Category: Mystery

Leverage In Death by J.D. Robb

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Leverage in Death (In Death, #47)Leverage in Death by J.D. Robb

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: In Death #47
Publication Date: 9/4/18

You would think that after forty-seven books, this series would start to falter, but it hasn’t. It is still as interesting, intriguing and mesmerizing as it was in the beginning. The mysteries are heart-stoppingly intense and the romance with Roarke and Eve is definitely sigh worthy. There is always humor that will make you chuckle and/or shake your head, familiar characters that you love and victims that will make you cry. You definitely cannot go wrong if you choose a book in this series.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas has definitely caught a gruesome case this time. Twelve victims were blown to bits and many more injured. But, there is no doubt about who exploded the bomb. The question is WHY. The bomber is a well-liked manager at the company, he loves his job, he loves the people with whom he works and, above all, he loves his wife and daughter. What in the world could ever cause him to blow himself and eleven other people to bits?

As Eve and her team investigate, we learn that the bomber is a victim himself. Eve is convinced that the culprits will not quit with just this one crime and she knows that another family is at risk. They identify a man that they are sure knows something – only to have him turn up dead. Then, another gruesome bombing. The chase is breath-stopping, the villains are a true surprise, and Eve is as hard-nosed and determined as ever.

I always love that there is a ‘back story’ going along with the mystery – just as there would be in real life. This time, it is the Oscars. As you know, Nadine wrote a book, The Icove Agenda, about one of Eve’s cases and it was made into a ‘vid’. Now, it is up for about a half-dozen Oscars – from screenplay to song. Everybody, except Eve, is very excited about the event. You’ll just love Eve’s very expected reactions. I also loved that there was more of Truehart, Baxter, Carmichael, and Bella in this one – but I missed Morris.

I bought the Whispersync version of this book and I just can’t say enough about Susan Ericksen’s narration. I love her voice range and the believable way she makes each of them sound. Just hearing the way she says (as Roarke) ‘Darlin’ Eve’ gives me goosebumps.

Great book! Now, I have to wait until February for the next one – bummer.

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The Dead Ringer by M.C. Beaton

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The Dead Ringer (Agatha Raisin #29)The Dead Ringer by M.C. Beaton

Barbara’s rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: Agatha Raisin #29
Publication Date: 10/2/18

For me, this was a 2.5 star read, but I am rounding it up to 3 because I am normally a huge Agatha Raisin fan. I was really, really looking forward to reading this, but it just didn’t do it for me. Has the series run too long? I don’t know, but I do know that this book didn’t deliver the sharp-tongued, intuitive, self-possessed, abrasive Agatha that we normally get. Instead, we have an unfocused, grumpy, incompetent, whiny woman who is desperate for a man and marriage at any cost. Instead of investigating she was daydreaming or moping and her supporting cast of characters weren’t much better at investigating.

The story was disjointed and almost incoherent – things popping up out of left field. These stories are always very, very busy, but they always make sense in the end. This one didn’t. There were murders that nobody seemed to care about. The first victim was actually a policeman but there didn’t seem to be any real action to find out who murdered him or why. There were two young women who went missing – one was missing for quite some time and the other just went missing. The resolution to that is just out of the blue and doesn’t make sense. Then, you have an abused wife that nobody seems to worry about except to basically criticize her for putting up with it.

There was a surprise at the end of the book and I will read the next book to see what happens with that. However, if that book is like this one, it will be the last one I read in the series.

Please check out my reviews at:
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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”