cover image Brotherhood in Death

Brotherhood in Death

J.D. Robb. Berkley, $27.95 (400p) ISBN 978-0-399-17089-8

Bestseller Robb's subpar 42nd novel set in a near-future New York (after 2015's Devoted in Death) finds Eve's friend Dennis Mira, husband of her psychiatrist colleague, Charlotte Mira, requesting her help after his cousin, former U.S. senator Edward Mira, goes missing, presumably kidnapped. It doesn't take long for Edward's corpse to show up or for another similarly tortured and abused victim to be discovered. Edward was a serial adulterer, and as Eve tracks down his paramours, she discovers disturbing connections. Links between Edward and the second victim also appear, and Eve, assisted as always by her lover, Roarke, and supporting staff, engages in a race to identify the killers and protect other likely victims. The crimes are ugly and the victims more so, and Eve has to fight through her own brutal past in this less than sparkling entry in Robb's popular series. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House. (Feb.)