by J.D. Robb
Part of In Death, book 45
First published 2017
Lieutenant Eve Dallas finds herself at Du Vin, an upscale Manhattan nightspot where she wouldn't normally spend her time. A February night turns deadly when Larinda Mars, a gossip reporter who calls herself a "social information specialist," suffers a fatal knife wound to her brachial artery. Mars made her real money through blackmail, targeting wealthy and powerful victims by uncovering their most guarded secrets and extracting payment for her silence. Someone decided to silence her permanently. Eve has no love for the victim, but murder demands justice. Her investigation forces her to dig through the sordid secrets Mars collected from her victims. Each revelation pulls Eve deeper into a web of hidden scandals and private shames. The case threatens to expose information that even the hardened detective would prefer not to know, testing her resolve as she pursues a killer who may have been driven to murder by desperation.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, dark-secrets
Setting: Manhattan, Du Vin
Period: February
370 pages · Hardcover · St. Martin's Press
Content warnings: murder, violence