Vendetta in Death (In Death #49) by JD Robb ~ Eve Dallas takes on a serial killer dispensing their own form of justice #PoliceProcedural

Author: JD Robb

Performed by Susan Ericksen

Released: September 2019 by Hachette Audio UK

Category: Police Procedural, Audiobook, Review

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When a family man is tortured, killed and left in front of his family home for all the world to see, Eve Dallas knows she is on the hunt for a particularly dangerous killer.

But death uncovers secrets and the killer leaves a note revealing the victim to be far from the family man he appears. As Eve scrambles to find out what she can to link victim and killer, another body is found. Another man with a dark and murky past.

Lady Justice seeks revenge for wronged women, those who have been abused or controlled in some way by unscrupulous and/or manipulative men. Once she has chosen her target she makes herself as fascinating and attractive as she can to lure the predator into her trap. An extreme trap that ensures their death and mutilation. Lady Justice’s first victim is Nigel McEnroy, a wealthy businessman who uses his position and power as a guarantee his crimes against women will be swept under the proverbial carpet…until vigilante justice finds him.

He needed killing.

She’d researched, studied, planned the who, when, how and why for more than a year and had chosen Nigel B. McEnroy to be the first.

At forty-three, he had a wife of eleven years, two children—both girls, ages nine and six. He had, over the course of eighteen years, built his own executive headhunting business with two partners. 

In business, Nigel B. McEnroy was scrupulous, exacting, ethical, and diligent. None of that stopped him from being, in his private life, a liar, a cheat, an adulterer, and a serial rapist.

Two similar deaths follow the first and although Dallas and Peabody have a good idea of who the perpetrator is quite early on, despite a number of possible suspects, they have to find the whys and wherefores and prove it, which keeps the investigation suspenseful and tense. It also resonates with Eve’s past and she has to reconcile her need for justice with the crimes of the victims she’s sworn to stand for. The police procedural aspect is always enjoyable and perfectly played out, with much loved and individual characters.

JD Robb/Nora Roberts’ stories quite often have a relevance to today’s news, this time regarding powerful and wealthy men employing threat tactics for sexual favours and/or paying women to keep quiet about sexual abuse. Although this wasn’t one of my favourite stories, the characters, their ongoing stories and development make this series and keep me invested. It was good to catch up with several of them. In a long running series the cast is bound to get larger, so all of them can’t feature in every book. I really loved Mavis’ scene with Summerset and Bella—Dallas and Roarke’s reactions to her ‘encore’ was priceless.

Susan Ericksen’s performance is extraordinary. She makes the characters come to life vividly, with her range of different voices fitting each character wonderfully.

Book links ~ Amazon UK | Amazon US 

About the Author

J. D. Robb is the pseudonym of global superstar Nora Roberts, who has written over 200 books and sold 500 million copies worldwide.
Back in 1995, Robb began her New York Times bestselling In Death series, introducing the tough as nails homicide cop, Lieutenant Eve Dallas, and Irish billionaire, Roarke. The crime series has seen Robb become one of the biggest thriller writers on the planet, with each new novel reaching number one on bestseller charts around the world.