Title: Dark in Death Series: In Death
Author: J.D. Robb
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: January 30, 2018
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ASIN: B071ZZN5BW
It was a stab in the dark.
On a chilly February night, during a screening of Psycho in midtown, someone sunk an ice pick into the back of Chanel Rylan’s neck, then disappeared quietly into the crowds of drunks and tourists in Times Square. To Chanel’s best friend, who had just slipped out of the theater for a moment to take a call, it felt as unreal as the ancient black-and-white movie up on the screen. But Chanel’s blood ran red, and her death was anything but fictional.
Then, as Eve Dallas puzzles over a homicide that seems carefully planned and yet oddly personal, she receives a tip from an unexpected source: an author of police thrillers who recognizes the crime—from the pages of her own book. Dallas doesn’t think it’s coincidence, since a recent strangulation of a sex worker resembles a scene from her writing as well. Cops look for patterns of behavior: similar weapons, similar MOs. But this killer seems to find inspiration in someone else’s imagination, and if the theory holds, this may be only the second of a long-running series.
The good news is that Eve and her billionaire husband Roarke have an excuse to curl up in front of the fireplace with their cat, Galahad, reading mystery stories for research. The bad news is that time is running out before the next victim plays an unwitting role in a murderer’s deranged private drama—and only Eve can put a stop to a creative impulse gone horribly, destructively wrong.
My rating:
A young actress is killed with a ice pick in a darkened theater while watching Psycho. There's no motive, no real suspect...It looks like a random killing, yet Lieutenant Eve Dallas feels the victim was carefully selected.
Then an unexpected source, a mystery writer friend of Nadine's, offers a seemingly outlandish explanation...And everything suddenly makes sense. Someone is plagiarizing the author's work, but with deadly results...
It was a real pleasure (after a streak of not-so-good suspense/mysteries) to revisit this favorite series of mine, its characters, its relationships, and its mysteries.
The story didn't disappoint. It had its slow moments, and a false climax to boot, but it packed the punch I come to expect from an In Death novel.
The investigation was intriguing, keeping us guessing, trying to outthink the killer alongside the characters, the pacing, especially toward the end, was nicely pumped-up, and the killer was a psychotic beauty to behold.
The final confrontation in the box, when it's all revealed, struck somewhere between annoyance, disgust, and sympathy for the pitiful creature the killer truly was.
The main characters were wonderful as always, their interactions and relationships realistic, the tempo almost perfect, the voice consistent and known, and the plot with all its elements and twists engaging.
4 stars, bodyguard/military/merc/gov/cop/spy, Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb, sci-fi/futuristic, suspense/mystery/adventure/thriller
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