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March Round Up

Monthly Mini Review

an In Death version of Times Square, where shows and movies from the series feature on billboards, including The Icove AgendaDark in Death by JD Robb, narrated by Susan Ericksen – B- I’m still in for this series but Dark in Death was one of my least favourite books so far. In terms of romance, there wasn’t any conflict or tension between Roarke and Eve. They’re happy, having great sex and enjoying their marriage. That’s good and it’s not exactly that I get sick of it, but at the same time, I’d like a bit of conflict (with a happy resolution of course!) to shake things up a little. The main issue I had with the book however is the premise. A killer is recreating murders from a police procedural series and particularly the section where Eve is interviewing the author and talking about fan expectations and the challenges of being an author were just too meta for me. (I had a similar issue with the latest Suzanne Brockmann.) I can’t help but feel like the actual author is talking to the reader this way and even if that is only in my imagination, it makes me uncomfortable. There wasn’t really anything objectionable in what was said but I want to be immersed in the story and forget about the author altogether when I read/listen and I couldn’t here.

The other thing to mention is that a member of Eve’s squad, Jenkinson, uses a transphobic slur twice in the course of a conversation with Eve and there was zero narrative pushback on it. I do not accept that such slurs are okay in 2062 – they’re certainly not okay now. I dearly wished Eve would have told Jenkinson off about it.

Brotherhood in Death by JD Robb

Brotherhood in DeathWhy I read it:  I love Eve and Roarke so I bought it as soon as it was available.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads)  Sometimes brotherhood can be another word for conspiracy…

Dennis Mira just had two unpleasant surprises. First he learned that his cousin Edward was secretly meeting with a real estate agent about their late grandfather’s magnificent West Village brownstone, despite the promise they both made to keep it in the family. Then, when he went to the house to confront Edward about it, he got a blunt object to the back of the head.

Luckily Dennis is married to Charlotte Mira, the NYPSD’s top profiler and a good friend of Lieutenant Eve Dallas. When the two arrive on the scene, he explains that the last thing he saw was Edward in a chair, bruised and bloody. When he came to, his cousin was gone. With the mess cleaned up and the security disks removed, there’s nothing left behind but a few traces for forensics to analyze.

As a former lawyer, judge, and senator, Edward Mira mingled with the elite and crossed paths with criminals, making enemies on a regular basis. Like so many politicians, he also made some very close friends behind closed—and locked—doors. But a badge and a billionaire husband can get you into places others can’t go, and Eve intends to shine some light on the dirty deals and dark motives behind the disappearance of a powerful man, the family discord over a multimillion-dollar piece of real estate . . . and a new case that no one saw coming.

Trigger Warning: Graphic sexual violence against men and women

What worked for me (and what didn’t):  I was so excited about this book because it promised to have lots of Dennis Mira and he’s been a favourite character in the series for some time, even though he’s not in it very much. I’ve always kind of wondered how the absent-mindedness works when he’s clearly so capable so much of the time. (The first time I encountered Mr. Mira in the series, I thought maybe he had a brain injury or maybe early onset Alzheimer’s or something but it became clear that neither of those things apply.) And, while Brotherhood in Death did have more of Mr. Mira in it than any of the earlier books (including a particularly touching scene between he and Eve later in the book), he still wasn’t in it all that much. Sadness!

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