Okay, so I had the book bought and read within a 24-hour period. Fans of J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts) will certainly understand. It’s astonishing to me that this is the 33rd novel featuring Eve Dallas and the gang, and the series is just a strong and entertaining as it has always been. Of course, there have been some books that are better than others in the series. This was definitely one of those books. The relationships between the characters take a back seat to the investigation here, as Eve and Peabody begin an investigation into corrupt cops within their own house.

Avoiding a more populated gym, Peabody heads for a disused facility in the basement at Central. Suddenly she’s caught in the shower listening to a conversation between two dirty cops that she wasn’t intended to hear. Shaken, she takes the information to her superior, Lieutenant Eve Dallas. From here both Eve and Peabody have to be extremely careful about the steps taken to initiate an investigation. Eve sets her sights on another Lieutenant, Rene Oberman, who is head of the Illegals Division and the daughter of a revered former Commander.

Both Dallas and Peabody are good cops whose sensibilities are offended by the thought of someone with Rene’s upbringing turning wrong, and using her power and position to betray everything and everyone she was supposed to stand for.

It’s always entertaining to see Dallas working a cause. She doesn’t use her “team” as much in this book as she usually does, keeping the investigation on a need-to-know basis from necessity. It made me miss the usual characters that we normally get to spend time with throughout a normal investigation, like Baxter and Trueheart, and Nadine Furst. We do get to spend some time with Webster from IAD, and it was nice to see him again.

In short, another great entry to the series. I just wish I could make these books last longer. Good thing Roberts writes so prolifically.