Bonded in Death (In Death, #60) by J.D. Robb 
Series: In Death #60
Published by Macmillan Audio on February 4, 2025
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Susan Ericksen
Length: 13 hrs 50 min
Source: Netgalley
I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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The #1 New York Times bestselling author spins an epic tale of loyalty, treachery, murder, and the long shadow of war…
His passport read Giovanni Rossi. But decades ago, during the Urban Wars, he was part of a small, secret organization called The Twelve. Responding to an urgent summons from an old compatriot, he landed in New York and eased into the waiting car. And died within minutes…
Lieutenant Eve Dallas finds the Rossi case frustrating. She’s got an elderly victim who’d just arrived from Rome; a widow who knows nothing about why he’d left; an as-yet unidentifiable weapon; and zero results on facial recognition. But when she finds a connection to the Urban Wars of the 2020s, she thinks Summerset―fiercely loyal, if somewhat grouchy, major-domo and the man who’d rescued her husband from the Dublin streets―may know something from his stint as a medic in Europe back then.
When Summerset learns of the crime, his shock and grief are clear―because, as he eventually reveals, he himself was one of The Twelve. It’s not a part of his past he likes to revisit. But now he must―not only to assist Eve’s investigation, but because a cryptic message from the killer has boasted that others of The Twelve have also died. Summerset is one of those who remain―and the murderous mission is yet to be fully accomplished…
Bonded in Death was a great big I Love You to Eve Dallas.
Lt Eve Dallas and her partner Det. Delia Peabody are called to the scene of a murder where a man appears to have been poisoned in a back of a limousine and the victim died clutching Eve’s card with a notation that Wasp was now dead so soon will be the remaining member of The Twelve. Lab results show that there wasn’t poison in the fine wine he had been drinking but it seemed that someone went to all the trouble to trap him in the back of the limo and kill him by poison gas–a gas which was made illegal after the Urban Wars.
This sends Eve and Peabody’s investigation back to a bloody period in the world’s history — the Urban Wars. Eve knows that Somerset was a medic during the Wars and hopes that he can give her some insight into this period of time. But Eve is shocked to learn that Somerset was one of The Twelve, so she has him bring the remaining members to New York in order to keep them safe and contained, and with the help of these Urban War spies, Eve has a head start getting into the mind of the killer while he believes the police are still clueless. He wastes his time plotting the elaborate deaths of his former comrades, never knowing that Eve and Peabody are getting closer and closer to catching him.
THOUGHTS:
This is one of my top favorite series. I have read all 60 books and all the short stories which have popped up here and there. I love Eve Dallas. She is one of my favorite characters. If she was a real person, I would do everything, except murder, to meet her and gush nervously about how awesome she is. But I have to say that even I was getting annoyed when literally every character Eve meets gushes about her awesome dedication or smarts or Sherlock Holmes level detecting. Every one of the twelve, even Somerset, at some point told Eve that she was amazing or dedicated or frosty. People she interviewed talked about Nadine’s books or the vid and how Ult Eve is. Mira talked about her dedication. Whitney and Tibalt mentioned she is their best cop. On, and on, and on. So I am not exaggerating that this was a I Love You to Eve Dallas. Since you can find the listing for Book 61, this wasn’t a final bow for the series but everyone stopped by to tell Eve how amazing she is.
The other things to note about this story is that we get a little more information about the Urban Wars, which has been noted many times over the course of this series. Now we learn more about this worldwide war between the rich and the poor and took place sometime around 2024 to 2026. These books which Nora began writing in 1995 and which take place about 2060 (2061 at this point) have foretold many futuristic things like PPCs or personal palm computers (now ipads) and link calls (now facetime), etc., I am getting a little concerned that we might just be facing our own Urban War era. I’m not saying I’m going to build a bunker or anything or maybe I am and I’m gonna fill it with important staples like books.
The story failed to really use these Urban War spies to their full extent. Yes, they came together and gave Eve insights into the person hunting them down but she had these guys in lockdown in her house why didn’t we use them. Yes, she has Feeney, McNab and Roarke, but why not let the tech spies show them how things used to be done or simply let them help with running searches. Something. These guys are only ranging in age from 60 to 79. Maybe they can’t run down the perp…or maybe they can since he’s the same age range but they are all smart, including a scientist (who apparently was part of a prior investigation but I don’t remember that story). I think the story lacked a bit because it failed to use these Urban War spies to any extent. If you don’t include them, why make them spies? They could have been an old book club, a rival tennis club. They were spies and no one’s specialty skills or connections were utilized. Such a waste!
I did like that we learn more about Somerset and his wife, who is rarely mentioned, and turns out she was an amazing person.
Best part of the story was Peabody who kept declaring that the dead guy was definitely a spy and then she’s doing a happy dance when Eve finally confirmed that things were pointing to him actually being a spy. She was so happy she called it.
Will I be reading the next story? Absolutely. Actually I will be listening to the next story because I love Susan Eriksen’s presentation of Eve, Roarke and all the other characters and I was happy to get the choice of a review audiobook this time.
I will have to check this series out – maybe in audo. 61 books! Have you listened to the entire series? Thanks for reviewing.
I’ve been listening from the early 2000’s. My mom loaned me one the short stories and I was hooked. There were about a dozen out and I went to the library and started from the beginning. I really like Susan Ericksen’s narration on this.
I’ve listened to all the books and short stories – can’t wait to listen to the latest. Thanks for the review.