Review: Memory in Death

Memory in Death by J.D. Robb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Eve Dallas, NYPD Homicide Lieutenant, had a really tough childhood, one that culminated in her murder of her father and subsequent placement in the foster system. Her years there added to the trauma that still gives her nightmares. With the help of her handsome, billionaire adoring Irish husband she has learned to handle them. For the most part she is a hard-nosed, no nonsense investigator , whose own past is a none issue in her work. That is until one of her foster mothers makes an appearance at her office. Tracy Lombard was one of the most abusive of the adults with whom Dallas was placed.

Her she is, in Dallas' domain, feigning happiness at reconnecting with one of her charges--a favorite, one much beloved, according to Tracy. Not quite the way Dallas remembers the events. In no uncertain terms she makes clear to Tracy that she does not want to join her and her family for dinner, nor does she ever want to lay eyes on Lombard again.

But Tracy Lombard has ulterior motives for tracking down Dallas. Dollar signs that dance in her head when she thinks about Rourke, Dallas' husband and in short order she makes her way to his office to shake him down. For 2 million dollars she will not reveal Dallas' unsavory background to the press and thereby to the Police Department and to the people of the city Dallas serves. If she thought the shaken Dallas was adamant in her refusal to reconnect, she hasn't heard anything until Rourke lets her have it with both guns. No money and get thee back to Texas or he will see to it she finds her way out of the city and maybe off the planet.

Problem handled? Well, no. Dallas wants to confront Lombard at her hotel to make sure she understands just where she stands. Rourke goes with her to the hotel the next day and a whole new problem rears its ugly head. Tracy Lombard is dead, a bloody mess on the floor of her hotel room, dead! And though Dallas feels absolutely nothing in the face of it, she knows that she must find out how Tracy lost her life--and if it was murder, who caused it.

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