loved the Lady Justice angel. This book was worth waiting for ( )

Vendetta in Death
3.5 Stars

In their latest case, Eve Dallas and her team investigate the death of a successful businessman who was apparently targeted by a vigilante calling herself Lady Justice.

The case is interesting at the start with a particularly intelligent albeit violent villain. Nevertheless, there are several recycled plot points and motifs from the previous books, and the tension and suspense rapidly dissipate once the killer's identity is revealed at the halfway mark. Once this occurs, the pacing slows as the focus shifts to Eve collecting sufficient evidence to prove her gut instinct with regard to the woman's guilt.

On other problematic issue is the explanation for the killer's actions, which relies too heavily on the outdated notion of a woman scorned. The fact that Lady Justice is ultimately determined to be mentally ill only compounds the negative stereotypes of hysterical women and negates her culpability and responsibility, which is exceedingly annoying.

Despite these issues, it is always fun to spend time with Robb's characters and enjoy their interactions and dialogue.

The next book is #50, a significant milestone in the series. Hopefully, it will live up to expectations.
( )

In this 49th in the In Death series, Eve pits her wits against a murderer who tortures, mutilates and murders men and who calls herself Lady Justice.

The first victim is Nigel McEnroy who is a wealthy businessman with a genius for matching the right person to the right job. He is also a serial rapist who has a thing for redheads and the habit of drugging them and then videotaping the sexual encounters. As she and Peabody look into his life, they find a couple of women who worked for him and took settlements to keep them from reporting him. When talking to the women, they find their way to a support group called Women for Women.

They also run afoul of Mrs. McEnroy who refuses to believe that her husband did the things that Eve and Peabody have ample evidence to prove. She vows to go all the way to the Mayor with complaints and she does. Fortunately, Eve's superiors know who they can believe.

The second victim is Thaddeus Pettigrew. He cheated on his wife, divorced her, cheated her out of the company she was the brains behind, and chose to live with the woman who helped him cheat. Darla Pettigrew is the granddaughter of famous actress Eloise Callahan. She lives with her Grand who is getting over a rather serious illness. Darla has also attended the support group.

The third victim is a man who raped and beat his wife and who didn't pay attention to the restraining order she took out on him. She is also an attendee at the same support group.

With Lady Justice picking a new victim every day, Eve and her team are under time pressure to discover and stop the murderer. We, along with Eve, learn who the murderer is by about the mid-point of the book. However, Eve doesn't have any evidence that supports her instincts and that would generate a search warrant.

I love this series. The relationship between Roarke and Eve is my favorite of all the romantic relationships I've read. Their banter and Eve's banter with her partner Peabody is always entertaining and humorous. I like that Eve is learning to deal with the many traumas of her childhood through the love of her husband and friends. ( )

In this 49th in the In Death series, Eve pits her wits against a murderer who tortures, mutilates and murders men and who calls herself Lady Justice.

The first victim is Nigel McEnroy who is a wealthy businessman with a genius for matching the right person to the right job. He is also a serial rapist who has a thing for redheads and the habit of drugging them and then videotaping the sexual encounters. As she and Peabody look into his life, they find a couple of women who worked for him and took settlements to keep them from reporting him. When talking to the women, they find their way to a support group called Women for Women.

They also run afoul of Mrs. McEnroy who refuses to believe that her husband did the things that Eve and Peabody have ample evidence to prove. She vows to go all the way to the Mayor with complaints and she does. Fortunately, Eve's superiors know who they can believe.

The second victim is Thaddeus Pettigrew. He cheated on his wife, divorced her, cheated her out of the company she was the brains behind, and chose to live with the woman who helped him cheat. Darla Pettigrew is the granddaughter of famous actress Eloise Callahan. She lives with her Grand who is getting over a rather serious illness. Darla has also attended the support group.

The third victim is a man who raped and beat his wife and who didn't pay attention to the restraining order she took out on him. She is also an attendee at the same support group.

With Lady Justice picking a new victim every day, Eve and her team are under time pressure to discover and stop the murderer. We, along with Eve, learn who the murderer is by about the mid-point of the book. However, Eve doesn't have any evidence that supports her instincts and that would generate a search warrant.

I love this series. The relationship between Roarke and Eve is my favorite of all the romantic relationships I've read. Their banter and Eve's banter with her partner Peabody is always entertaining and humorous. I like that Eve is learning to deal with the many traumas of her childhood through the love of her husband and friends. ( )

3.5 stars (Rating shown may vary depending on site).

A book discussion group introduced me to this series years ago. I haven't read them all, but have read quite a few--and not always in order. So it can be read as a stand alone, though you will appreciate the characters more if you know some of their history.

Lt. Eve Dallas catches a case where the deceased male's body comes with a poem signed by Lady Justice. Two more bodies, and poems, follow. Dallas fixates on a suspect early--and shortly after that, we get to find out if she's guessed correctly or incorrectly.

I see reviewers are split on the dynamics of Roarke and Dallas. Some thinking he does what he does in this book out of concern and care for his wife; others thinking that he does it as a form of micro-management (do what I say when I say to do it etc.). I tend to fall on the former side. I think he realizes that she's grappling with demons that cause her sleep to not be restorative and I can see a guy offering to drive in that scenario without it being micro-management. He sees that she's working hard and not taking time to eat, so he pushes food on her (not literally in most cases)--I think Dallas decides he's somewhat right about that fact or doesn't want to have to face him and lie that she ate when she really didn't. I also think Roarke has learned how to phrase certain things so that Dallas agrees (or how to give reasonings to his wants/requests/demands so that she sees the logic behind it and agrees). ( )