Eve finds it suspicious that nobody had mentioned this relationship, so she has Roarke check finances for Novak and her husband, while she takes a close look at Rose Bernstein aka Leah Rose, whose file Feeney sent, and she and Peabody will interview Novak in the morning. A famous actor raises a glass of champagne as a toast to his wife, takes a sip and crashes to the ground. Robb usually manages to weave humor in her novels, providing some much needed levity to offset some of the more serious and grim aspects of the story. Eve tags Nadine to tell her about Bernstein’s murder and drop hints about Eliza adding pills to Leah Rose’s vodka 25 years ago.

There are two possible relatives with access to cyanide – a step-sibling from her mother’s second marriage is a photographer, and another sibling’s spouse is an office manager for a pharmaceutical company. Eve and Peabody watch the security feed, seeing Bernstein enter the Lane-Fitzhugh apartment as a cleaner, carrying her big-ass bag that holds the cocktail dress and makeup and seeing her leave, now dressed up, before Brant took the drink to Lane. Peabody contacts Leah Rose’s agent at the time, Fred Aaron, who tells her that the mother was a piece of work – the worst stage parent ever. McNab and Peabody’s kitchen is finished and she worked on the water feature with the nanny, her father’s building she and McNab a partner’s desk, her mother’s making them a light for the dining area, and McNab’s parents are sending rocks from Scotland for the water feature, so they’ll have pieces of McNab’s and her family in their home.Their marriage was almost ten years long and the party in their apartment was one of both farewell to Brant as he headed to New Zealand the following day for six months, and Eliza as the revival of the stage play of twenty five years ago was due to begin again. Eve tells him not to look but her partner has a stunner pointed at him, and when he looks at Peabody, Eve tells him, "Told you not to look. It can be as simple as realizing that if you’re running late you need to text that person that you’ll miss dinner to understanding that you have to be present for things that are important to them and in all cases very much vice versa. The case was interesting, I really had a hard time guessing the bad guy until Eve laid it out for us. Crommell flips out when Eve enters the shrine he has to Eliza, threatening her with his scrapbook scissors.

We enjoy a robust physical relationship" that won't last, any more than his guest spot relationship, but he is enjoying it for now, and says "she has a biting wit, a towering talent. Massive spoiler has been hidden: The entire motivation for the murder seemed pretty iffy to my mind and one of the weaker endings in these books. Lane said it was the usual argument, and when he went to confront Leah about having her mother banned, she was already drinking and the pills were out so they parted ways for the last time. Eve drops Peabody at the subway with instructions to dig through gossip stories for people with motives to kill Lane, while she heads home by way of Lane, inviting Roarke to meet her at Lane’s.Bernstein told Rose’s boyfriend, Gary Proctor, she would have sex with him if he could get Rose to fire Aaron. We also got some hints about Eve and Roarke taking a vacation to Greece soon and there 3 year anniversary is coming up. At Lane’s building, Eve gets a feel for the elevator and security – Eliza has access to a private elevator, which nobody used the day or evening of the murder. Over waffles, Roarke shows her some pictures of Peabody’s kitchen, which includes a living wall – herbs and other plants in pots her sister made, and a piece of the counter that’s shorter than the rest for rolling out pie dough and kneading bread dough, custom to Peabody’s height. They agree that Lane loves Fitzhugh, although Eve points out that she’s put more than one person behind bars who loved the one they killed.

Peabody gives Eve the basics on Novak, and Eve says she will poke around at home, since they have arrived at Vera’s Upper East Side penthouse. As one who’s not fond of the spotlight herself, she dreads the media circus surrounding a case like this. The author brings strong characters, great plots, wonderful relationships, and excellent pacing to the series.It's lightweight, and can - and will - go under your jacket just like your weapon, or your uniform top. Celebrity couple Eliza Lane and Brant Fitzhugh throw a party on the night before Brant is scheduled to leave for New Zealand. He describes his relationship with Vera as "gloriously sexual," adding that she is "a beautiful woman, an energetic one. They agree that Debra is not equipped to accept any kind of blame or personal responsibility for what happened with Rose, so others must be blamed, and the Tony rightfully belongs to her, not to Eliza or even to her daughter. Robb has always had a skill at creating unusual victims and suspects, so it’s always a blast to read about them.