Salvation in Death by J. D. Robb

(Hi, everybody. It's almost eleven in the morning here, I haven't slept, I'm three days behind on my blog reading and I have library books so overdue that they're going to be called lost soon. Perfect time for a review, huh? I'm slightly hopped up on starbursts, so please excuse any weird spellings or grammar. Also, as I'm typing this, it's turning into more of a review of the series than a review of the book, so I'm trying to fix that, but if I can't... sorry, guys.)

Salvation in Death by J. D. Robb

Summary (from the back of the book, but here's the amazon link in case you're curious): A priest brings a chalice to his lips and fall over dead. When Detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas confirms that the consecrated wine contained poison, she's determined to solve the murder of Father Miguel Flores. A search of the victim's room reveals an engraved religious medal and underlined Bible passages. The autopsy reveals knife wound scars, a removed tattoo, and evidence of plastic surgery, suggesting that "Father Flores" may not have been the man he said he was. Clue hint at gang connection and a deeply personal act of revenge. Then a second murder knocks the whole investigation sideways.

Review: I do so love murder mysteries, and this series is probably one of my favourite, if not my favourite. They are so good that I don't know if I can even describe how much I love them.

But I'm gonna try anyways.

Characters: The main character, Eve Dallas, is very, very interesting to read. She's a great cop. She comes very close to living her job, taking each case to heart, speaks for the victims that have no voice. She's also smart, tough, has a wicked sense of humour (and sarcasm), and is a deeply layered character with a painful past that after probably twenty books in the series (I'm not sure how many, sorry), still isn't completely revealed, because even she doesn't know or remember everything about it. It's very interesting to read. In Salvations, she shows a side not often shown, her compassion for victims that end up taking victims. Mentions of her past and flashes back into it foreshadows more glimpses into it in the next book, or at least that's my guess. ;)

Roarke, her husband, rocks, plain and simple. The guy is HAWT (and he has an accent), with a slightly checkered past of his own, and is completely and utterly devoted to Eve. Their relationship is quite nice to read, as it's thriving and successful.

Other, minor characters, are multi-demensional, interesting, and don't just fill up space.

Plot: As Eve is a cop, the books revolve around her cases. They do usually follow a patter most of the time, murder, solving the case, solve the case, you know the way it goes, but are never predictable. There are plots and sub-plots and twists and twisted twists, and I personally have never guessed whodunnit, and Salvations was no exception to that. I had no idea who the murderer was until it was laid out for me, and then I was still surprised.

PG-13 stuff as this is an adult book: Well, there's some, but by no means is it R-rated. I've read less, I've read more. Honestly, most of the time the murders are worse.

Cover notes: Mine was darker than this as it was the hardcover (large print, too, it's easier on my eyes, especially when I'm tired), so the pictures weren't quite as vibrant, but it was very purple, and I love purple. They're simple, but I like the covers of these books.

Conclusion: I love these books so much. They are a rare treat in their quality and perfectly appeal my murder mystery craving. As always, make sure you read them in order, but these are the kind of book that keep you up all night. Four and a half roses.

(Me again. Well, it was always me, but me talking again, not reviewing. Anyways. Sorry about all the non-YA books lately, but it's what I'm reading. Hopefully I'll be back to YA soon! Also, Promises in Death is the next book in the series, but I don't think I'll have time to review that, and it'd probably be almost identical to this review, I'm afraid. Okay, I'm shutting up now.)

Happy reading
Peace and cookies,
Laina