Treachery in Death, by JD Robb

TITLE: Treachery in Death
AUTHOR: JD Robb

COPYRIGHT: 2011
PAGES: 384
PUBLISHER: Putnam

SETTING: 2060s New York
TYPE: Police procedural / romance
SERIES: 33rd full-length novel in the series

Detective Eve Dallas and her partner, Peabody, are following up on a senseless crime-an elderly grocery owner killed by three stoned punks for nothing more than kicks and snacks. This is Peabody's first case as primary detective-good thing she learned from the master. 

But Peabody soon stumbles upon a trickier situation. After a hard workout, she's all alone in the locker room when the gym door clatters open; and-while hiding inside a shower stall trying not to make a sound-she overhears two fellow officers, Garnet and Oberman, arguing. It doesn't take long to realize they're both crooked-guilty not just of corruption but of murder. Now Peabody, Eve, and Eve's husband, Roarke, are trying to get the hard evidence they need to bring the dirty cops down-knowing all the while that the two are willing to kill to keep their secret.

In the latest from the #1 New York Times bestselling phenomenon, Eve Dallas tracks down those who break the law-including the ones sworn to uphold it.

Looks like this one just fell through the cracks -I've read and reviewed the following 3 already. I really do need to organise myself better. I keep finding half-finished reviews that I never completed and posted. And of books I loved, too!

Anyway, this one has our detectives investigating some dirty cops in their department. It all starts when Peabody accidentally overhears two other detectives having a confrontation in the Department's gym, which they think is empty. Their conversation makes it very clear that not only are they corrupt, they have graduated to much, much worse.

Peabody immediately tells Dallas, and it's clear to both that these people must be brought down. Without knowing how far this corrupt network goes, however, they'll need to do it very quietly. It will also need to be done absolutely and completely by the book, to make sure they got everyone, and none of them can get out of it.

I really enjoyed the case. It felt different from others in the In Death series, completely reliant on basic, painstaking police work. Well, basic it might have been, but it was very enjoyable to see them build their case piece by piece, Eve's team showing with every step how different they are from the people they're investigating.

There aren't that many developments on the personal personal side here (as in, Eve and Roarke's relationship), but there is loads of personal development related to the job. Eve always seems to think of herself as just another cop, part of her team, but kind of avoids the thought that she's actually the boss. Well, now she's investigating another female cop, of a similar grade as hers, and she can't help but contrast their styles of management. That element of the book was just fascinating, and I enjoyed it. There's also Peabody, gaining more and more in confidence.

So, a solid entry, and with that magic special extra that moves a book into an A grade.

MY GRADE: An A-