Brotherhood in Death by J.D. Robb

Just as Dennis Mira is about to confront his cousin Edward about selling the West Village brownstone that belonged to their grandfather, he gets a Edward is in front of him, bruised and bloody...and then everything goes black.

When Dennis comes to, Edward is gone. Luckily Dennis’s wife is a top profiler for the NYPSD—and a close colleague of Lieutenant Eve Dallas. Now Eve is determined to uncover the secrets of Edward Mira and learn what enemies he may have made in his long career as a lawyer, judge, and senator. A badge and a billionaire husband can get you access to places others can’t go, and Eve intends to shine some light on the dirty deals and dark motives behind the disappearance of a powerful man, the family discord over a multimillion-dollar piece of real estate...and a new case that no one saw coming.

I love the relationship between Eve and Mira and that really shines in this book.

In Death #42 and still going strong - how does she do it? There have been a few recent books in the series that have left me worried that Nora had run out of ideas, but this one had me completely absorbed. Why does Brotherhood in Death work so well?
1) Dennis Mira. Who doesn't love Dennis Mira? He (and Feeney) are the real fathers that Eve never had.
2) No creepy sections written from the murderer's (or worse, the victim's) point of view.
3) Sex scenes between Eve and Roarke are important to the plot, not just “oops, time for a love scene.”
4) Peabody gets to take care of Eve briefly, and blubbering ensues.
5) The plot highlights the often ambiguous definition of “victim” and “perpetrator.” It would have made a great Law & Order episode. And finally,
Big spoiler Did Nora got some ideas for this plot from the accusations against Bill Cosby? If so, it's a great revenge fantasy for his way too numerous victims .
I can't believe I have been reading this series for 20+ years and it can still fully engage me.

Any time a member of her little circle is involved in the crime I'm always much more invested. And getting more time with Dr. & Dr. Mira made everything much more interesting.

There was one thing that really bothered me.

At one point Eve comes home from a craptacular day and finds a strange woman in her office. Roarke enters and explains who she is and why she's there. Eve is pissed because he had a stranger in her home office without him there (he was in another room) and she didn't like her space being invaded like that. HE gets pissed because he was, in his way, doing something ‘nice' for her and refuses to apologize.

In the last book, Devoted In Death, Eve brings home a fellow cop who had been working on the same case in another state. She leaves him in her home office while she runs to change or something. Roarke walks in finds a strange man in there and flips out. Eve has to apologize for bringing a stranger to HER HOME OFFICE to do WORK along with the other 3 or 4 cops who come also because Roarke didn't know him and she can't just leave a stranger he doesn't know unattended in his house.

Ummmm how is that not okay when she did it, but when he had a stranger in her office it was okay? It's such a small thing, but the Roarke is always right and Eve is always putting her foot in it shtick is kind of grating on my nerves.

This story was very detailed. And I really like Leutenant Dallas. But to me, this book seemed to have a little trashy romance side. The Lt and her hubby went at it a few times. I don't really need that much bedroom detail when I'm reading a mystery. I don't remember that much romance in the other In Death books I've read.