Vengeance in Death by J. D. Robb
Vengeance in Death
Author: J. D. Robb
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Date: 28 October 2021
Rating: 4 stars
Review: After reading Vengeance in Death I picked up a copy Salvation in Death from the library, mostly because I am a junkie and cannot stop reading book from the In Death series. On the first page of my copy of Salvation in Death someone has left the very helpful review: "Very good. Romance + Suspense + Murder." Simple. To the point. And the most accurate description of any book written by Robb in this series. I couldn't put it better and I hope to make a living from writing in the future.
Like every other book in this series, Vengeance In Death follows Lieutenant Eve Dallas of the Homicide Department of the NYPSD some 40 odd years in the future as she is on the tail of a brutal serial killer seemingly working through the list of her husband Roarke's accomplices from his criminal days. It seems more and more likely that Roarke, the multi-billionaire hottie, will be the last name on the list and all clues point to his trusted butler / guardian Summerset. As the killer continues to leave cryptic and religious clues for Eve to solve if she wants to save the next victim, he always seems to be one step ahead of her. Will Eve be able to save the life of the man she loves while proving that the man she dislikes is innocent or will Roarke's past take all of them down in the process?
I love mysteries that mix together themes of religion with bloodthirsty murders. I don't know why. There clearly is something wrong with my head but let's not dive too deep into that because it might just open new cans of worms that are better left shut tight. The killer in this book seemed like a complete psychopath and yet you could make out that they were someone who was heavily influenced by someone in his life. They have been misguided into doing things in the name of religion that no religion in the world condones. Joining the dots between the statue of Virgin Mary left at every crime scene and a mother as the authority figure in the killer's life was brilliant and it is points like these that make Dr Mira's psychological evaluations of the killers one of my favourite parts of every book in this series.
If you read enough books by Robb you get a hang of all the tricks up her sleeves. It becomes easier to guess at who is the killer or at least who might be involved in the crime. A small example from this book would be a scene in which Eve says they must discount all the female members of a list of potential suspects because the killer is obviously a man. But she goes back to the same discounted list when the mother as an authority figure clue is unveiled. Anyone who has read a book by Robb already knows to keep the female members in mind because she wouldn't have mentioned it so clearly. But just like books by Sharon Bolton, reading the books in this series is more about the journey than the answer of the question whodunnit in the end.
As usual I ended up really enjoying this book. Who is surprised? Not me. I am obsessed with the series and will know no peace till I have made my way through it entirely which is quite a feat because like my father says, "Take any word from the dictionary and add the words 'in Death' behind it and you will have a book by J. D. Robb." But I'm not complaining about it.