

As it often did since he'd married a cop, murder interrupted more pleasant activities. Then again, Roarke supposed, the woman lying in a pool of her own blood a few steps inside the arch in Washington Square Park had a heftier complaint.

Friday 56: 

"Name of wit?"

"Roarke."

That put a small hitch in Reo's purposeful stride. "That's complicating matters. How does Roarke know a paid killer?"

"He knew him when they were kids in Dublin."

"Friends? Associates?"

"Neither. You can say the opposite."

"Slightly less complicated."

This week I am spotlighting Shadows in Death by J. D. Robb. This is the 51st book in the In Death series. Here is the description from Amazon:

In the new novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series, Lt. Eve Dallas is about to walk into the shadows of her husband’s dangerous past…

While Eve examines a fresh body in Washington Square Park, her husband, Roarke, spots a man among the onlookers he’s known since his younger days on the streets of Dublin. A man who claims to be his half brother. A man who kills for a living—and who burns with hatred for him.

Eve is quick to suspect that the victim’s spouse—resentful over his wife’s affair and poised to inherit her fortune—would have happily paid an assassin to do his dirty work. Roarke is just as quick to warn her that if Lorcan Cobbe is the hitman, she needs to be careful. Law enforcement agencies worldwide have pursued this cold-hearted killer for years, to no avail. And his lazy smirk when he looked Roarke’s way indicates that he will target anyone who matters to Roarke…and is confident he’ll get away with it.

Eve is desperate to protect Roarke. Roarke is desperate to protect Eve. And together, they’re determined to find Cobbe before he finds them—even if it takes them across the Atlantic, far outside Eve’s usual jurisdiction…

ARC Review: Golden in Death by J. D. Robb

Golden in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Series: In Death (Book 50)
Publication: St. Martin's Press (February 4, 2020)

Description: In the latest thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, homicide detective Eve Dallas investigates a murder with a mysterious motive―and a terrifying weapon.

Pediatrician Kent Abner received the package on a beautiful April morning. Inside was a cheap trinket, a golden egg that could be opened into two halves. When he pried it apart, highly toxic airborne fumes entered his body―and killed him.

After Eve Dallas calls the hazmat team―and undergoes testing to reassure both her and her husband that she hasn’t been exposed―it’s time to look into Dr. Abner’s past and relationships. Not every victim Eve encounters is an angel, but it seems that Abner came pretty close―though he did ruffle some feathers over the years by taking stands for the weak and defenseless. While the lab tries to identify the deadly toxin, Eve hunts for the sender. But when someone else dies in the same grisly manner, it becomes clear that she’s dealing with either a madman―or someone who has a hidden and elusive connection to both victims.

My Thoughts: The 50th In Death mystery has Eve hunting for a killer who used a terrifying chemical weapon to kill a pediatrician. Dr. Kent Abner was a beloved doctor. He was also a beloved husband to Martin Rufty who is the Headmaster of an elite private school, two grown children and grandchildren too. No one can understand who would have done something so terrible to a man like Dr. Abner.

But then there is a second murder using the same chemical weapon. This time the victim is the wife of a Professor at Columbia. She works in her family bookstore but spends most of her time raising the couple's two teenage sons. Again, there doesn't seem to be any reason that she would have angered anyone enough to be the target of such a brutal attack.

Eve and her partner Peabody find a connection when they begin digging deeply to see what the two victims have in common. They discover that both of the husbands were or are associated with the same private school at a time when the school was going through turmoil - bullying, cheating, inflated grades for students who parents were substantial donors. Duran was a whistle blower and Rufty was brought in to right the ship.

The investigation digs deep into that time of turmoil to look for people who could be holding a grudge that only murder will satisfy. I enjoyed the police procedural aspects of this mystery. I also enjoy the relationship between Eve and Roarke who prove that even horrible childhoods can lead to successful adults and that the past doesn't determine future possibilities.

Favorite Quote:

It's never just the dead, Eve thought as they got back in the car. Death--but most especially murder--ripped so many lives to shreds. And no matter how they were put back together, they were never, never the same.

For some killers, she thought, that miserable truth was a kind of bonus point. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Golden in Death by J. D. Robb

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

Dr. Kent Abner began the day of his death comfortable and content.

Friday 56:

He drank. "Added to it, the priceless lesson she taught me. Marriage is for fools. Why legalize and complicate what you can simply enjoy?"

This week I am spotlighting Golden in Death by J. D. Robb. This is the fiftieth book in the series. Here is the description from Amazon:

In the latest thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, homicide detective Eve Dallas investigates a murder with a mysterious motive―and a terrifying weapon.

Pediatrician Kent Abner received the package on a beautiful April morning. Inside was a cheap trinket, a golden egg that could be opened into two halves. When he pried it apart, highly toxic airborne fumes entered his body―and killed him.

After Eve Dallas calls the hazmat team―and undergoes testing to reassure both her and her husband that she hasn’t been exposed―it’s time to look into Dr. Abner’s past and relationships. Not every victim Eve encounters is an angel, but it seems that Abner came pretty close―though he did ruffle some feathers over the years by taking stands for the weak and defenseless. While the lab tries to identify the deadly toxin, Eve hunts for the sender. But when someone else dies in the same grisly manner, it becomes clear that she’s dealing with either a madman―or someone who has a hidden and elusive connection to both victims.

Book Review: Connections in Death by J. D. Robb

Connections in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Series: In Death (Book 48)
Publication: St. Martin's Press (February 5, 2019)

Description: In this gritty and gripping new novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, Eve Dallas fights to save the innocent―and serve justice to the guilty―on the streets of New York.

Homicide cop Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband, Roarke, are building a brand-new school and youth shelter. They know that the hard life can lead kids toward dangerous crossroads―and with this new project, they hope to nudge a few more of them onto the right path. For expert help, they hire child psychologist Dr. Rochelle Pickering―whose own brother pulled himself out of a spiral of addiction and crime with Rochelle’s support.

Lyle is living with Rochelle while he gets his life together, and he’s thrilled to hear about his sister’s new job offer. But within hours, triumph is followed by tragedy. Returning from a celebratory dinner with her boyfriend, she finds Lyle dead with a syringe in his lap, and Eve’s investigation confirms that this wasn’t just another OD. After all his work to get clean, Lyle’s been pumped full of poison―and a neighbor with a peephole reports seeing a scruffy, pink-haired girl fleeing the scene.

Now Eve and Roarke must venture into the gang territory where Lyle used to run, and the ugly underground world of tattoo parlors and strip joints where everyone has taken a wrong turn somewhere. They both believe in giving people a second chance. Maybe even a third or fourth. But as far as they’re concerned, whoever gave the order on Lyle Pickering’s murder has run out of chances…

My Thoughts: The story begins with Eve and Roarke going to a fancy cocktail party at Nadine's new home. It is interesting to see Eve realizing how many people are now a part of her life. And it is rather dismaying for Eve too.

Eve meets Rochelle Pickering. She's a child psychologist who is dating Crack who is one of Eve's friends from even before she met Roarke. Roarke is planning to hire her to be the head therapist an An Didean - a residential project to help young girls. Naturally being Eve, she takes an opportunity to check her out for any criminal past.

The next thing she knows, Crack is calling her because they have found Rochelle's younger brother dead of an apparent overdose when they return home. Rochelle doesn't believe that Lyle killed himself. He did have a troubled past with gang involvement and drug use but prison and rehabilitation worked for him. He's clean, he's working, he's happy and rebuilding trust with his family.

It doesn't take more than a brief look for Eve to realize that Lyle was murdered instead of falling off the wagon and overdosing. Her investigation takes her deep into the Bangers - Lyle's former gang - where she uncovers much more than the usual gang violence. There is dissension in the ranks, a corrupt disbarred lawyer, and plots and betrayals. There are also a whole bunch of stupid members of the gang.

While the case is pretty easily solved and lots of gang members are taken off the street, Eve is generally sad. She begins to think that the system that is her moral center has failed. It takes Roarke's support and his own explanation for why he helps her solve her cases before Eve regains her balance.

This was filled with the usual snarky banter between Eve and Peabody. It also explores more of Eve's unique viewpoint regarding social things and her usual mangling of idioms. Her relationship with Roarke and her friends remains strong and gives her emotional support as she does a difficult job.

The series continues to be strong even in this 48th episode.

Favorite Quote:

"We should do a girls' night," Peabody said. "Go to a club and -- no, a piano bar! Classy. We could all have fancy drinks, and --"

"Consider this conversation the closest you'll ever get me to a piano bar with a bunch of women drunk on fancy drinks. Who's on the mother?"

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.

Friday Memes: Connections in Death by J. D. Robb

Happy Friday everybody!

Book Beginnings on Friday is now hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Check out the links above for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

Beginning:

The legalized torture of socializing lined right up with premeditated murder when you added the requirement of fancy shoes.

That was Lieutenant Eve Dallas's stand on it, and she should know. She was a murder cop in fancy shoes about to socialize.

Friday 56:

She let out a puff of air. "If I'd known there was trouble for him, I'd've called the police. The man I had the bad sense to hook up with when I was younger than that boy in there had some run-ins with the police, and they weren't much good to me back then, either. But I'd have called you in to help Lyle and his sister."

This week I am spotlighting the latest in the In Death series by J. D. Robb - Connections in Death. Here is the description from Amazon:

In this gritty and gripping new novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series, Eve Dallas fights to save the innocent―and serve justice to the guilty―on the streets of New York.

Homicide cop Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband, Roarke, are building a brand-new school and youth shelter. They know that the hard life can lead kids toward dangerous crossroads―and with this new project, they hope to nudge a few more of them onto the right path. For expert help, they hire child psychologist Dr. Rochelle Pickering―whose own brother pulled himself out of a spiral of addiction and crime with Rochelle’s support.

Lyle is living with Rochelle while he gets his life together, and he’s thrilled to hear about his sister’s new job offer. But within hours, triumph is followed by tragedy. Returning from a celebratory dinner with her boyfriend, she finds Lyle dead with a syringe in his lap, and Eve’s investigation confirms that this wasn’t just another OD. After all his work to get clean, Lyle’s been pumped full of poison―and a neighbor with a peephole reports seeing a scruffy, pink-haired girl fleeing the scene.

Now Eve and Roarke must venture into the gang territory where Lyle used to run, and the ugly underground world of tattoo parlors and strip joints where everyone has taken a wrong turn somewhere. They both believe in giving people a second chance. Maybe even a third or fourth. But as far as they’re concerned, whoever gave the order on Lyle Pickering’s murder has run out of chances…

Book Review: Brotherhood in Death by J. D. Robb

Brotherhood in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Series: In Death (Book 42)
Publication: Berkley (February 2, 2016)

Description: Sometimes brotherhood can be another word for conspiracy. . . .

Dennis Mira just had two unpleasant surprises. First he learned that his cousin Edward was secretly meeting with a real estate agent about their late grandfather’s magnificent West Village brownstone, despite the promise they both made to keep it in the family. Then, when he went to the house to confront Edward about it, he got a blunt object to the back of the head.

Luckily Dennis is married to Charlotte Mira, the NYPSD’s top profiler and a good friend of Lieutenant Eve Dallas. When the two arrive on the scene, he explains that the last thing he saw was Edward in a chair, bruised and bloody. When he came to, his cousin was gone. With the mess cleaned up and the security disks removed, there’s nothing left behind but a few traces for forensics to analyze.

As a former lawyer, judge, and senator, Edward Mira mingled with the elite and crossed paths with criminals, making enemies on a regular basis. Like so many politicians, he also made some very close friends behind closed—and locked—doors. But a badge and a billionaire husband can get you into places others can’t go, and Eve intends to shine some light on the dirty deals and dark motives behind the disappearance of a powerful man, the family discord over a multimillion-dollar piece of real estate . . . and a new case that no one saw coming.

My Thoughts: This is the 42nd In Death book but, in the internal chronology, only about three years have passed since Eve and Roarke first met. Eve (and Roarke) have made massive changes since the first book. Because Eve is the viewpoint character, we see her changes more closely. In this episode, Eve is called in when her friend Dr. Mira's husband is struck from behind in a house he inherited from his grandparents. He had come their to, very reluctantly, confront his cousin who inherited half the house and was determined to sell it despite the promises they made to their grandfather to keep it in the family.

Dennis Mira's cousin Edward is missing. This doesn't seem like Eve's kind of case since she is a murder cop but Dr. Mira is a friend and Eve has quite a crush on Dennis Mira who is a thoroughly nice man. When investigating Edward, she quickly learns how different he was from his cousin. They are quickly led to a number of women that Edward, very much married, had seduced in just the past year which leads Eve to think about marriage and fidelity. She knows she would not look the other way if Roarke chose to stray.

The case quickly turns to murder when Edward is found hanging from the chandelier in the foyer of his grandparents' house. He was beaten and tortured before his death. Because of the nature of the torture, focus turns to the crime being a result of some sexual relationship gone wrong which helps Eve's focus.

I will say that the identities of the murderers were known pretty early in the story and the focus shifted on finding them before they could kill their next target. What made this story particularly interesting to me was that Eve had much more sympathy for the murderers than she had for the victims. However, her job was to stand for the victims no matter how unlikable or how unpleasant they were while they were alive. Also, the nature of the crimes committed by these men brought back memories of her own abused childhood. It was good to see the support network that she has built over the past three years. There's Roarke, of course, but there is also Dr. Mira and her partner Peabody who know her story.

The nature of the case provides unique stress to Eve but so does Roarke's plan to redo her home office. He had created a duplicate of the apartment she lived in before they met and now he feels that it is time for a change. Eve was caught by surprise by the idea and it takes a while before she figures out why. This creates some tension between Eve and Roarke for a time.

I loved this story and this opportunity to catch up on the lives of characters who are so real to me that I wouldn't be at all surprised to meet them on the street some day.

Favorite Quote (when Peabody asks Eve if she could ever forgive them if she and Roarke lost their minds and had a one-night stand):

Eve drove in silence a moment. "Well, it would be hard. It would be work, but marriage is work. So's partnership. I think I could. It would take time and that work, but I think I could forgive both of you. After I boil you in big vats to make it easier to peel the skin, very slowly and carefully, off your bones while I danced to the music of your agonized screams. Then I made you watch while I fashioned people suits out of your skins for a couple of sparring droids I would then beat into rubble that I'd bury along with your quivering, skinless bodies in unmarked graves. After that," Eve said with a considering nod, "I think I could forgive you."

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.