Somewhere along the way, I missed this particular entry in the In Death series, J.D. Robb’s long-running set of novels set in New York in the not-so-distant future. There’s a whole cast of recurring characters, and checking in on them feels a bit like visiting old friends.
In this particular installment, Lt. Eve Dallas and her partner Peabody are called to a construction site when the body of a transient woman is found wrapped in plastic in a construction dumpster. The site is next door to one of Roarke’s construction projects, and while Eve is on the scene, the skeleton of a woman and a baby is found at Roarke’s site just a few moments later.
I’ll admit this one kept me guessing a tiny bit more than the usual mysteries, and I’ll say that it was pretty middle of the road. Eve grumbled about the candy thief and the traffic, Peabody was delightful and bouncy, Morris was quietly Morris (I’ll admit, he’s growing on me and I think he’d be an interesting side character to learn more about, and if they ever case this as a tv show, my guess is Morris would be lovely to look at), McNab figured out some tech stuff, Mira gave some advice, and Somerset lurked about. And Roarke was Roarke, skirting the edges of the law and picking out Eve’s clothes and buying Lithuania. Noticeably absent were Mavis and Leonardo, Nadine, and Feeney.
The thing I like about these books is that it’s like an episode of Original Recipe Law & Order. The murder is at the heart of it, but we still get snippets of everyone’s life, and Eve, of course, is a bit of a bad ass. True, they tend to get repetitive, but I’m the kind of girl who is rewatching “The West Wing” for the 400th time, so that’s okay.
Also, there is sex. Not a lot sex, but it’s Roarke sex, so it’ll do.
