Concealed in death by J.D. Robb
Eve Dallas series, bk 38. Piatkus, 2014. ISBN 9780749959401.
(Age: 16+) Crime. Thriller. Serial killer. When Roarke swings a
sledgehammer into the wall of a derelict building that he plans to
renovate and uncovers the bodies of two young girls, Eve Dallas
steps in. Another ten bodies are uncovered, all wrapped in plastic
and hidden in wall cavities and Eve begins the process of finding
who owned the building and who could possibly have gotten away with
the murder of 12 girls. The place, named The Sanctuary, had once
been a home for troubled teenagers and gradually with the help of
Garnet DeWinter, a forensic pathologist, and a clever reconstruction
artist, Eve puts names and faces to the twelve victims.
The Eve Dallas books are always well written and
entertaining. The mystery in this one was quite suspenseful, and
even though it was possible to guess who was the person most likely
to have committed the murders fairly early on, Robb manages to put
an unexpected twist into the last chapters that is quite surprising.
The usual characters appear; gorgeous billionaire Roarke is able to
help out in his clever way; Peabody is stalwart and often lightens
the mood with her dialogue, and Eve's relationship with Denis and
Mira is shown in some depth. The addition of a new character, the
very beautiful Garnet DeWinter, forensic pathologist, allows for a
bit of sarcastic repartee from Eve and provides some new interest to
the series.
Readers who have enjoyed previous books will not be disappointed.
Pat Pledger