Echoes in Death by J.D. Robb – a Review
Echoes in Death
In Death series – Book #44
by J.D. Robb
Release Date: February 7, 2017
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Description:
As NY Lt. Eve Dallas and her billionaire husband Roarke are driving home, a young woman—dazed, naked, and bloody—suddenly stumbles out in front of their car. Roarke slams on the brakes and Eve springs into action.
Daphne Strazza is rushed to the ER, but it’s too late for her husband Dr. Anthony Strazza. A brilliant orthopedic surgeon, he now lies dead amid the wreckage of his obsessively organized town house, his three safes opened and emptied. Daphne would be a valuable witness, but in her terror and shock the only description of the perp she can offer is repeatedly calling him “the devil”…
While it emerges that Dr. Strazza was cold, controlling, and widely disliked, this is one case where the evidence doesn’t point to the spouse. So Eve and her team must get started on the legwork, interviewing everyone from dinner-party guests to professional colleagues to caterers, in a desperate race to answer some crucial questions:
What does the devil look like? And where will he show up next?
Review:
Echoes in Death by J.D. Robb is the 44th book in her fantastic In Death series. I am an In-Death fanatic, having read every single book and novella in this series. I have never been disappointed, each and everytime; which proves what a great author J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts) is that she can keep us anxiously waiting for our next Eve Dallas fix. As I have said before, Eve and Roarke are the best couple in the literary world and Robb/Roberts does this amazingly so well, without all the erotic sexual scenes, which seems to become the norm in romance. The story is always on the forefront, and we still get our romance and deep love from this wonderful couple. Ok, I guess I need to stop gushing. Let’s discuss Echoes in Death.
Echoes in Death starts at 2am with Eve & Roarke on their way home from attending another gala that Eve so hates and she can’t wait to take off her shoes. But fate steps in, as it usually does with Eve, when they see a naked woman walking in front of their car on the icy streets; the woman is in shock, and is bloodied. They rush her to the hospital, and when Eve tries to talk to her, the woman, Daphne Strazza, mutters about being attacked by the devil. The doctors tell Eve that Daphne has been brutally beaten, raped multiple times, and is now totally traumatized.
Eve goes to the Strazza home with Roarke to look for Daphne’s husband, Doctor Anthony Strazza, whom they find dead. The house was in shambles, with blood everywhere. Once the house is secured, Peabody and McNab are called to help with the investigation at the murder scene. Eve surmises early on that with Daphne’s constant muttering of the Devil, it means that someone was dressed to look like that.
At the headquarters, the team will investigate any like types of crimes, and discover similarities in recent cases that matched the same type of home invasion crimes of a husband and wife, with various getups such as Dracula or a Ghoul. This was the start of a fantastic story that will also hit close to home for Eve, as further investigation shows that Dr. Strazza abused his wife, bringing forward her own memories from her father’s abuse as a child.
When the team begins to put pieces together to find a pattern, another murder of a husband and wife occurs, showing that the murderer is upping his game. What follows is an exciting, tense race to find the killer before he strikes again.
Make no mistake, when you read an In- Death book the murders and murderer (‘s) are very violent. Our Eve is a hard as nails, tough murder cop, who will do anything it takes to bring the murderer to justice. In between the tension of the case, there are always so many things that release the tension and make you love this series even more. The secondary characters in this series are the best anywhere; such as Peabody, Mira, McNab, Summerset, Galahad, Baxter, Trueheart, and the entire police team that have become part of each new book. Of course, Eve and Roarke are the main characters, but the others working with them make this a joy to read each and every time. I love the banter between them, especially Peabody or Roarke with Eve. I also adore her cat Galahad. Over the years, this has become a wonderful ensemble to support Eve, and we didn’t even see Nadine or Mavis in this book. To tell too much more would be spoilers.
J.D. Robb once again gives us another fantastic edge of your seat thriller that was non-stop action, from start to finish. The last quarter of the book, as Eve sets a trap for the murderer was sensational, and there were also some surprises. I tried to read this book a little slower so that I can savior every moment, but I find it hard to do, since I want to know what happens. So I end up the next day, going back and rereading a large majority of it. I will never have enough of this series; Eve and Roarke; and the entire In-Death team.
Reviewed by Barb
