2019 Book 258: VENDETTA IN DEATH by J. D. Robb

Vendetta In Death, In Death #49, by J. D. Robb
ISBN: 9781250207173 (hardcover)
ISBN: 9781250207180 (ebook)
ISBN: 9781250231031 (digital audiobook)
ASIN: B07NCVVCQK (Kindle edition)
Publication date: September 3, 2019
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Lieutenant Eve Dallas must keep the predator from becoming the prey in Vendetta in Death, the newest thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author J.D. Robb.

She calls herself Lady Justice. And once she has chosen a man as her target, she turns herself into a tall blonde or a curvaceous redhead, makes herself as alluring and seductive as possible to them. Once they are in her grasp, they are powerless.

The first victim is wealthy businessman Nigel McEnroy. His company’s human resources department has already paid out settlements to a couple of his young victims—but they don’t know that his crimes go far beyond workplace harassment. Lady Justice knows. And in one shocking night of brutality, she makes him pay a much steeper price.

Now Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, are combing through the evidence of McEnroy’s secret life. His compulsive need to record his misdeeds provides them with a wide range of suspects, but the true identity of Lady Justice remains elusive. It’s a challenging case, made even more difficult by McEnroy’s widow, who reacts to the investigation with fury, denial, and threats. Meanwhile, Lady Justice’s criminal crusade is escalating rapidly, and if Eve can’t stop this vigilante, there’s no telling how much blood may be spilled…

Lieutenant Eve Dallas and Detective Delia Peabody are Homicide detectives on the New York City Police and Security Department in the near future. These women, and their colleagues in various departments across the police force have tried to solve cases and gain justice for the murdered victims, even if the victim was…let’s just say not a nice person. In the spring of 2061, Dallas and Peabody are called in on the murder of one Nigel McEnroy. The victim was obviously bound, tortured, and mutilated before his murder. A “poem” attached to his body indicates his death was at the hands of “Lady Justice” for his crime perpetrated against women, namely drugging and raping them. Although Mr. McEnroy was married and had children, he obviously continued to find sexual gratification outside of his marriage and this was usually done by unwittingly drugging the woman, raping her, videotaping the rape, drugging her again and then sending her home. The next day, another male murder victim is found with another poem attached to his mutilated body. Dallas begins to wonder if this is another vigilante women’s group at work or the work of one person out to settle a score? Will she and Peabody be able to find and stop this person before more men wind up dead?

For those of you that follow me on social media or on Goodreads, you probably know that I reread the “In Death” series from book 1 to the latest book at least once every other year. Sadly, I didn’t have time to do that this year before reading Vendetta In Death, the 49th book in this series. Yes, you read that right…49 books in one series. There are some series that feel played out after only a few books and some that continue to feel fresh no matter how many books there are in the series. For me, the “In Death” series definitely falls into the latter category. Yes, you know there’s going to be a murder. Yes, you know that Dallas, Peabody, and friends are going to be on the case, but you don’t know what twists and turns the case is going to take or just how Dallas or Peabody are going to arrive at the conclusion of the case with an arrest after identifying the bad guy (or gal) and that’s the fun part of these reads for me. Vendetta In Death has all of our old friends, okay all of Eve Dallas’s old friends and coworkers, from previous books including her multi-billionaire husband Roarke; Eve’s BFF – Mavis; Mavis’s husband and clothing designer extraordinaire Leonardo; Mavis and Leonardo’s daughter – Bella (come on, she’s adorable!); Roarke’s majordomo and the bane of Eve’s life – Summerset; Eve’s police partner – Delia Peabody; Delia’s significant other and EDD police officer – Ian McNab; head forensic pathologist and friend to all – Dr. Morris; head of the Electronic Detective Division and former police partner to Eve – Captain Feeney; forensic and clinical psychiatrist and surrogate mother figure to Eve – Dr. Charlotte Mira; criminial investigative reporter and author, as well as friend – Nadine Furst; police and homicide regulars: Jenkinson, Reineke, Baxter, and Trueheart; and more. The interesting thing about this storyline is that it is twisted yet simple. Men who did women wrong are dying horrible deaths. Are these deaths justice, vengeance, or just a sick twisted mind at work out on a vendetta cloaked in the guise of justice? Even though Eve Dallas reveals the bad guy (these books are a “whydunnit” at heart), the problem is finding how and why and then proving it. That is another part of these stories that I enjoy, although the continuing romance between Eve and Roarke doesn’t hurt. Yes, these are romantic-suspense stories, but they are light on the romance and could just as easily be categorized as suspense thrillers because there’s lots of suspense and quite a few thrills along the way. I could tell you more about the story, but if I started I probably wouldn’t stop and then you wouldn’t need to read the book (psst…read the book!) I thoroughly enjoyed Vendetta In Death by J.D. Robb and am looking forward to book 50, Golden In Death scheduled to be released in early 2020. Between now and then, I’ll be re-re-re-re-re-reading the entire series to prepare. I’m hoping you’re as big a fan of the “In Death” series as I am, and if so, go grab yourself a copy of Vendetta In Death if you haven’t already placed a preorder. Happy Reading y’all!

Disclaimer: I received a free digital review copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss+. I was not paid, required, or otherwise obligated to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Author: thebookdivasreads

I'm a reader, an avid reader, or perhaps a rabid reader (at least according to my family). I enjoy reading from a variety of different genres but particularly enjoy fiction, mystery, suspense, thrillers, ChickLit, romance and classics. I also enjoy reading about numerous non-fiction subjects including aromatherapy, comparative religions, herbalism, naturopathic medicine, and tea. View all posts by thebookdivasreads