Secrets in Death by J D Robb
In Death series #45. Futuristic police procedural and mystery. Can be read in any order after the first 10 or so.
Detective Eve Dallas is at a chic Manhattan bar when a woman staggers up from the lower level, bleeding profusely and dies in her arms. Someone cut an artery in the woman’s arm. Dallas immediately closes down the bar and she and her team investigate. Turns out the dead woman was a very proficient blackmailer and all the suspects are glad the woman is dead. And there are lots of secrets around the city of New York.

Gritty and dark. Fast moving with all the usual sidekicks, late night murder board, nightmares and Roarke being generous and skillful with all things electronic. Exciting and suspenseful in the usual follow-the-clues, New York crazy.
I love these mysteries. ( )

Secrets in Death
3.5 Stars

Homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas finds herself in a unique position when the victim in her latest case, notorious gossip reporter Larinda Mars, bleeds out before her eyes. As the list of people who hated Mars grows, Eve and her team may just uncover one secret too many . . .

Unfortunately, this book just did not resonate for several reasons. First, the victim is a truly nasty piece of work who exploits the weaknesses of others and preys on their need to protect their loved ones. The fact that someone killed her is not at all surprising, and notwithstanding Eve's mission of obtaining justice even for the most despicable of people, Larinda Mars got what she deserved.

Second, the identity of the culprit is glaringly obvious from the moment they are introduced. It is difficult to garner much interest when the solution is so plain to see.

Finally, there are several unresolved threads with regard to Mars' victims, which prevents a true sense of closure for the case.

Despite these issues, there are one or two wonderful moments between Eve and Roarke as well as a revelation regarding an event from Summersets' past that make this a worthwhile read. ( )

The book begins with Eve meeting Dr. Garnet DeWinter for a drink. She's irritated because something about DeWinter rubs her the wrong way but she is connected with a number of people who are in Eve's tight social circle. There is lots of nice snark about her reluctance to meet. Next thing you know is that "social information reporter" Larinda Mars comes up from the restroom and dies in Eve's arms. Eve knew her peripherally and disliked her. Someone has sliced her brachial artery causing her to bleed out.

Now Eve has to find out who killed a person that she really disliked. Just a little investigation shows that Mars was a blackmailer and her pool of victims is huge. Lots of people were willing to pay to keep their secrets hidden. As the investigation continues, it is Mars' victims who garner sympathy from Eve. Some of their secrets bring back memories of Eve's own childhood abuse and show that she is coming to terms with her own troubled past. Eve becomes even more angry at Larinda Mars when she learns that she, Roarke, Mavis, Leonardo and their infant Bella, along with Nadine Furst have also been targets in Mars' blackmail scheme.

And Mars had secrets of her own that she jealously guarded. The autopsy reveals that she had extensive face and body work which sends Eve, with the assistance of forensic anthropologist Dr. Garnet DeWinter, on a quest to find out who she was before she reinvented herself as Larinda Mars. And, while her home has some records and some of her loot, Eve and Roarke are trying to find the rest of her records to know the full scope of people that Mars had blackmailed or investigated.

This was another excellent entry into one of my favorite series. Book 45 shows that Eve and Roarke have not worn out their welcome with me and leaves me eager for their next mystery. ( )

When a woman who loves to dig into celebrities' lives is murdered, the suspect list is a long one. Larinda Mars has gone too far in making the famous pay, and Eve must distill the list of her victims to a final few names. Still, the killer strikes again before she can make an arrest. Fast-paced and intriguing. Recommended. ( )

Kind of an abrupt ending, but a decent murder mystery. I thought they’d go more into the past of the victim, but that seemed a pointless avenue to go down. Nothing really came of it. I do like that we got to hear more from people like Mavis and Feeney since they’ve been kind of missing in the past few books. ( )