Two In Death books...

I find my lack of creativity very sad. I have nothing exciting to say about these books - no huge insights, no fabulous quotes. Just a quick copy of my Goodreads thoughts.

Does anyone else use Goodreads just to capture their initial thoughts, thinking they'll go back and be able to write a brilliant review from just looking at "I liked it." What was I thinking? Sheesh!

Creation In Death
When the body of a young brunette is found in East River Park, artfully positioned and marked by signs of prolonged and painful torture, Lieutenant Eve Dallas is catapulted back to a case nine years earlier. The city had been on edge due to a killing spree that took the lives of four women in fifteen days; all courtesy of the man the media tagged as "The Groom" — because he put silver rings on his victims' fingers.

This time, it becomes chillingly clear that the killer has made his attack personal: The young woman was employed by Eve's billionaire husband, Roarke, washed in products from a store Roarke owns, and laid out on a sheet Roarke's company manufactures. Chances are The Groom is working up to the biggest challenge of his illustrious career—abducting a woman who will test his skills and who promises to give him days and days of pleasure before she dies: Eve.

I really enjoyed every aspect of this one, except that it was odd that it was just a given that Roarke would be assisting on the case. Nobody even questioned it, including Eve. When is he going to find time to run his gazillionaire operation? I know that i've heard others bring this up, but this was really the first time it hit me so blatantly.

Sounds like I didn't care for it, but honestly? I remember liking it - I just can't think of anything that stuck with me other than this.


Strangers In Death
In 2060 New York, some murders still get more attention than others, especially those in which the victim is a prominent businessman, found in his Park Avenue apartment, tied to the bed—and strangled with cords of black velvet. Fortunately, homicide cop Lieutenant Eve Dallas's billionaire husband, Roarke, happens to own the prime real estate where Thomas Anders's sporting-goods firm is headquartered, giving her some help with access. Before long, she's knocking on doors—and barging through them—to look for the answers she needs.

But some things don't add up — and everyone's alibi checks out, from the wife who was off in the tropics to the nephew who stood to inherit millions. Was this a crime of passion—or a carefully planned execution? It's up to Dallas to solve this sensational case in which those who seem to be intimates sometimes guard secrets from each other—and strangers may be connected in unexpected, and deadly, ways.

This was highly focused on the case, and far less on Eve & Roarke's relationship. However, when the book focuses on the cases, it allows us to see Eve's growth in her professional interactions - both with her colleagues and with victims.

Any time that a case involves victims of abuse who either don't act on it the way that eve thinks they should or who don't act on it at all, she treats them with disdain, sometimes outright contempt. It's one area where she is totally unable to separate her personal experiences from her work life.

My one qualm is that I would have liked to have seen Mira call Eve on the carpet for her attitudes rather than have it be a private discussion between Eve and Roarke later on. I think that would have allowed Eve to grow more in her personal development, and made things uncomfortable for her. Which, frankly, I thought she deserved in this one. But that didn't happen.

Having said that, I did like this installment very much.

I'm waiting to check Promises In Death out of the library. I thought I grabbed it last time I was at Holly's house, but apparently I missed it. Shoot.