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D8A1A7C4-BA12-4939-ABD5-ACBE9286B45B

Thanks to Edelweiss and St. Martin’s Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: September 3, 2019

368 Pages

Synopsis: The predator becomes the prey in the newest thriller in the newest thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling series featuring homicide detective Eve Dallas.

She calls herself Lady Justice. And once she has chosen a man as her target, she turns herself into a tall blonde or curvaceous redhead, makes herself as alluring and seductive as possible to them. Once they are in her grasp, they are powerless.

The first victim is wealthy businessman Nigel McEnroy. His company’s human resources department has already paid out settlements to a couple of his young victims—-but they don’t know his crimes go far beyond workplace harassment. Lady Justice knows. And in one shocking night of brutality, she makes him pay a much steeper price.

Now Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, are combing through the evidence of McEnroy’s secret life. His compulsive need to record his misdeeds provides them with a wide range of suspects, but the true identity of Lady Justice remains elusive. It’s a challenging case, made even more difficult by McEnroy’s widow, who reacts to the investigation with fury, denial, and threats. Meanwhile, Lady Justice’s criminal crusade is escalating rapidly, and if Eve can’t stop this vigilante, there’s no telling how much blood may be spilled…

I know I’ve raved about a lot of authors over the five years this blog has been online, but there’s one that I’ve severely neglected—J.D. Robb. Robb is actually the pseudonym Nora Roberts writes her bestselling In Death series under, and I was lucky enough to be approved for #49, Vendetta in Death.

Vendetta in Death is a perfect example of why this series continues to be so successful even after almost twenty-five years. In their 49th outing, Lieutenant Eve Dallas, her dishy multi-bazillionaire husband Roarke, her trusty partner Peabody, and the rest of the familiar cast of characters, take on Lady Justice, a vigilante who takes avenging women who have been assaulted, much too far. As Robb does in many of her set slightly in the future books, she takes a real world issue like the #MeToo movement, and puts her own unique spin on it. Although the identity of Lady Justice is evident early on, which took a tiny bit of the suspense away, most of the fun is seeing Team Eve get their man, or in this case, woman. 

As usual, the chemistry between Eve and Roarke is absolutely sizzling. They are hands down, one of my favorite fictional couples. The love and passion these two have for each other makes them true soulmates. And as entertaining as they are, likewise are the relationships Eve has with Peabody and the other secondary characters, who are so likable that they really each could have their own spinoff series.

Once again, Robb has spun a thoroughly enjoyable mystery that kept me utterly captivated for the three hours it took me to read it. Vendetta in Death will surely please her longtime fans. While I think this could work as a standalone, I do recommend you read the series in order. Eve and Roarke have a dense and complex backstory, as do most of the other characters, and this really adds wonderful layers to the story. I know you’re thinking “Kim! There’s no way I’m tackling a 49 book series. No author is that good!” Well let me assure you, Robb is indeed worth it. All the books are very quick reads and I guarantee that once you start them, you won’t be able to stop. Just in case, the first book is Naked in Death!