Innocent in Death

It's no secret that I'm a fan of the In Death series. When I heard that Innocent in Death featured a significant Eve/Roarke conflict, I wondered what it would entail and how I would like the book.

The death of history teacher Craig Foster devastated his young wife, who'd sent him off to work that morning with a lovingly packed lunch. It shocked the colleagues at the Upper West Side private school. And as for the ten-year-old girls who found him in his classroom in a pool of bodily fluids, they may have been traumatized for life.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas, of course, is more hardened to murder cases. And this is clearly a murder case. That lovingly packed lunch was tainted with deadly ricin. And Mr. Foster's colleagues, shocked as they may be, have some shocking secrets of their own. It's Eve's job to get a feel for all the potential suspects, and find out why someone would have done this to a man who seemed so inoffensive, so pleasant . . . so innocent.

Now Magdalena Percell--there's someone Eve can picture as a murder victim. Possibly at Eve's own hands. The slinky blonde--and old flame of her billionaire husband, Roarke, from his days on the wrong side of the law--has turned up in New York, and she's anything but innocent. Unfortunately, Roarke seems blind to Magdalena's manipulation, but not to her shapely figure and flirtacious ways. And he insists that the occasional lunch or business meeting with her is nothing to worry about . . . and none of Eve's business. Eve's so unnerved by the situation that she finds it hard to focus on the Foster case. Still, she'll have to put aside her anger, jealousy, and heartbreak, for a while at least--because another man has just turned up dead, and the case is taking some strange turns and hitting some frustrating dead ends.

Eve knows all too well that innocence can be a facade. Keeping that in mind may help her solve this case at last. But it may also tear apart her marriage.

Innocent in Death is a strong entry in the series: 4 out of 5. I read the In Death books more to follow the relationships, and the way the Magdalena plot plays out is fascinating to watch. Eve's reaction to Maggie's appearance is different from anything we've seen in past books--justifiably so, since it's clear she's different from any of Roarke's other former lovers. Now I'd love to see Roarke react to one of Eve's formers . . . someone who isn't Webster. :)

Eve does something at the end that surprised me a bit, but seemed more in character the second time I read it.

Although I read the In Death books to follow the characters, I enjoy the mystery as well. This one is quite good, and different from anything we've seen in past books. I enjoyed it, I think partly because of its chilling moments. To me, it has even more impact when you listen to the audiobook.