Devoted in Death (In Death, #41)

by J D Robb

[EBookObsessed]

This is my favorite series. Even after 41 novels, I am still excited each time one comes out. This is one of the more gruesome stories she has written in quite awhile. Once again, we know who the killers are and we watch as Eve, Peabody and their team try to put all the pieces together to find their latest victim before it is too late.

I am a big fan and always enjoy an In Death story. Yes, some don’t make my top 20 list and I probably won’t ever read them a second time. But I always enjoy the investigation and especially the interaction of the characters in this series.

Devoted in Death is one of the more gruesome of the collection. In this novel, we have two people, Darryl and Ella-Loo, who meet, fall in love, and when they accidentally kill a man trying to steal his car, they find they get a sexual thrill over causing the death of others. As most serial killers do, they need an increase in the thrill and decide the keep their victims longer and longer, adding torture and pain to that thrill.

As they travel across the country towards the bright lights of New York City, they leave a growing trail of bodies. Unlike typical serial killers, Ella-Loo and Darryl could have kept their killings untraceable longer since they didn’t have a type. They would just stumble upon victims, usually using young, helpless Ella-Loo to set a trap for men and women alike, young or old. It didn’t matter to them. It was when they started carving a little heart with their initials to show their love for each other, that allowed the authorities to track their progress toward New York.

Their biggest mistake was trying to play their sick game in the territory of Lt. Eve Dallas.

Once Eve finds her first victim, and uses the heart carving to find like crimes, she is quickly on their trail. Backing through their path of victims to uncover these killers. Eve also gets a little assistance from a local county Deputy from Arkansas who has been following these killers. The FBI has discounted his investigation, which included the murder of a local friend, but Eve quickly connects the dots and sees that he has been on the right track all along and brings him officially into her investigation.

Since Eve also puts together the fact the victims all appear to be random and objects of opportunity, rather than stalked targets, she starts tracking missing persons which gives her a head start on finding the victims which the FBI never had, and also gives us another POV when Nora Roberts once again gives us a victim’s perspective. And here is where it starts to get more gruesome. We see get a first person perspective of the torture game and the fact that Ella-Loo and Darryl are starting to get bored and decide they need to up the thrill factor.

THOUGHTS:
As with all the In Death books, this one has a great ensemble cast and the interaction between Dallas and Roarke, Dallas and Peabody, and the rest of the group is what I enjoy most of the series and what keeps me coming back for more each and every time.

This is among the more grisly stories once we see the first person perspectives on the torture, and admittedly Dallas does get a leg up on the investigation by having the visiting Deputy point out which trail she started following was the right one. At one point she had an opportunity to save a victim and that wouldn’t have been possible without having information from the Deputy and there is more than one “hey, isn’t it convenient that with all the disappearances in the city, you found the right one which rang bells” or “you found a body out of all the miscellaneous murders in NYC which didn’t fit the profile, but wow, you found the one tiny clue which could break the case.” Some of it was our awesome Eve Dallas on the scent of the killer and some of it was just dumb luck that she tripped over the right clue but she always catches on quickly.

All in all an enjoyable story and great investigation. A great police drama. Yet, will it end up as one of my favorites or one of the In Death’s that I would recommend you read to get you started? I’m going to say, no, it not one of the top 20 In Death stories, but a good addition just the same.

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