Review - - Brotherhood in Death

Review -- Brotherhood in Death

Brotherhood in Death

By J.D. Robb

Publisher: Berkley

Release Date: February 2, 2016

As the In Death series progresses, Eve Dallas’s circle of friends widens, a development that often baffles her.  It’s great for the series, however, because it gives the author more characters to explore.  Brotherhood in Death begins with one of Eve Dallas’s favorite characters in trouble.  Dennis Mira, husband of NYPSD profiler Dr. Charlotte Mira, went to meet his cousin at their grandparents’ house.  He walked into a room, and saw his cousin Edward seated in the desk chair, which was in the center of the room, and bleeding in the instant before someone hit Dennis in the head. When he came to, his cousin was gone, and the chair was back where it belonged.

Eve learns about the case when Charlotte Mira asks her for help.  Eve soon deduces that Edward Mira has been kidnapped. As she digs into his life, she comes to believe that his disappearance is a result of old wrongs back at him.  Other longtime friends of his also become victims, and Eve realizes that the youthful crimes she believed Edward Mira committed were much worse and spread much farther than she first suspected.

One of the pleasures of reading a long-running series is seeing the various characters evolve.  Eve and Roarke have mostly made peace with their pasts and their different views of what’s acceptable in an investigation.  Peabody and McNab found each other.  Brotherhood in Death follows up with Nadine Furst’s reaction to the events of Obsession in Death and marks an important step for Officer Troy Trueheart.

Although Eve has mostly laid the ghosts of her past to rest, aspects of this investigation revive them.  Robb deserves credit for handling that part of the story in a way that shows Eve’s growth and layers texture into her relationships with other characters.

The suspense plot proceeds at a good pace and is lightened by touches of humor.  This is a satisfying installment in this best-selling series.

~Nancy Northcott

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