Book Review: Concealed in Death by J.D. Robb

Author Synopsis:  In a decrepit, long-empty New York building, Lieutenant Eve Dallas's husband begins the demolition process by swinging a sledgehammer into a wall. When the dust clears, there are two skeletons wrapped in plastic behind it. He summons his wife immediately–and by the time she's done with the crime scene, there are twelve murders to be solved.
The place once housed a makeshift shelter for troubled teenagers, back in the mid–2040s, and Eve tracks down the people who ran it. Between their recollections and the work of the force’s new forensic anthropologist, Eve begins to put names and faces to the remains. They are all young girls. A tattooed tough girl who dealt in illegal drugs. The runaway daughter of a pair of well–to–do doctors. They all had their stories. And they all lost their chance for a better life.
 
Then Eve discovers a connection between the victims and someone she knows. And she grows even more determined to reveal the secrets of the place that was called The Sanctuary–and the evil concealed in one human heart.



As always, once I started reading, couldn't put it down. Eve is trying to solve the murder of 12 homeless kids between the ages of 12 - 14. Their bones were found hidden behind false walls in a closed shelter. As each one was identified and a forensic artist provided faces to go with each one, Eve is left with the task of having to notify the families. The beginning is different in that it isn't a death scene or the voice of Eve, we hear, but Roark's which sets an entirely different tone for the story.  The death of children is always a difficult subject and I can see why some folks had a hard time with the story. And there wasn't too much excitement, compared to the prior story, Thankless in Death, in which the reader got blasted entirely too much with the horrific thoughts of the killer. All the characters we love were involved, and learned more about Mavis's background, prior to meeting Eve. Plus a new character is introduced - forensic anthropologist, Garnet DeWinter. It was more a straight forward police procedural and the ending a bit anticlimactic, both for Eve and the reader, as she was left not entirely satisfied, even though she caught the killer.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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