While his mother is making him a sandwich, and presenting the ultimatum she and his father have devised to actually make their son act like an adult, Jerry Reihnold grabs a kitchen knife, slaughters her, and eats his sandwich. When his father comes home hours later, Jerry bashes his head in with a bat, transfers their money to his account, and takes anything possibly valuable from the apartment.

The double homicide has left Lieutenant Eve Dallas at a conundrum. She knows who the killer is, she's pretty sure about the motive...The problem is, her killer is a lucky SOB, catching all sort of breaks eluding the police. But Eve knows she has to catch him quickly, because it looks like Jerry has taken a liking to killing, since it looks like to be the only thing he's good at.


I really liked this one. Can't put my finger on exactly why, everything just somehow clicked together. I liked the glimpses into the killer; the switch at the first kill, the reasoning, the list, the lucky breaks, the grudges, the whining, the idiocy...And I liked the investigation, the process of how they tracked him down.

Then there were the "personal" aspects that I love so much in this series; the relationships, the interactions, the friendships, the romance and love.
The family was once again in town from Ireland, there were cameos from characters in previous novels, Eve was asked what she should've been asked long ago if it weren't for her relationship with Roarke, and they both got what they deserved, beside recognition and acceptance.

Loved it.

[11/29/13]
The last couple installments in this series that I read seemed somehow less -- as if maybe the author was getting tired of the series. But that wasn't true of this one. It was also a little different than the norm of the series (if there is one).

This one could almost be subtitled "The Making of a Serial Killer" because the action follows a single man who almost accidentally makes his first kill and discovers he likes it, then sets out to explore this new activity. Eve Dallas is sharp as ever in tracking the perp, but still has trouble keeping up with him.

An enjoyable detective story, as always, with plenty of personal action in the lives of Eve and Roarke, including one surprise.

Two more slightly predictable but very enjoyable installments in JD Robb's in Death series.  I mostly read these for the non-case related scenes and I suspect I'm not alone!

 

I love Eve's relationship with Roarke, the vulnerability she only shows to him and the constant wonderment she experiences when examining her feelings for him.  I get supreme kicks out of almost every scene with Peabody and their friendly bickering. Every cop on her squad, Nadine, Summerset, even Galahad (that fat cat!) make me smile. I guess these are the reason I'm still sticking with this series even after 38 books!  The cases are a bit predictable but some new characters introduced in CiD are giving at least the procedural aspect a wisp of fresh air.

 

I'm almost all caught up now, one more to go and I'll be ready for the first 2015 release.

Love Eve and Roarke as always. I would have been happier with a little less time in the killer and victims heads, but I think that's a personal squick. I can see the value of the scenes for moving the story and evoking fear and compassion respectively.