Glory in Death

This is the second book of the In Death series by J. D. Robb, following "Naked in Death" and preceding "Immortal in Death".

Plot introduction

Lieutenant Eve Dallas must find out who is killing a series of high-powered women before he can kill again. ["Official Nora Roberts Companion".]

Plot summary

It has been about four months since the events of "Naked in Death", as Eve finds the body of famous Prosecuting Attorney Cicely Towers on the night of May 2nd. Eve returns to Cop Central to find that Commander Whitney was very good friends with Towers, having started out together when they were very young. Due to this fact, he has personally arranged that Eve be primary. Eve therefore interviews the commander on the spot, and he responds badly, telling her that Cicely was family, something she wouldn't understand; though he apologizes, this sets the tone for their relationship throughout the rest of the book and the next.

C. J. Morse, a reporter at Nadine Furst's station, calls Eve afterwards, pestering her with details about the case and a possible connection to Roarke. Later, Eve struggles between going back to her own apartment or Roarke's house; she eventually gives in and goes to Roarke's.

At Roarke's home, Summerset greets her caustically, ironically remarking that he had no idea if she had intended to return. Eventually, Roarke joins Eve in the bath, and tells her he loves her. Eve does not reply; irritated, he changes the subject to the Towers case and the fact that Roarke has had business dealings with Towers, which Eve construes to be possibly illegal. Roarke brings up Eve's refusal to move in with him and commit to their relationship. Later that night, while Eve is sleeping, Roarke reorganizes and sells all of his remaining illegal businesses.

The next morning, C. J. Morse implies that there is a cover-up involved in Towers' death by Eve and Whitney. The extra publicity irritates Eve, particularly because since "Naked in Death" and her relationship with Roarke, she has unwillingly become very famous. It is another source of tension between her and Roarke. Afterwards, Roarke leaves on business to Australia and Eve revenges herself against Morse by feeding the Towers story to Nadine Furst.

Eve goes to a club nearby the scene of the crime, the Down and Dirty. Here she meets Crack, the proprietor, who mistakes her for a stripper. He gives her enough information (for cash) to track down where Towers had apparently scheduled a meeting. Eve finds out that Towers had had an umbrella that night, which was not recovered.

Ryan Feeney has been unofficially instructed by the commander to aid the case. Feeney comments on how glamorous Eve looks in the media when out with Roarke, then further prods by making cracks about how married they seem. Later, Nadine overhears Roarke tell Eve that he loves her and bothers her about it as well. Eve is uncomfortable with Roarke's feelings, feeling pressured to return them.

After some non-progression in the case, Eve returns to her own apartment; that night, Roarke surprises her in her sleep, having returned from Australia. The morning after, Roarke is struggling to control his resentment over the fact that Eve had not returned to his home. On their separate ways out, Roarke presents Eve with an enormous diamond that he bought impulsively at an auction in Australia. Terrified of what it represents, Eve starts a fight with Roarke, which he ends with an ultimatum for her to commit fully to their relationship.

At Towers' funeral are her children, David and Mirina Angelini, their father, and oddly enough, Morse. Also at the funeral is Roarke, who tells Eve that Mirina's fiance is hiding a gambling and prostitution scandal. Eve researches it and discovers that Roarke sold the casino where it took place the day after Towers' death. Roarke refuses to tell her that he did it for her.

Another victim is found, murdered by the same MO, an actress named Yvonne Metcalf, whose shoe is missing. C. J. Morse is already on the scene, filming the woman's dead body. He snidely informs Eve that Metcalf used to have a relationship with Roarke.

Unable to find any connections between the victims, Eve heads to Dr. Charlotte Mira's office; Mira tells Eve that the killer hates women and wants to be famous, hence going after women who have what he wants. Mira also points out that these two women had a connection with Roarke; offended, Eve asks her if she thinks that Roarke is the killer. Mira tells Eve that she is not in love with a murderer. Eve tells her that she's having flashbacks of her time in Dallas.

After trying to relax, Eve heads to Roarke's house, bypasses Summerset by elbowing him, and makes her way to Roarke's office, ostensibly to interview him about Metcalf. The two have a hostile interview; finally, Eve turns to leave. Roarke locks the door, but before he can say anything, Eve turns to him, shows that she's wearing the diamond (which she will wear underneath her clothing for the rest of the series), tells him that she'll move in with him, and that she loves him.

Eve tells Roarke that the killer is stalking famous women. He is unhappy to find that Eve has decided to capitalize on this by becoming bait. Nadine promises to help this by delivering as much media attention as possible, but the scheme doesn't work. Roarke, who has to leave on another business trip, surprises Eve with her own suite of the house, which he has converted (partly with furniture from her apartment) into her own home office, adjoining his.

Eve has a surfeit of leads: Randall Slade's gambling debts, David Angelini's (Towers' son) business failures and own gambling debts, and a mysterious transfer of two hundred thousand dollars from Mrs. Whitney to David. The commander is furious when she and Feeney tell him they have to interview his wife. Upset, she returns to what is now her and Roarke's home and invites Mavis over. Mavis's arrival shocks Summerset (whom Eve led to believe that she was inviting over another man), but surprisingly enough, he likes Mavis very much and for the rest of the books, is unusually kind and attentive to her.

That night, one of Nadine's editors, Louise Kirski, goes out in Nadine's hooded raincoat and is murdered; C. J. Morse finds her body. At the scene of the crime is Officer Delia Peabody, the attending. It becomes quite clear that Nadine was the intended victim. Security tapes show that David Angelini was at the scene of the crime; further research reveals that he had a failed business deal with Yvonne Metcalf. During interview, he tries to bribe her; he also says that he had seen Louise Kirski get murdered before running away. Believing him the murderer but without physical evidence, she arrests him for some minor charges. Whitney asks her to release David on his own recognizance, but she denies him; he tells her she lacks compassion and dismisses her.

A search of Angelini's house uncovers a long-handled blade spotted with blood; after seeing the knife, Marco Angelini falsely confesses to the murder, in an attempt to take the blame for his son. However, he sticks to his story in interview, even when Whitney personally interrogates him. Whitney finally realizes the stress and anger he's subjected Eve to and tries to alleviate the situation, and after Mirina Angelini interrupts them, he tries to apologize, but Eve rejects it and leaves.

Eve and Roarke have a night in Mexico; on their return, Eve finds that the lab has tested David's knife as being negative for the murder weapon. The new police chief, Harrison Tibble, tells her to release David and Marcus on lack of evidence. He adds that that there is too much emotion involved in this case, lightly censuring both her and Whitney. Afterwards, Eve finds out that Nadine is missing.

Eve reviews Morse's police interview and realizes that he lied about how he found Louise Kirski's body. Further research incriminates him as having possibly murdered his mother. At the studio, however, Morse is missing. Eve requests Peabody as her backup, and they search Morse's apartment, where Peabody finds the missing umbrella and shoe.

Waiting for news on Morse or Nadine, Eve is stuck at Roarke's fundraiser when Summerset informs her of a private call, which turns out to be Morse, holding Nadine hostage. He gives her six minutes to make it to Central Park; she leaves without telling anyone, and when Roarke realizes that Eve is gone, he replays Eve's last call and leaves to follow her.

During the fight with Morse, Eve miscalculates and gives him the upper hand. Before he can kill her, Roarke intervenes and saves her, and the knife instead stabs Morse in the throat. (It is not clear whether or not this was accidental or intentional on Roarke's part.) Eve and Roarke reunite, and he proposes on the spot.

Errors

In "Immortal in Death", Morse is supposedly standing trial for his murder when he's very clearly dead at the end of this book.

Part of "Immortal in Death" supposedly takes place in May, which is impossible as it is June at the end of this book.

Characters in "Glory in Death"

This book introduces:
* Officer Delia Peabody, eventual aide and partner
* Crack, owner of the Down and Dirty club
* Police Chief Harrison Tibble, boss of Eve's boss Commander Jack Whitney

Publication History

Berkley mass market, 1995, ISBN 0-425-15098-4
Recorded Books (Unabridged), Dec 1995, ISBN 0-7887-4374-0
Nova Audio (Abridged), April 2001, ISBN 1-58788-100-4
Brilliance Audio, April 2001, ISBN 1-58788-197-7
Adobe Reader e-book, Berkley, June 2001, ISBN 0-7865-0713-6
e-book, Berkley, June 2001, ISBN 0-7865-0600-8
Gemstar e-book, Berkley, January 2002, ISBN 0-7865-2018-3
Putnam hardcover, October 2004, ISBN 0-399-15158-3

Footnotes