Thursday, January 28, 2021

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Review: Golden in Death by J.D. Robb

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Title: Golden in Death
Series: In Death
Author: J.D. Robb
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: February 4, 2020
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
ASIN: B07QPJQ45S

Pediatrician Kent Abner received the package on a beautiful April morning. Inside was a cheap trinket, a golden egg that could be opened into two halves. When he pried it apart, highly toxic airborne fumes entered his body and killed him.

After Eve Dallas calls the hazmat team and undergoes testing to reassure both her and her husband that she hasn't been exposed it's time to look into Dr. Abner's past and relationships. Not every victim Eve encounters is an angel, but it seems that Abner came pretty close though he did ruffle some feathers over the years by taking stands for the weak and defenseless. While the lab tries to identify the deadly toxin, Eve hunts for the sender. But when someone else dies in the same grisly manner, it becomes clear that she's dealing with either a madman or someone who has a hidden and elusive connection to both victims.

My rating:

A pediatrician is dead due to toxic fumes exposure. Just before his death, he received a tacky little gift from an unknown sender. The police is baffled. Lieutenant Eve Dallas is baffled. Who would kill a well-loved, friendly pediatrician. There are no enemies, no skeletons in the closet, no affairs, no debts...

Then the wife of a school teacher dies in the same manner, also after receiving a tacky little gift—a golden plastic egg, and it's up to Eve to uncover the flimsy connection between the two victims before more people die.


In a suspense novel you can't go wrong with a sociopath. It's also a given who the villain is the moment the description of dead eyes pops up on the page, but you cannot go wrong with a sociopath. Because with a sociopath you can take the story whichever way you feel like it and it'll work. You can twist it and turn it, come up with a preposterous motive, throw in an even more preposterous MO and it will still work.

This book is a good example of all of the above. The reason for the "engaging" of the sociopath, the motive, the "weapon", the paper-thin connection between the victims...It could've bombed, but it worked. It kept me reading, it kept me curious, it kept me at the edge of my seat, and it kept me guessing. And once the sociopath was revealed, it kept me reading to find out just how Eve and the gang would make the connection and nail the bastard.

The story focused more on the investigation and the procedural than the main characters (beside a few vignettes), but since it held my attention and my curiosity, I didn't mind the characters taking the backseat. It also wasn't as "action-y" as some others in the series, but still, the story was so engrossing, I also didn't mind the more "laid-back" feel and approach.

A good, entertaining, engrossing read.

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