DNF ( )

Solid palate-cleansing/reset read, entertaining, and not the worst of the series. ( )

Two murder victims--one recently deceased and one deceased long enough to be only a skeleton--land on Eve's plate. It feels like Eve and Roarke do most of the investigating in this one (rather than the usual Eve and Peabody). ( )

Eve is called to the scene of the murder of a homeless woman knows to the cops of the area as a woman who offered paper flowers to people in return for some spare change. She was also known to write down infractions - rule breaking - and bring them to the attention of the police.

As Eve investigates the woman's death - Alva Quirk by name - she is called to another scene. Bones of a woman and fetus were found in the demolition of a building site that Roarke's company is rehabbing. Since Dr. DeWinter - forensic anthropologist - has to do her magic to identify that woman, Eve is concentrating on Alva.

She brings in Roarke to help identify her since her ID is bogus. Medical examination indicates that she had likely suffered abuse in her younger years which causes a resonance with Eve's own past. While identifying who murdered her now, Eve is also determined to find and bring down the person who abused her in the past.

Both sites where bodies were found belong to, or belonged to, the Singer family who had a connection with a Russian mobster that went back decades. As Eve looks into the Singer's business dealings, she gets much closer to solving both crimes.

I enjoyed this episode in the long-running In Death series even though it lacked some of the banter between Eve and Peabody and Eve and Roarke that were hallmarks of earlier books. It was still an engaging and intense episode. ( )

I have yet to read and Eve Duncan book that disappoints and this one is no exception. Stayed up most of the night to finish reading in one sitting. Keep telling myself I will take my time with the next one but it has always been the same...stay up until dawn because I did not want to put it down. ( )