The Beginning is my original review, the next paragraph is my review based on a re-read.
The mystery in this book was fascinating and dynamic. There were certainly points where I just had to laugh out loud. Some of the characters underwent some development, and a little bit of conflict where Eve realizes that she is wrong definitely added some dimension to this book. Really though, an interesting murder with Trueheart taking his detectives exam pretty much sums up this book. There is some exploration of the balancing act it is to be a Lieutenant and still working on open cases. I think I will re-read to see if I missed something, but this reads almost more like a bridge between novels. With Wonderment in Death, part of the Down the Rabbit Hole short stories compilation, coming out next week as well as Brotherhood in Death coming out in February I am certain that Robb will pick back up and the series will have some delightful twists in the future.
I did re-read this book, well listen to. I think that there was a bit more depth than I realized during my first go-around but not a lot. The two villains of the piece were certainly devoted, in their own sick way. It really is interesting how Robb vacillates between character development and fascinating storylines. Sometimes they both occur but more often if there is a lot of character development then there is a boring murder or vice versa. That isn’t to say that I would skip any of the books in the series, they are all quite good in their own ways, and rather hard to get sick of or predict due to their dynamic nature. Definitely worth this second read.
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