Calculated in Death review

Calculated in Death is the latest in the long running In Death series by JD Robb - in fact, it's book number 36 in the series! And it was a wonderful addition to the world of Eve, Roarke, and crew that I enjoyed a great deal.

It might seem odd to some when I say that this book was quite humorous. It is, after all, a murder mystery so why would it be funny? But anyone who has read the In Death series will know that Robb writes some fairly hysterical dialogue and that her characters have a sometimes dry sense of humor. I find that I appreciate more and more authors who can write dialogue that makes me laugh during a book that is suspenseful and Robb pretty much hits it out of the park with Calculated in Death.

Calculated in Death follows the familiar pattern of the series and keeps the story line of the Icove investigation publicity machine going as it had in several of the recent books. Eve just can't seem to escape the publicity from that case, no matter how much she tries :) Unlike in some of the other books in this series, the killer is not revealed halfway through the book though Eve narrows down the suspects fairly quickly - it's not until the last third of the book that the reader gets to learn which of the strong suspects actually is guilty.

My only quibble with this book is that some of the new characters were hard to keep straight because half the time they were referred to by first name and half the time by last name and a some of their names were similar. Also, there was one detail toward the end that Robb glossed over and didn't have Eve follow up (I won't say what so as not to spoil the ending) that left me feeling like Eve wasn't as thorough in her investigation as she normally is and that disappointed me slightly.

Calculated in Death was published by Putnam Adult in February 2013.

Synopsis

On Manhattan's Upper East Side a woman lies dead at the bottom of the stairs, stripped of all her valuables. Most cops might call it a mugging gone wrong, but Lieutenant Eve Dallas knows better.

A well-off accountant and a beloved wife and mother, Marta Dickenson doesn't seem the type to be on anyone's hit list. But when Eve and her partner, Peabody, find blood inside the building, the lieutenant knows Marta's murder was the work of a killer who's trained, but not professional or smart enough to remove all the evidence.

But when someone steals the files out of Marta's office, Eve must immerse herself in her billionaire husband Roarke's world of big business to figure out who's cruel and callous enough to hire a hit on an innocent woman. And as the killer's violent streak begins to escalate, Eve knows she has to draw him out, even if it means using herself as bait. . .