Movieland by Lee Goldberg Series: Eve Ronin #4
Published by Thomas Mercer on June 21, 2022
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Mystery, Police Procedural
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Purchase at Bookshop.org or Audible
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Malibu Creek State Park is a beautiful locale for campers, tourists, hikers, and Hollywood. For Detective Eve Ronin, it’s a backdrop for murder in a riveting thriller by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Goldberg.
For decades Malibu Creek State Park was the spectacular natural setting where Hollywood fantasies were made. But when a female camper is gunned down, it becomes a real-life killing ground. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department homicide detectives Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone are assigned the case…which Duncan fears is the latest in a series of sniper attacks that began long before Eve came to Lost Hills.
Seven victims over fourteen months…and top officials still refuse to see a connection. Eve and Duncan are stonewalled, threatened, and ordered to keep quiet. But Eve won’t back down. She’s no stranger to intimidation or corruption—she’s had a target on her back from day one at Lost Hills station.
Despite finding no evidentiary links between the shootings, Eve and Duncan follow their instincts into the shadows of Malibu Creek, where it’s not enough to expose the secrets and break the conspiracy of silence. They also have to make it out alive.
As series fans will know, Eve Ronin has been through a lot. She has struggled to defend her position in the LASD. Her workload has been tough, which isn’t helped by her inability to occasionally leave work at the office. Movieland does work well as a stand-alone though. Goldberg gives us enough background to know where Eve stands and what led her there.
This time around, Eve and her partner, Duncan Pavone, are investigating the shooting of two campers, one of whom was killed. It turns out that this was just the latest shooting in a string of them, some of which were reported to the police and some of which the park rangers kept to themselves. When another person is killed the question becomes are all seemingly random shootings related? Are there copycats taking advantage of the situation?
Because there are so many incidents, we have multiple suspects and a variety of witnesses. Goldberg does a good job keeping all the strands clear even while Eve and Duncan are chasing a variety of leads. Duncan is closing in on retirement, but he feels responsible for this case, and isn’t going to let the politicians keep the danger the sniper poses to the public under wraps.
Overall, this is a gripping, fast-paced novel. It has plenty of action, suspense and some violence. Eve ends up with several injuries – again. It’s a good summer read, maybe by the pool with a bowl of pretzels.
About Lee Goldberg
Lee Goldberg is a two-time Edgar Award and two-time Shamus Award nominee and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than forty novels, including the Eve Ronin series and the Ian Ludlow series. He has also written and/or produced many TV shows, including Diagnosis Murder, SeaQuest, and Monk, and he is the cocreator of the Mystery 101 series of Hallmark movies. As an international television consultant, he has advised networks and studios in Canada, France, Germany, Spain, China, Sweden, and the Netherlands on the creation, writing, and production of episodic television series.
It’s good to know this one can be read as a standalone. Sometimes I don’t feel like I have time to begin a whole new series just to get to the one book in it that I want to read. 🙂
I totally agree. I much prefer series where you can just jump in whenever.
So glad you hear you enjoyed it. I’ll be starting it tonight.
It’s pretty much what I expect from the series.