Concealed in Death (In Death, #38) (EVA Dallas)

by J D Robb

There is nothing unusual about billionaire Roarke supervising work on his new property - but when he takes a ceremonial swing at the first wall to be knocked down, he uncovers the body of a girl. And then another - in fact, twelve dead girls concealed behind a false wall.

Luckily for Roarke, he is married to the best police lieutenant in town. Eve Dallas is determined to find the killer - especially when she discovers that the building used to be a sanctuary for deliquent teenagers and the parallel with her past as a young runaway hits hard.

As the girls' identities are slowly unravelled by the department's crack forensic team, Eve and her staunch sidekick Peabody get closer to the shocking truth...

• ISBN10: 1101617268
• ISBN13: 9781101617267
• Publish Date: 18 February 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Penguin Group USA, Inc
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[Berls]

Oh wow. This one was heartbreaking. From the discovery of 12 girls dead and missing for 15 years to the bitter end, when Eve solves the mystery. Yes, it's wrapped up, but it doesn't feel good the way most of her successful solved cases do. Definitely a rough one, which also makes it a favorite. I enjoyed learning a bit more about Mavis and her past as well. I'm still not ready to stop with this series, so on to the next one.

[wyvernfriend]

Bodies found behind the walls of a building Rourke plans to renovate, Dallas investigates and her own experiences as a runaway find echoes in the story of what happens. The ending is somewhat unsatisfying and Dallas does feel the same.

[EBookObsessed]

Lt. Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, are once again drawn into a case which brushes too close to their own tortured childhood.

Roarke has purchased a rundown building which he is planning on gutting and creating a new safe haven. Like Duchas, his shelter for women, this place would be for kids who have been forced into the system and are in need a safe place away from the people who are supposed to care for them; just like he and Eve once were.

While taking down a wall, he finds bodies wrapped neatly in plastic, or more particularly the bones of young girls. Roarke calls in his wife to investigate what happened to them. It doesn’t take much searching to determine that the last use the property had was fifteen years ago as another shelter for troubled and runaway kids.

Eve has to follow a cold trail back to a killer but first she needs to put faces to these young girls. Dr. Garnet DeWinter is brought in as a forensic anthropologist to work with Dr. Morris, the M.E., to determine who they were and what killed them.

When the lives of these girls brushes too close to home, Eve realizes that the difference between herself and these young girls is simply dumb luck. While Eve and Roarke grew up and made their own way out of the gutter of their own childhood, someone took away the chance for these girls. There is no statute of limitations on murder and Eve is determine to find their killer.

THOUGHTS:
Although this is not one of the most thrilling stories in the series, it was another interesting investigation for Eve Dallas. There was more time spent determining who these girls were, talking to their families and putting together the whys and wherefores of what happened 15 years ago, than there was chasing down the killer. The investigation was mostly handled by Eve and Peabody, so there was little interaction with the rest of the team.

There were some sweet moments between Eve and Roarke, but again nothing absolutely exciting. Move of a settling into married life.

Any fan of the series will, of course, read this story and enjoy the investigation, but if I was trying to intrigue someone into giving the series a try, there are much more exciting stories that I would suggest.

I will say for a happily married woman, Eve does not like when some woman gets to close to Dr. Morris. Interesting.

Received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion.

[tellemonstar]

Review to come - really good though.