I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
"Wonderment in Death"
by
J.D. Robb
It is part of the In Death #41.5 series and is a romantic suspense in eBook edition that was published by Penguin on September 22, 2015 and has 99 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads
Other books in this series include [books_series]
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Indulgence in Death, Treachery in Death, Kindred in Death, The Other Side, New York to Dallas, Unquiet, Celebrity in Death, Delusion in Death, Calculated in Death, Thankless in Death, Mirror, Mirror, Festive in Death, Obsession in Death, Betrayal in Death, "Possession in Death", Down the Rabbit Hole, "Midnight in Death", Devoted in Death, Brotherhood in Death, Apprentice in Death, Echoes in Death, Secrets in Death, Dark in Death, Leverage in Death, "Interlude in Death", Vendetta in Death, Golden in Death, Faithless in Death, Naked in Death, Glory in Death, Immortal in Death, Rapture in Death, Ceremony in Death, Vengeance in Death, , Loyalty in Death, Witness in Death, Judgment in Death, Seduction in Death, Reunion in Death, Holiday in Death, Purity in Death, Portrait in Death, Imitation in Death, Divided in Death, Visions in Death, Desperation in Death, Abandoned in Death, Creation in Death, Survivor in Death, Concealed in Death
A short story in the In Death romantic suspense series, it fits in chronologically at 41.5. The series revolves around Lieutenant Eve Dallas, very much a self-made woman in the New York of 2061.
My Take
“Wonderment in Death” has a theme of Alice in Wonderland with its very own Mad Hatter, March Hare, and Dormouse all working together to destroy people. I am somewhat surprised that Galahad didn’t show up as the Cheshire cat!
It’s a fun story that will also make you cry at the loss. The fun involves Robb’s depiction of that Mad Hatter, for he is mad and has an obsession with outlandish hats. And yes, he does love his tea parties…eeek… At the end, it’s that interview with Peabody having her fun, lol, at which you can’t help but crack up.
The sad is in what this serial killer does. How he destroys his victims. It’s always such a heart-wrenching loss, and particularly well done when the author shows that loss.
As always, I do enjoy reading about the “criminal” working so closely with cops, talking the talk. And feeding them, lol.
The Story
Thing aren’t what they seem when Lieutenant Eve Dallas investigates what appears to be a routine murder/suicide. When friends of Darlene and Marcus Fitzwilliams insist Darlene would never hurt her brother, Eve digs deeper.
It’s an attempt to contact her parents as Darlene seeks help from sensitives, psychics, and doctors of paranormal studies. A fateful trail that Dallas will follow, one of clues that mimic Alice’s own journey into Wonderland in a case that gets curiouser and curiouser…
The Characters
Lieutenant Eve Dallas runs a Homicide Division in New York City. She’s married to one of the wealthiest, and most gorgeous, men in the world, Roarke. Dr. Louise Dimatto and Charles Monroe are married and good friends with Eve and Roarke. They’re also friends with the Fitzwilliams.
Eve’s PD Division includes…
…Detective Delia Peabody, Eve’s partner; Detective Baxter and his aide, Officer Troy Trueheart; Detective Santiago lost a bet; Carmichael; and, Detective Jenkinson‘s ties are still nasty, lol. Detective Ian McNab, Peabody’s significant other, is with the Electronic Detective Division under Captain Ryan Feeney, Eve’s old mentor. Detective Callendar is another e-geek with the same outlandish taste in clothes. Morris is their best pathologist; Dr. Mira is a profiler.
Darlene Fitzwilliams is desperate to contact her dead parents, Gareth and Bria Fitzwilliams. Henry is her fiancé and works for Roarke as an architectural engineer and rehabilitation specialist. Marcus Elliot Fitzwilliams is Darli’s very patient brother and CEO and president of Fitzwilliams Worldwide. Philip is the night doorman at her brother’s building. Uncle Sean is based in Europe running that Worldwide branch. Mrs. Melton is another client. Other clients were Marian Beechem, Fiona MacNee, and Sylvia Garth.
Doctor Bright is his current alias. Ms. Harriet March, a.k.a., Willow Bateman, is the assistant he picked up while Dorbert Mouse, a.k.a., Maurice Xavier, is his driver. The lies are in François Simon, Anton Zacari, Angus Roland, Niles George Carroll, and Louis Carroll Ravenwood, who had a sister, Alice Ravenwood.
Doctor Hester is a psychic nutritionalist. Mikhail Lombrowski is another psychic. Madame Dupres started out as Evelyn Basset in Yonkers and trusted unwisely.
The Cover and the Title
There is no Kindle cover for this short, so I’m basing a description on the audio one. It’s consistent with previous covers with the top two-thirds a brilliant red and the author’s name in yellow. There’s a black textured band with the title, also in yellow, on top of it. Below that is a collage of images symbolizing the story with a cup of steaming tea in front of a red wing chair, the steam wafting over a railing that overlooks the city down below. On the far right is a lieutenant’s badge in scalloped gold encircling a blue center.
The title blends the theme of the story as well as the manner in which Dr. Bright’s victims meet their end with a “Wonderment in Death”.
