Author: J.D. Robb
Publisher: Platkus Books
Publication Date: September 2017
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible
Description: The chic Manhattan nightspot Du Vin is not the kind of place Eve Dallas would usually patronize, and it’s not the kind of bar where a lot of blood gets spilled. But that’s exactly what happens one cold February evening.
The mortally wounded woman is Larinda Mars, a self-described “social information reporter,” or as most people would call it, a professional gossip. As it turns out, she was keeping the most shocking stories quiet, for profitable use in her side business as a blackmailer. Setting her sights on rich, prominent marks, she’d find out what they most wanted to keep hidden and then bleed them dry. Now someone’s done the same to her, literally—with a knife to the brachial artery.
Eve didn’t like Larinda Mars. But she likes murder even less. To find justice for this victim, she’ll have to plunge into the dirty little secrets of all the people Larinda Mars victimized herself. But along the way, she may be exposed to some information she really didn’t want to know…
My Thoughts: Another very good installment of the In Death series where the story opens with Eve Dallas having drinks with Garnet DeWinter to work on their communication. I know, I know, that in itself is enough to take the reader out of the story, but the story opens with it so the reader has the whole rest of the book to process this anomaly. Like Eve, I’m having a hard time warming up to DeWinter. Nothing specific about this character puts me off exactly, but I just don’t feel a connection to her. Maybe I’m protective of Morris and I don’t want to see him hurt again and as he and DeWinter seem to have gotten really friendly, I’m a tad skeptical that she’s good for him. I think Eve feels the same. They have a frosty relationship, not hostile but definitely not friendly, so this story begins with an ice-breaker of sorts for Eve and Garnet, to have a drink or two, talk and get to know one another better. I got the feeling that Eve was a little relieved when the murder goes down so she can get out of that booth and get to work.
One of the biggest characteristics Eve demonstrates that I absolutely adore is her black and white approach to her cases. It doesn’t matter to her who the victim was in life, the lives they led or the kind of people they were. In death, they are all hers and she works tirelessly to bring them justice.
I found it interesting that this murder was so brazen while being subtle at the same time. Public place and to the average patron, nothing unusual about the victim stumbling as she comes out of the bathroom, but to Eve’s eagle eye, she sees death all too often not to recognize its arrival. In the blink of that eagle eye, Eve has her cop hat on, drinks forgotten and she gets to work.
My Final Verdict: Overall a solid addition to the series. I don’t expect Eve and DeWinter to become besties, but I think there’s a level of professional respect that is very slow to come to the surface. I didn’t care for Nadine at first, but now she is one of Eve’s most solid allies, so honestly with this series, absolutely anything can and will probably happen. J.D. Robb does an amazing job of surprising me so I’m looking forward to seeing where this series goes next.
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