I received this book for free from my own shelves in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: my own shelves
Payback in Death
by
JD Robb
police procedural in a Kindle edition that was published by St. Martin's Press on September 5, 2023 and has 364 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Connections in Death, Encore in Death, Faithless in Death
Fifty-seventh in the In Death futuristic police procedural series and revolving around Lieutenant Eve Dallas in the summer of 2061. The focus is on corruption and murder.
My Take
Aww, it’s Dallas and Roarke’s third anniversary and Roarke talked her into a three-week vacation. Three weeks!?! I wonder how he got her to commit to that much time, lol.
Sean does crack me up. He’s a typical boy, fascinated by Eve meting out violence, and changing (and combining) his career choices from moment to moment.
Roarke is so supportive in so many ways of Eve’s choices. And that gift he gave to the men in her department! Hmm, I do like that assessment of Sinead’s, that Roarke is a farmer at heart — the richest man in the known universe sitting on a three-legged stool by a cow.
It’s easy to see that Martin was a good officer — he admired Eve as an officer, lol. His kids took his death weirdly — I love how Webster stepped up for Eve! As for Lansing, oy, what an idiot! Thank god for Thin Shield!
Family is important in this what with Roarke’s family in Ireland, Greenleaf’s close-knit family, Denzel’s support of his family,
I do enjoy reading of the progress o fMavis and Leonardo’s and Peabody and McNab’s new home. But are they ever going to move in?
What I didn’t enjoy (because of all the hurt and damage the bad cops did) was the tales of corruption that rose up from Greenleaf’s death. You want to think that cops are all good, but there is always a percentage of people in any group who are evil. It’s just that . . . well, cops should be better. The stories how family and friends reacted to the corruption, of how the guilty reacted, are all over the place and made me want to cry.
The Story
Despite his seemingly happy retirement, Captain Martin Greenleaf has seemingly committed suicide. His grieving family and friends who include Don Webster don’t believe it. And neither does Lieutenant Eve Dallas.
The investigation will be a trip down a lane of bad, bad memories about a slew of corrupt cops.
The Characters
Lieutenant Eve Dallas is in charge of Homicide at Cop Central. Roarke is her gorgeous billionaire husband who supports her in all things. Summerset is their majordomo and Roarke’s father figure. He’s still dating Ivanna. Galahad is their food-obsessed cat.
Their friends include . . .
. . . the pregnant Mavis Freestone, former grifter now singing sensation and Eve’s best friend, is married to Leonardo, a famous fashion designer. Belle is their amazing daughter. They’re working on the Great House Project with Peabody and McNab. Dr Louise Dimatto runs a free clinic and is married to Charles Monroe, a former LC now a sex therapist. Nadine Furst is a crime reporter with her own screen show, an author, and an Oscar winner — her books became movies and have made Dallas famous. Rhonda Grappler used to be a neighbor of Dallas’.
New York Police and Security Department (NYPSD)
Detective Delia “Dee” Peabody is Eve’s partner and friend, a Free-Ager who wanted to become a cop. The rest of Eve’s “men” include Detective Sergeant Jenkinson (of the lurid ties who passed his detective sergeant exam) and his partner, Detective Reinike of the crazy socks; Detective Santiago with his misplaced belief in his betting; Detective Baxter and his partner, the earnest Detective Troy Trueheart; and, Officer Carmichael, who has some pipes.
Captain Ryan Feeney is in charge of the Electronic Detectives Division (EDD). (Sheila is his wife who likes to work with pottery.) Detectives Ian McNab, Peabody’s significant other, and Callendar are some of Feeney’s “boys”. Commander Jack Whitney is in charge of Cop Central.
Tibble is the chief of police. Cher Reo is an assistant prosecuting attorney. Yancy is a brilliant police artist. Dr Li Morris is the chief medical examiner. Dr Charlotte Mira is the city’s top psychiatrist and profiler. Charlie’s husband, Mr Mira, is both dreamy and sharp for whom Eve cherishes a secret love. Hazel is in Maintenance. Frowicki is one of the Scene of Crimes people.
Lieutenant Donald Webster, Detectives Dennison and Dickinson, and Captain Skylar are with IAB, as is that insubordinate Detective Joe Lansing. Captain Martin Greenleaf, retired from IAB and Webster’s mentor and father figure, is married to, was married to, Elizabeth. Their children are Carlie, Ben, and Luke. Carlie (works for Independent Design) is married to Jed Metcalf and they have three children, Flynn, Jack, and Kaylee. I think. There’s also a Henry, but who his parent is, I haven’t a clue. Ben is married to Mina and their children include Hal and Dory. Luke is married to Shawn Bee. Win is a friend of Greenleaf’s who goes sailing with him. Olive Metacalf is a cousin. Coach Mike worked in Little League.
Elva Arnez, a manager at a downtown boutique, Très Belle, with a career in fashion retail, and her cohab, Denzel Robards, a vehicle mechanic at Kenner’s Auto Repair and Body Shop in Queens, are upstairs neighbors with Elva a member of Beth’s “book” club along with Dr Anja Abbott (a pediatrician who volunteers in Dr Dimatto’s free clinic), Darlie Tanaka (who is the owner/operator of Another Chance; Flora is her artist wife), and Cassidy Bryer (the daughter of a gallery owner).
Diane Zed had been a previous cohab of Denzel’s. Tawny, one of Open Door’s Chancers, works at Très Belle. Dorian was in Desperation in Death, 55.
Detective Serene Brenner, former, had been one of the corrupt ones who now works as a live-in counselor at Another Chance. Adam Carson had been a dirty street cop. Officer Drake Milrod and Officer Marcia Lord had complaints of excessive force against them, including by Milrod’s own partner, Agnes Carte. Paul Milrod is a brother who works as a therapist with minors. Mandy Levins was a victim. Lord’s father, Eli Lord, is now a PI with Lord Investigations at Alphabet City. (Lord’s clients include Calhoun, a lawyer, and Tibbits.)
Lieutenant Colton Jayne went down for corruption. Detective Justin Oglebee, Organized Crime, was brought down for corruption in league with the Lorenzo family; his son, the anti-everything Steven works food delivery and has a shell company, Protect and Serve, listing the owner as “Steve Justice”. Detective Lucy Millan, SVU, murdered her husband who was sexually abusing her daughter, Jessie. Jessie cohabs with Curt Barrow who has done time. Ansel Hobbs had been at the Academy with Dallas. Cela Spacek, a licensed therapist, had been Hobbs’ fiancée. The starstruck Lynn is Spacek’s receptionist.
Taylor Noy, the daughter of former Captain Louis Noy, Anti-crime, investigated for corruption, now works as an on-air reporter for Inside Sports. Officer Kent Boxer had been a rookie investigating Noy. His son, Brice Noy, hanged himself; his wife, Ella, remarried, to Cal Rosen, last year. Sascha, Cal’s daughter, is getting married to Milli Yarsborough at Get Hitched in Vegas. Noy’s cops included Detectives Riley and Krotter. Onkar Jain owns and runs a market; he’s the father of Officer Diyva Jain who had been part of Noy’s syndicate. Jamid works for Jain. Ms Lu is Jain’s neighbor and likes to walk her dog, Cyril. Professor Elaine Gleason, who teaches criminal justice at NYU, is married to Professor Henry Gleason. She had taught Brice Noy.
Roarke
Roarke’s family lives on a farm in Tulla, Clare, Ireland. Sinead “Nan” Brody Lannigan is the twin of Roarke’s mother, Siobhan. Robbie is Sinead’s husband. Sean is their grandson. Liam. Gertie is the cow.
Olympus Resort is an off-planet project where Chief Darcia Angelo is in charge of security. She’s also seriously dating Webster. Dochas and An Didean are shelters sponsored by Roarke. Caro is Roarke’s personal admin.
Another Chance employs Nicko and Ms Bryer. Pru is an old college friend of Darlie’s who married the rich Sam and both are very supportive of Another Chance. Darlie also has some connection with the notorious Sebastian (Concealed in Death, 38).
Open Doors is a rehab facility founded by Della McRoy. Tonya, Bibi, and Serene are former clients who now work and live there. Shonda is a new hire, learning the ropes. Some of Open Doors’ clients include Tonya, Kit, and Aster. The Songbirds are a musical group there.
Uma is a cousin of Peabody’s and has an African gray. The Dirty Glass is a bar. The Blue Line is a cop bar. Dr Ricardo works on Ben. Ms Adolfo is a customer at Très Belle. Marcelle Congera is Elva’s lawyer.
Lorcan Cobbe, a vicious boy from Roarke’s childhood (Shadows in Death, 51), is in prison. Teegan Stone had owned a bar in Abandoned in Death, 54. Eliza Lane had appeared in Encore in Death, 56, in which Tyler Vance is a metal artist. Richard Troy had been Eve’s abusive father. The Dawber case was in Abandoned in Death, 54.
The Cover and Title
The cover is red, blue, and silver. The top two-thirds is a textured red with an outline of Dallas’ police badge and the series info hidden at the bottom of the badge in a metallic-looking blue superimposed on top of the background. The bottom third is a deep blues and black room interior looking out its tall windows at the city skyline. All the text is in white with an info blurb at the top, the author’s name laid over the badge, and the title at the bottom.
Could the title refer to a Payback in Death?
