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.

Friday Memes: Brotherhood 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:

Loyalty to the dead had him traveling to SoHo in icy rain rather than heading home. At home he could have put up his feet -- tired today, he admitted. He'd have enjoyed a cozy fire, a good book, and a small glass of whiskey while waiting for his wife to get home.

Friday 56:

"I'll be stripping off the uniform as soon as the ceremony's over."

"I really hate to miss that."

This week I am spotlighting a reread. Brotherhood in Death by J. D. Robb is the 42nd in the In Death series starring Eve Dallas and Roarke. It was published, and I read it first, in 2016. I chose to read this one again because a Facebook group was discussing it and posting intriguing quotes. It made me want to read the story again.

Here is the description from Amazon:

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.

Audiobook Review: No Nest for the Wicket by Donna Andrews

No Nest for the Wicket
Author: Donna Andrews
Narrator: Bernadette Dunne
Series: Meg Langslow Mysteries (Book 7)
Publication: Minotaur Books; First edition (June 26, 2007); Dreamscape Media (November 29, 2016)
Length: 338 p.; 7 hours and 1 minute

Description: LINE YOUR DUCKS UP IN A ROW…

The hilly terrain next to the old Sprocket house that Meg Langslow and her fiancé, Michael, are refurbishing is the perfect location for an "extreme" croquet field—even the legs of cows and sheep are convenient extra wickets. A sport traditionally reserved for genteel society, croquet has become all the rage in Caerphilly…until it appears someone in town has taken the "rage" a bit too literally.

AND KNOCK 'EM DEAD.

While stumbling down a steep bank after her ball, Meg encounters the body of a fresh female corpse with a mallet-sized dent in her head. If that isn't reason enough to call a time-out, it turns out that Michael knew the woman from years before. Ever curious, Meg decides that playing arm-chair sleuth is far more important than working on her game…and soon she finds herself in the perfect position to solve the murder mystery—or become the next victim.

My Thoughts: The seventh book in the Meg Lanslow series has Meg and her fiance Michael refurbishing an old farmhouse. It also features games of "extreme" croquet in a neighbor's cow and sheep pastures. 

When Meg stumbles onto the body of a woman who died as a result of a blow from a croquet mallet, she becomes involved in solving the mystery of her death. She soon learns that Michael once dated the victim who was a history professor with a penchant for blackmail.

Meg also learns that the farmer next door is considering selling his farm to a developer who plans to build the world's largest outlet mall on the property. Naturally, Meg and Michael aren't please about that. Meg is tempted to join forces with the head of the local historical society who wants to stop the development, but Meg really dislikes the woman.

The historical society wants the land set aside as a historical site because of a Civil War battle fought there whose hero was the leader of the historical society's ancestor. But Meg can't find any verification that the battle ever happened beyond a book written by the historical society's president.

There are numerous suspects to the woman's death. Meg finds herself a target when she gets too close to the solution.

I enjoyed this humorous story filled with quirky characters both human and animal. From wandering sheep to a cranky puffball of a dog, the animals provide a lot of humor. Then there are Meg's always entertaining relatives to add both humor and help for Meg's amateur detective work.

This was a fun story. I liked the narration by Bernadette Dunne who managed a wide variety of voices and moods.

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

ARC Review: Grace Under Fire by Julie Garwood

Grace Under Fire
Author: Julie Garwood
Series: Buchanan/FBI, 14
Publication: Berkley (July 19, 2022)

Description: Michael Buchanan will need every bit of his extensive skill set when he appoints himself as bodyguard to a woman determined not to need one in this thrilling new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood.

Grace Isabel MacKenna had a hundred things to do today. Killing someone wasn’t one of them. It was supposed to be a quick visit to Boston for the Buchanan anniversary party, then on to Scotland to collect an inheritance. She checks into her hotel and then decides to go for a brisk walk. But after getting lost, she ends up with a wounded man stumbling into her arms—and his shooter coming after them both. When she fires back in self-defense, she doesn’t expect him to drop dead. After Isabel endures an interrogation by police, she is free to go, thanks to the Buchanans dispatching former Navy SEAL and now lawyer Michael Buchanan to assist her.

Isabel knows she should be grateful for Michael’s help, but since she’s harbored an extreme dislike for him for years, gratitude is difficult to muster. Michael has appointed himself her de facto guardian, and she’s stuck with him despite their constant bickering and sizzling attraction. Even when Isabel goes to Scotland to claim her inheritance, Michael follows her—but he isn’t the only thing she can’t shake. Mysterious threats against Isabel surface, and before they can deal with their growing feelings for each other, Michael and Isabel must first survive.

My Thoughts: This romance with hints of suspense and lots of humor stars Michael Buchanan and Grace Isabel MacKenna.

Isabel has recently graduated from college and has as her first new task a trip to Scotland to claim an inheritance from a distant relative. Before that, though, she has been invited to attend an anniversary part for her sister's in-laws - the famous Buchanans.

However, an absent-minded walk through Boston leads her to a dangerous situation wherein a man who is shot collapses in her arms and she uses his gun to put a bullet between the eyes of his attacker. The family sends Michael to straighten things out for Isabel. 

Isabel and Michael met at her sister's wedding where she took a distinct dislike to him since he comprehensively ignored her. In his defense, it should be noted that he was attracted to her, but their five-year age difference seemed more important when she was just going to begin college than it seems to him now.

Now, he is looking at her and looking after her. Their personalities are complete opposites. She's a dreamy optimist; he is a man with a plan and very realistic. But since it appears that someone wants her dead, he is determined to be her protector even if he has to deal with her dangerous driving.

The story travels from Boston to Scotland to Southern California and travels from the Isabel's dislike of Michael to her deciding that he is the love of her life. Michael's journey is similar though his has him deciding that some of his future plans need to change.

This was a fun story with lots of great characters. It is the fourteenth book in the series. I haven't read any of the others. The story stands alone well, but I am interested in some of the other characters' stories and will be looking to catch up on the series.

Favorite Quote:

"You want me to drive?" She sounded thrilled.

"Yeah, sure."

Those were the last coherent words Michael spoke until they were parked in the drive on the side of his parents' home. Most of the words he shouted didn't make sense; the rest were obscenities. He wasn't a screamer, but she pushed him to his limit.

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

ARC Review: Iced by Felix Francis

Iced
Author: Felix Francis
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (July 12, 2022)

Description: In the tradition of Clive Cussler and James Lee Burke, Iced, the latest in Francis's fictional world, is a heart-pounding thriller that will keep you racing to the next page.

Seven years ago, Miles Pussett was a steeplechase jockey, loving the rush of the race. But after an unfortunate event, he left horseracing behind and swore he would never return. Now he gets his adrenaline rush from riding headfirst down the Cresta Run, a three-quarter-mile Swiss ice chute, reaching speeds of up to eighty miles per hour.

Finding himself in St Moritz during the same weekend as White Turf, when high-class horseracing takes place on the frozen lake, he gets talked into helping out with the horses. Against his better judgement, he decides to assist, but things aren’t as innocent as they seemed.

When he discovers something suspicious is going on in the races, something that may have a profound impact on his future, Miles begins a search for answers. But someone is adamant about stopping him—and they’ll go to any length to do it.

My Thoughts: This latest by Felix Francis was an intriguing story about a man named Miles Pussett. It contains a number of flashbacks that talk about his past and the things that made him the man he is now. 

Miles is the son of a famous jockey and had always wanted to follow in his famous father's footsteps. But his father died in a road accident with Miles was twelve leaving his family is some financial dire straits. His mother dies by suicide some five years later. Miles feels a lot of guilt about both events. He was with his father when he died and believes that his father took the brunt of the crash in order to save his son. He feels that he could have saved his mother if he had been paying better attention but conflicts about his future plans had them estranged at the time of her death.

These two events damage Miles's mental health. It doesn't help that, as a jockey, he faces a lot of other stresses ranging from the obsessive need to lose weight to remain eligible to race and the pressure put on him to win races and the public's written and spoken pressure when he doesn't win. 

These various pressures lead to nightmares, panic attacks, and an overuse of alcohol as an anesthetic. He is lucky to find support from the young nurse trainee he meets when a panic attack leads to hospitalization and from the Sabrina Dickinson who is the wife of his employer racehorse trainer Jerry Dickinson. 

When the story begins, Miles is in St. Moritz taking part in the Cresta run. He's abandoned the entire horseracing industry to preserve his mental health but the speed and danger of racing down an icy course at high speed fills his need for adventure. But St. Moritz is also the site of winter horseracing on ice and Jerry Dickinson is there with a couple of his horses. Miles gets pulled in to help when Dickinson's usual groom breaks an ankle and finds himself pulled into danger again.

This story was a thriller. Someone does try to murder Miles by dropping a bag of cement onto the Cresta course which could have killed Miles when his sled hit it. He was lucky to escape with a dislocated shoulder and broken collar bone. 

As Miles investigates who might have wanted him dead, he learns some things about his past that explain some things. I didn't feel that the mystery aspect of this story was the strongest part. For me, the crux of the story was about Miles's regaining his mental health and the changes he makes to build a happy life. 

Favorite Quote:

Competitors, family, friends, fellow club members and all forms of assorted other hangers-on sit at long, jampacked tables on the terrace, drinking beer or wine, telling and retelling tales of past exploits on the ice, all at full volume.

Some of their stories are even true.

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

Book & Audio Review: Count to Three by T. R. Ragan

Count to Three
Author: T. R. Ragan
Narrator: Karen Peakes
Publication: Thomas & Mercer (December 14, 2021); Brilliance Audio (December 14, 2021)
Length: 283 p.; 8 hours and 28 minutes

Description: For a private investigator on the trail of a missing girl, every second counts in a gripping thriller by New York Times bestselling author T.R. Ragan.

On her first day of kindergarten, five-year-old Tinsley disappeared without a trace

Five agonizing years later, her divorced mother, Dani Callahan, is a private investigator. She and Quinn Sullivan, a promising young assistant determined to prove herself, are devoted to helping others find missing loved ones. And for Dani, finding Tinsley is still a never-ending obsession

Their newest case is Ali Cross, a teenager who vanished off a Sacramento street while walking home. A troubled boy’s eyewitness testimony to Ali’s abduction provides their only clues. And as their search for Ali gets underway, new information about Tinsley’s disappearance begins to surface too

As their investigations lead down two twisting paths, disturbing secrets are revealed and new victims find themselves in mortal danger. Time is running out, and the hunt is only getting grimmer.

My Thoughts: Dani Callahan is a private investigator in Sacramento who got into her career because her five-year-old daughter Tinsley was abducted on her first day of kindergarten. She has been searching for her for the five years since Tinsley's disappearance. 

Quinn Sullivan, aged twenty-two, has been working with Dani for a while learning the business. She is searching for the mother who left one day and never returned. Quinn was fifteen and refuses to believe that her mother would have left her. 

Like Dani's case, Quinn doesn't have any leads to find out what happened to her mother. 

When a young girl named Ali Cross disappears, it is first believed that she ran away. But a witness - 12-year-old Ethan Grant - saw her thrown into the back of a white panel van. The police investigate but can't confirm Ethan's account. So Ethan decides to hire a PI on his own who will investigate what he saw. He chooses Dani Callahan,

As Quinn, Dani, and Ethan begin to unravel the clues that might lead to the identity of the kidnapper, we are shown what is happening to Ali at the hands of a man who is a psychopath. Those scenes were quite graphic and especially so in audio version.

Meanwhile, Dani has found a new string to tug in her investigation of her daughter's disappearance when a photo from the company picnic for her ex-husband's company which occurred just days before Tinsley disappeared shows her ex talking with a woman who looks a lot like Dani and another picture showing that same woman face-painting Tinsley. Tracking the woman down isn't easy. She was a temp worker and Dani soon learns that she was using an alias.

And Quinn and Ethan are busy trying to identify the van that Ali was thrown into. Then things get dangerous... Dani is attacked in her office, Ali's boyfriend is murdered, and Ethan is grabbed by the same psycho.

The story was packed with tension as the clues were gradually unraveled. I enjoyed the characters and found the plot engaging. The narrator did have a vocal quirk which got a little annoying as she audibly inhaled at the start of many sentences and paragraphs. Otherwise, the characters were distinct and the pacing well done.

Fans of thrillers will enjoy this story. 

Favorite Quote:

"Go ahead then--keep playing the role of victim, but all you're doing is giving the person that isn't even in your life the power to control you. You'll never be happy."

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

Book Review: The Hiding Place by Paula Munier

The Hiding Place
Author: Paula Munier
Series: A Mercy Carr Mystery (Book 3)
Publication: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (March 30, 2021)

Description: Mercy and Elvis are back in The Hiding Place, the most enthralling entry yet in USA Today bestselling Paula Munier's award-winning Mercy Carr mystery series. When the man who killed her grandfather breaks out of prison and comes after her grandmother, Mercy must unearth the long-buried scandals that threaten to tear her family apart. And she may have to do it without her beloved canine partner Elvis, if his former handler has his way…

Some people take their secrets with them to the grave. Others leave them behind on their deathbeds, riddles for the survivors to solve.

When her late grandfather’s dying deputy calls Mercy to his side, she and Elvis inherit the cold case that haunted him—and may have killed him. But finding Beth Kilgore 20 years after she disappeared is more than a lost cause. It’s a Pandora’s box releasing a rain of evil on the very people Mercy and Elvis hold most dear

The timing couldn’t be worse when the man who murdered her grandfather escapes from prison and a fellow Army vet turns up claiming that Elvis is his dog, not hers. With her grandmother Patience gone missing, and Elvis’s future uncertain, Mercy faces the prospect of losing her most treasured allies, the only ones she believes truly love and understand her.

She needs help, and that means forgiving Vermont Game Warden Troy Warner long enough to enlist his aid. With time running out for Patience, Mercy and Elvis must team up with Troy and his search-and-rescue dog Susie Bear to unravel the secrets of the past and save her grandmother—before it’s too late.

Once again, Paula Munier crafts a terrific mystery thriller filled with intrigue, action, resilient characters, the mountains of Vermont, and two amazing dogs.

My Thoughts: Mercy Carr is having a difficult time. She hasn't spoken to Game Warden Troy Warner since she learned that he was not divorced. Then a Vet comes from Missouri claiming that her dog Elvis really belonged to him. Then she gets a call from her grandfather's former deputy who is dying who wants to drop a cold case in her lap. And the man who murdered her grandfather escapes from prison and wants revenge on her grandmother for some reason. 

Meanwhile, Troy is trying to find out who murdered a wildlife biologist who was making a documentary about young moose. And he's trying to find a way to mend things with Mercy. 

When someone sets off a pipe bomb at Mercy's grandmother's house which would have killed her had Elvis not alerted and Mercy not managed to push her grandmother aside and cover her with her own body, Mercy has even more incentive to solve a number of mysteries that are surrounding her family. 

The story has lots of action from bombs to snowmobile chases. It also has lots of emotional intensity as Mercy tries to decide if Elvis would be better off if she let him go with his first handler. 

Fans of the series, and this is book three, will enjoy this episode. New readers will find an intriguing assortment of characters and the wonders of Vermont. 

Favorite Quote:

"Well, we know how subversive you librarians can be," said Mercy.

The librarian smiled. "Yes, we are subversive. Reading is subversive. What rebel there was inside Beth Kilgore was the reader in her."

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