Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb

When the newly promoted captain of the NYPSD and his wife return a day early from their vacation, they are looking forward to spending time with their bright and vivacious sixteen-year-old daughter, who stayed behind.
Not even their worst nightmares could prepare them for the crime scene that awaits them instead. Deena has been brutally murdered in her bedroom, and her body shows signs of trauma that horrify even the toughest of cops, including our own Lieutenant Eve Dallas, who is specifically requested by the captain to investigate.

When the evidence starts to pile up, Dallas and her team think they are about to arrest their perpetrator; little do they know that someone has gone to great lengths to tease and taunt them by using a variety of identities.

Overconfidence can lead to careless mistakes. But for Dallas, one mistake might be all she needs to serve justice.

Kindred in Death is the 29th book in the In Death futuristic mystery series featuring kick-ass cop Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her mega wealthy husband Roarke. Having read the past 20 novels in the series, Kindred in Death is about as perfect as I think an In Death mystery can get.

An extremely brutal crime involving the daughter of a police captain, a diabolical murder with no close connection to the victim and clues that refuse to provide cohesive answers. The focus on the rape and murder of a young female teenager on the cusp of womanhood really strikes at the heart.  Whereas there usually seems to be some personal element for Eve with the murders she investigates, this murder strikes more close because of the specific brutality and the helplessness of the victim.  The senselessness of the crime really comes across.

I enjoyed the sort of nature versus nurture theme as an explanation for human behaviour. How a person's makeup can be imprinted by family and whether someone is born evil. Kindred in Death presents the idea that whether you are naive or worldly, someone with enough devious bent or someone who has been imprinted by evil can deceive and exploit weaknesses.  In the end, whom can you trust?

I did not mind at all that Roarke and Eve's relationship had less of a focus than the other recent novels in the series, although I was a little surprised that the couple times Roarke and Eve had sex they did so in water...I mean isn't that supposed to be dangerous?? But then again this is fiction after all. The only element that bothered me was that there was a second murder in the plot, which seemed more of an afterthought, with the lack of attention the first murder received.

My rating is based only on comparing Kindred in Death with the other In Death novels.

My Rating: 5.0

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Promises in Death
Salvation in Death
Naked in Death