In this 57th book in the 'Detective Eve Dallas' series, Eve is on the trail of a cop killer.
It's 2061 and people communicate via links, watch movies and programs on their screens, and commit crimes.....just like current times. Lt. Eve Dallas is a capable New York detective married to Irish billionaire Roarke - a handsome devil with wild blue eyes.
Dallas and Roarke have just returned from visiting Roarke's family in Ireland when a Eve is called to the scene of a suspicious death. Former Police Captain Martin Greenleaf, who once headed the Internal Affairs Bureau (IAB), is dead in his home office.
Greenleaf has a taser burn on his neck, and the weapon is on the floor beside him. Greenleaf's death is staged to look like a suicide, but Dallas quickly observes discrepancies in the scene and determines it's murder.
During Greenleaf's decades with the IAB he rooted out many 'bad cops', and the consequences for the disgraced officers ranged from dismissal, to prison, to suicide. Thus many ex-cops, and often their families, have a grudge against Greenleaf.
All these angry people make up a big suspect pool, and Eve and her police partner, bubbly Delia Peabody, question one possible perpetrator after another.
Roark helps with the investigation as well, using his network of computer experts to unearth suspects' backgrounds, financial records, activities, and so on.
Meanwhile, a detective called Joe Lansing (unfairly) accuses Dallas of trying to muddy Captain Greenleaf's name. Lansing can't seem to control his fury, and his assaults go from verbal insults to physical confrontations with Eve.
In between collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses, Dallas and Peabody go on with their personal lives: Peabody is remodeling her house in an art deco style she calls "abso-mag", and she shows off the work in progress to Dallas and Roark;
and Dallas and Roark dine on meals like meatballs and spaghetti or pizza, and enjoy each other's company. Roark also soothes and treats Dallas's wounds after she has a confrontation with the angry cop Lansing. (Considering Roark is a billionaire, the couple has a pretty low-key lifestyle).
Unlike some Eve Dallas books where the detective does more CSI type work, this novel is a police procedural in which Dallas and Peabody mostly go around speaking to people. For me, these interviews were too repetitive but the book would probably appeal to fans of the series.
Mysteries, Fiction, Non-Fiction, Memoirs, Literary Novels, Humor....all kinds of books.
Monday, April 29, 2024
Review of "Payback in Death: An Eve Dallas Thriller" by J.D. Robb
Rating: 3 stars
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