Brotherhood in Death

When Festive in Death was released, readers got to see Eve investigate the death of a man who was an a@@hole. Eve didn’t let that stop her from bringing the killer to justice, but it was interesting to see her handle the investigation from that perspective. Brotherhood takes this concept to the next level.

Edward Mira, cousin to the lovable Dennis Mira, dear friend of Eve and Roarke, is brutally killed. He has a very hard, slow, painful death. It’s not long before one of his buddies meets the same fate. When Eve begins to uncover what these men were up to, the term “victim” becomes a gray area. Eve completely understands the motive, but she can’t allow that to stop her from bringing justice – to everyone who requires show more it.

Though the clues are fairly blatant about what the Brotherhood was up to, the actual reveal was still shocking. Dozens of books in, and I still can’t get enough of this series. I love these characters, and Eve grows even more here. Her conversation with Peabody about her past brought tears to my eyes (and Peabody’s). This is definitely one of the more memorable entries. Highly recommended. show less

This book was very hard to read.

Let me qualify that a bit: I love J.D. Robb's In Death series; I've loved it ever since I stumbled across the first book ([b:Naked in Death|479309|Naked in Death (In Death, #1)|J.D. Robb|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333326143s/479309.jpg|1097497]) in a hospital gift shop as a teen. I love that its content is out there in the world and out there so successfully, something I don't think would have happened (at least not on such a high level) years ago. I love that there is a strong, compassionate, female character out there that has been endowed with a realistic PTSD/childhood trauma & rape trauma aftershock character arc in an enriching way, a way that doesn't center on her pain or as her as solely a show more victim of that pain but tells her story and tells of her experiences in a valid and powerful way. I love Robb's/Robert's ability to give us truly affecting characters and believe it is this ability that makes each character's appearance feel like a wonderful reunion with someone we've come to know well, admire, enjoy, and respect.

There are books in the In Death series that I have enjoyed more than others and there are some that I've felt disappointed in. That's to be expected in long-running series in my opinion and, as each book gets read and reread a plethora of times, it's easy to say that this will continue to be a favorite series long after its new publications have ceased.

The reason this book was such a hard read is that it was written so well. I would say it far surpasses the majority of the series' recent books. The psychology of the crimes committed had the depth that first drew me to the series and the beloved characters featured in this novel (the Miras) served to make it all the more intense. But the levels of the crime, the nature of those committing the initial crime, are grotesque at their cores and it was hard to stomach it, even in fiction.

While this grotesquery was hard to stomach personally, it was balanced well. It wasn't just the depth of the crime that felt back up to par for me. I felt that Robb was back to her old self in writing our beloved characters, in bringing us into the enticement, interplay, and emotion of Eve & Roarke. I was emotionally wrung and deeply satisfied in reading Eve's and Mr. Mira's interactions and fell so much more in love with Mr. Mira upon the realization that Charlotte Mira had in fact not disclosed anything about Eve's past and he was loving towards her for all these years because it was simply his nature.

Robb's ability to cover the psychology of the crimes and criminals of her In Death series as well as Dallas' personal psychology is wonderful. But what truly captures my loyalty to this series is the depth of her characters; how well she is able to write a father figure, as with Feeney and Mr. Mira; how well she captures the similarities and contrast of friends and friendships, as with Peabody, Mavis, Nadine, Louise, and others; how well she captures the unique bonds of relationships as with Eve and Roarke, of course, but also in Peabody and McNab, Charles and Louise, Morris and Coltraine, and the myriad we have seen over the years. This book feels like a renewal of all that I love about Robb's In Death and I fervently hope that this renewal continues.

Eve Dallas has been an important character in my life; I believe she is an important character to have out there in the world, the world of books and otherwise. show less

This is the 42nd In Death book but, in the internal chronology, only about three years have passed since Eve and Roarke first met. Eve (and Roarke) have made massive changes since the first book. Because Eve is the viewpoint character, we see her changes more closely. In this episode, Eve is called in when her friend Dr. Mira's husband is struck from behind in a house he inherited from his grandparents. He had come their to, very reluctantly, confront his cousin who inherited half the house and was determined to sell it despite the promises they made to their grandfather to keep it in the family.

Dennis Mira's cousin Edward is missing. This doesn't seem like Eve's kind of case since she is a murder cop but Dr. Mira is a friend and Eve show more has quite a crush on Dennis Mira who is a thoroughly nice man. When investigating Edward, she quickly learns how different he was from his cousin. They are quickly led to a number of women that Edward, very much married, had seduced in just the past year which leads Eve to think about marriage and fidelity. She knows she would not look the other way if Roarke chose to stray.

The case quickly turns to murder when Edward is found hanging from the chandelier in the foyer of his grandparents' house. He was beaten and tortured before his death. Because of the nature of the torture, focus turns to the crime being a result of some sexual relationship gone wrong which helps Eve's focus.

I will say that the identities of the murderers were known pretty early in the story and the focus shifted on finding them before they could kill their next target. What made this story particularly interesting to me was that Eve had much more sympathy for the murderers than she had for the victims. However, her job was to stand for the victims no matter how unlikable or how unpleasant they were while they were alive. Also, the nature of the crimes committed by these men brought back memories of her own abused childhood. It was good to see the support network that she has built over the past three years. There's Roarke, of course, but there is also Dr. Mira and her partner Peabody who know her story.

The nature of the case provides unique stress to Eve but so does Roarke's plan to redo her home office. He had created a duplicate of the apartment she lived in before they met and now he feels that it is time for a change. Eve was caught by surprise by the idea and it takes a while before she figures out why. This creates some tension between Eve and Roarke for a time.

I loved this story and this opportunity to catch up on the lives of characters who are so real to me that I wouldn't be at all surprised to meet them on the street some day. show less

In BROTHERHOOD IN DEATH, J. D. Robb pulls a sleight of hand, opening the book with one mystery only to have it circle to something completely different and much, much worse. On the one hand, we get lots of Dennis Mira, and Eve's cute reaction to him never disappoints. On the other hand, we have a topic that is on everyone's lips these days, even though Ms. Robb published this book in 2016. You can't help but view Eve's determination and ability to obtain justice for crimes done at the hands of the most powerful and wealthiest men in the country as somewhat unrealistic, given how real life has worked over the past decade. On the other hand, Eve reminds us of how the judicial system should work and that we need to continue pushing it to show more do so. That BROTHERHOOD IN DEATH hits a little too close to "ripped from the headlines" ten years later proves we have a long way to go for Eve's actions to be anything but fictional. show less

This is the 42nd In Death book but, in the internal chronology, only about three years have passed since Eve and Roarke first met. Eve (and Roarke) have made massive changes since the first book. Because Eve is the viewpoint character, we see her changes more closely. In this episode, Eve is called in when her friend Dr. Mira's husband is struck from behind in a house he inherited from his grandparents. He had come their to, very reluctantly, confront his cousin who inherited half the house and was determined to sell it despite the promises they made to their grandfather to keep it in the family.

Dennis Mira's cousin Edward is missing. This doesn't seem like Eve's kind of case since she is a murder cop but Dr. Mira is a friend and Eve show more has quite a crush on Dennis Mira who is a thoroughly nice man. When investigating Edward, she quickly learns how different he was from his cousin. They are quickly led to a number of women that Edward, very much married, had seduced in just the past year which leads Eve to think about marriage and fidelity. She knows she would not look the other way if Roarke chose to stray.

The case quickly turns to murder when Edward is found hanging from the chandelier in the foyer of his grandparents' house. He was beaten and tortured before his death. Because of the nature of the torture, focus turns to the crime being a result of some sexual relationship gone wrong which helps Eve's focus.

I will say that the identities of the murderers were known pretty early in the story and the focus shifted on finding them before they could kill their next target. What made this story particularly interesting to me was that Eve had much more sympathy for the murderers than she had for the victims. However, her job was to stand for the victims no matter how unlikable or how unpleasant they were while they were alive. Also, the nature of the crimes committed by these men brought back memories of her own abused childhood. It was good to see the support network that she has built over the past three years. There's Roarke, of course, but there is also Dr. Mira and her partner Peabody who know her story.

The nature of the case provides unique stress to Eve but so does Roarke's plan to redo her home office. He had created a duplicate of the apartment she lived in before they met and now he feels that it is time for a change. Eve was caught by surprise by the idea and it takes a while before she figures out why. This creates some tension between Eve and Roarke for a time.

I loved this story and this opportunity to catch up on the lives of characters who are so real to me that I wouldn't be at all surprised to meet them on the street some day. show less

After so many novels in the series (this is number 42 not counting the novellas), there is little that can surprise a reader. The series is more like an old friend - it is the people that you want to see more of and not really the mystery. Although I must admit that Robb is pretty good at finding new and inventive way for people to be awful so Eve can have something to work with.

In this case, the case hits close to home for Eve - it all starts when Dennis Mira calls because his cousin, the ex-senator Edward Mira, had been kidnapped (and whoever did that hit Dennis on the head). Despite the fact that Eve is a homicide cop, she decides to help - because Dennis is family. And the the body of Edward is found, it becomes her job properly. show more The details of the death are gruesome, even for this series they are gruesome. And when a second man is killed the same way, a pattern start to emerge.

Because of the previous books, I could see where this was going to lead - the books are becoming a bit predictable. But not the details - and they were stomach-turning. Because the bunch of friends, pillars of the community had been really evil for a long time.

On the personal front - Dennis learns about Eve's past; Dennis is shown to make hot chocolate that is better than anyone had ever had and we finally see Charlotte Mira worried and rattled.

It's a good story in a long running series - not very good as a standalone as most of the backstory is important to make the character fully fledged and complete. show less

In Death #42 and still going strong - how does she do it? There have been a few recent books in the series that have left me worried that Nora had run out of ideas, but this one had me completely absorbed. Why does Brotherhood in Death work so well?
1) Dennis Mira. Who doesn't love Dennis Mira? He (and Feeney) are the real fathers that Eve never had.
2) No creepy sections written from the murderer's (or worse, the victim's) point of view.
3) Sex scenes between Eve and Roarke are important to the plot, not just "oops, time for a love scene."
4) Peabody gets to take care of Eve briefly, and blubbering ensues.
5) The plot highlights the often ambiguous definition of "victim" and "perpetrator." It would have made a great Law & Order episode. show more And finally,
Big spoiler Did Nora got some ideas for this plot from the accusations against Bill Cosby? If so, it's a great revenge fantasy for his way too numerous victims .
I can't believe I have been reading this series for 20 years and it can still fully engage me. show less