Review: Ceremony in Death

Review: Ceremony in DeathCeremony In Death (In Death, #5) by J.D. Robb
Series: In Death #5
Published by Berkley on April 11th 2007
Genres: Futuristic, Mystery
Pages: 336
Goodreads
four-stars

“Murder had come into her life before and would again. But someone would pay for bringing it into her home.”

FINAL DECISION: Not as tight or interesting as the prior books in the series, I enjoyed this one more for the relationship side of the story than the mystery itself which seemed a bit unreal and less grounded than others in the series.  Still a good book.

THE STORY: Eve is tasked with investigating the death of a police officer. There is some suspicion that Feeney might have been involved in a coverup of drug abuse by the officer, so Eve not only has to do an investigation, but also hide it from her mentor and substitute father. Eve’s investigation takes her into a group of Satanists.

OPINION: Personally I was only marginally interested in the mystery in this book, but I really loved how the book pushes forward the relationship of Eve and Feeney. He is her mentor and her father in many ways, but here she is ordered to engage in an investigation keeping him in the dark (as he is a possible target). This causes Eve to have to acknowledge the importance of their relationship. For me, the scenes with Feeney are the highlight of the book.

The underlying theme in this book is family and the book raises issues that Eve and Rourke have to confront time and time again.

Wiccans make several appearances in Robb’s romance books and therefore it is not surprising that Robb makes a point of separating the practicing witches from the Satanist cult members who are involved in the murders.

The feeling of this book slides more magical. At times it threatens to disrupt the grounded and realistic tone of the series.

WORTH MENTIONING: The introduction of the character of Jamie.

CONNECTED BOOKS: CEREMONY IN DEATH is the fifth book in the In Death series. While each book is a standalone in terms of the mystery involved, there are continuing character stories throughout the series.  I believe the books are better read in order, but this book can be read as a standalone.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4 stars.

four-stars

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