Lt. Eve Dallas is about to walk into the shadows of her husband’s dangerous past…

While Eve examines a fresh body in Washington Square Park, her husband, Roarke, spots a man among the onlookers he’s known since his younger days on the streets of Dublin. A man who claims to be his half-brother. A man who kills for a living—and who burns with hatred for him.

Eve is quick to suspect that the victim’s spouse—resentful over his wife’s affair and poised to inherit her fortune—would have happily paid an assassin to do his dirty work. Roarke is just as quick to warn her that if Lorcan Cobbe is the hitman, she needs to be careful. Law enforcement agencies worldwide have pursued this cold-hearted killer for years, to no avail. And his lazy smirk when he looked Roarke’s way indicates that he will target anyone who matters to Roarke…and is confident he’ll get away with it.

Eve is desperate to protect Roarke. Roarke is desperate to protect Eve. And together, they’re determined to find Cobbe before he finds them—even if it takes them across the Atlantic, far outside Eve’s usual jurisdiction…

Shadows in Death is the 51st title in the “in Death” series.  A complete list of all the titles in this futuristic police procedural mystery series can be found on our J. D. Robb page.

This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Title:  Shadows in Death
Series:  In Death #51
Author:  J. D. Robb
Genre:  Mystery, Crime, Police Procedural, Thriller
Published:  September 8, 2020
Publisher:  St. Martin’s Press
My Rating:  5 stars

Shadows in Death, the 51st story in the …In Death series brings Roarke’s past blasting into his present with the intention of taking away his and Eve’s future.  Eve is called away from an evening out and along with Roarke head to the current crime scene, the grizzly murder of a young wife and mother.  In the crowd of onlookers and gawkers Roarke catches a glimpse of a face from his past, a man who has an unnatural hatred for Roarke and would put an end to his life without care… but torturing Roarke brings so much more pleasure to him as Lorcan begins his cat and mouse game which, to his mind, will end with Roarke’s death.  Not going to happen on Eve’s watch as she, and her entire crew set out to bring down an international assassin and to protect the man she loves.

Over the years of reading this series, I’ve noticed that there are patterns to the stories – ones that delve into the main characters’ past – ones that enhance or add to the fantastic group of professionals who make taking down murderers and villains their life’s work – and those that focus mostly on the crime in that particular book.  I enjoy each style for my own reasons, but the ones that bring me more information about Roarke’s or Eve’s past are perhaps my favorites as they are such fascinating characters in their own rights but together as a team they are amazing and I always want to know more about what makes them… well, them.  Shadows in Death is such a story, and we’ll discover more of Roarke’s past through the hatred of a man who has wanted Roarke’s place since childhood and will do anything, take any risk necessary to end the life of a man he, for his own sick reasons, loathes.

The initial murder is vile and vindictive… and Eve will wrap that one up rather quickly.  But it is the threads, the connections that will spread out from that first murder that makes Shadows in Death such an intricately woven story.  The search for an international assassin will bring in most of the people we’ve come to rely on in any investigation that Eve is part of.  But more, perhaps, this time since Roarke is also “theirs” and the threat to him, to Eve and anyone they care about is very real.  I enjoyed seeing every single one rally around Roarke and Eve while also doing their best to find and take down Lorcan before he can finish his mission to kill Roarke and anyone he cares about.

I try not to give away spoilers, especially on a story like Shadows in Death.  I was hooked from the start and held captive until the final page.  We see a slightly different view of both Roarke and Eve in this one, and that only added to the overall respect and love I have for this fictional couple.  It’s an intense, intricate, compelling story – and if you’ve been following the series (yes, it’s 51 stories at this point) then this one is going to be perfect for you.

I own a Kindle edition of Shadows in Death.

Available in a variety of formats including for your favorite e-reader