Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

Eve Dallas is back in the 25th installment of J.D. Robb’s popular In Death series.  This time Eve is faced with an all familiar case.  The victim is found in a park naked laid out on a white sheet, torture wounds covering her body and the time she survived the torture in hours, minutes, and seconds carved into her torso.  Eve and Feeney know all about this case as they worked it nine years ago, but the killer got away.  He moved onto other locations, but now he’s back and they’re more determined than ever to get him this go around.

This time it seems more personal to Eve as the killer has changed his pattern slightly.  The murder victims this time have all been Roarke’s employees, the sheets they are laid out on were made by one of Roarke’s companies, as were the products used to clean the victims.  So is it that much of a surprise that this murderer’s grand finale also belongs to Roarke?  He has his sights set on Eve and she is more than willing to play the role of bait.  But will her trusted team and loving husband get to her in time?  Will the techie surveillance equipment they outfitted her with be enough to keep her safe?

This book was pretty good.  It’s not one that jumps out at you as a stunner.  But the storyline is interesting enough, and I was never bored, but it wasn’t one that I couldn’t put down either.  When I reached the end of the book though, I realized that I did really enjoy it.

One thing that did surprise me is that for once Eve’s nightmares weren’t plagued by appearances of her father.  I kept waiting for her to see him, but he never came to torment her in this installment.  I guess she was too involved for her unconscious to bring him into the mix.

And, we’re used to seeing Roarke work beside Eve at this point in the series, but it was a bit of a surprise to see him work as a cop, in Cop Central even, throughout this entire case.  He was trying to find justice for his employees he lost and save those that still had a chance, and most importantly, to keep his wife safe.  We didn’t get to see as many romantic interludes between the couple as we’re used to, but you can feel their love and Roarke’s determination to protect.

“I want a homing beacon on your vehicle.”

“There will be.”

“No, I want one on before we leave the grounds in the morning. I’ll see to it.”

Give and take, she reminded herself. Even when–maybe especially when–give and take was a pain in the ass. “Okay. But there go my plans to slip off and meet Pablo the pool boy for an hour of hot, sticky sex.”

“We all have to make sacrifices. Myself, I’ve had to reschedule my liaison with Vivien the French maid three times in the last couple of days.”

“Blows,” Eve said as they slipped into bed.

“She certainly does.”

This is a good solid read that any mystery buff will love, to say nothing of Roarke and Eve fans, who will enjoy it that much more!