The fourth Eve Ronin mystery has her partner Duncan Pavone just two weeks from retirement and Eve worrying that she hasn't yet learned enough from him. Her TV show is in the pilot stage with her estranged father set to direct it and her long-time movie extra mother set for a speaking role, but Eve is still reluctant to see her life on the screen.

Unfortunately, a $10 million lawsuit against her for harassing a fellow deputy into suicide is hanging over her head and the department isn't offering her any support. Her quick rise to the murder-homicide division of the Sheriff's Department has made her lots more enemies than friends.

This time the pair are called to a homicide in the National Park that is in their jurisdiction. Two women have been shot with bird pellets, killing one and leaving the other, a blogger with a grudge against the Sheriff's Department, injured but alive.

The Park administration wants to cover this up so that park attendance isn't hurt, but Duncan is sure that this is just one more in a long list of crimes using a shotgun. It is the first fatality though. Both the Park and the Sheriff's Department have been covering up the incidents.

Eve and Duncan are determined to find the murderer despite the cover ups. Of course, Eve is also looking for the deputies who vandalized her car and tried to kill her too.

The story was action-packed. I really liked Eve's determination to solve the crimes despite the great personal danger she faced from inside and outside the Sheriff's Department. I liked to see that her relationship with her mother wasn't as broken as it looked in earlier books. I also liked how political Eve was while still believing herself to be non-political. She seems pretty efficient at using pressure to get her way within the Sheriff's Department.

Nicol Zanzarella did a great job narrating the story. ( )

*ARC provided by Netgalley for a honest review. Thankyou Thomas and Mercer.

Another great addition to the series, Movieland sees Eve and Duncan investigating a string of random shootings, the latest of which results in a homicide. Eve is still her abrasive self but is left playing peace keeper when Duncan is inspired to fight crime the Eve Ronin way - irritating everyone, refusing to stick the scripted lines and valuing the truth over looking good - albeit with less life threatening injuries. It was highly amusing to see Eve getting a taste of her own medicine.

The crime was interesting and the mystery had me on the edge of my seat. Like the last three books, this was a solid and complex case with twists and turns and varied motivations. I loved that Duncan was busy leading the way in this one and I was distraught at this being the last book he features in. I was glad to find that won't be the case! He'll return! As per usual though he was food obsessed, although I was giggling at the idea of him visiting Eve strictly for the hospital jello.

I loved Jen and Duncan ganging up on Eve and I adored that this book demonstrated that there are actually positive aspects to Jen and Eve's relationship - the first three books leaned pretty heavily into the actress mother who was busy chasing fame and fortune trope. Jen is awesome, she cracks me up with her advice for Eve.

Eve still has a crap relationship with the police force but I liked that she made more of an effort in this one to play nice with her fellow detectives. Even if she sucks at it. It was pretty funny her congratulating Biddle and Garvey and then turning around and solving the case, proving them wrong and making them look terrible. But I did feel sorry for them too - I mean ever since Eve appears they've been getting shown up - even when they're busy trying to do solid police work. On the other hand they're pricks. True to form, she see-sawed between political savvy and total ignorance. Although she does better when running interference for Duncan - I would've liked to see more of that present in her own negotiations. But it was interesting to see her limitations and justifications.

Overall an enjoyable read, another solid addition to the series and unfortunately one more long wait for the next book. 4 stars. ( )

Eve Ronin takes us on another headlong fight for justice while battling the corruption inherent in the sheriff's department, reluctantly contributing to a television series based on her escapades, and keeping her soon-to-be-retired partner fed. A wild ride full of Eve's snarkiness with some surprises along the way.

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer for access to a digital ARC on NetGalley.

“Movieland” is book four in the “Eve Ronin” series; the main characters continue from the previous books, but each story stands alone. The story unfolds in Ronin’s first–person narrative, and she shares any details from her past that new readers might need. This book is an opportunity for readers to spend time with Ronin; she drives the plot. The story is not about the end, the story is about the trip with Ronin.
Ronin loves her job as a detective in the Lost Hills Sherriff’s Department robbery-homicide division. She is from a “show biz” family, and a TV pilot based on one of her “high profile” case is now in development. Her personal life is a mess, and she struggles to control the chaos in her job and the contingent of other deputies at Lost Hills who hate her. Her life is so much more complicated than any reality TV show could possibly be.
Malibu Creek State Park, twelve square miles of mountains, canyons, and grassland, is a former “natural backlot” site for film and TV, but it is now the location of a homicide. Previous reports of random “shots fired” in the park had been ignored, branded as just random shotgun shooting. But not this time; now there is a murder. The public is panicked; politicians are furious, and the press is having a feeding frenzy. Concrete evidence is sparse, the suspects are many, and the investigation is complicated by outside influences and departmental conflicts.
Ronin goes the distance in the story. She controls the chaos, overcomes departmental battles, and does not let the killer get away with murder. I received a review copy of “Movieland” from Lee Goldberg and Thomas & Mercer Publishing. This is a great series, and perhaps in the next book Ronin will find Jimmy Hoffa’s body.
“Movieland” is now available in print, on Kindle, and as an audiobook from independent bookstores, online booksellers, retail stores, public libraries and anywhere you get your books. ( )

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
---

“It’s hard enough solving a case without the victim working against you.”

“Now you know how I feel.”

Eve walked alongside her sister across the parking lot. “What do you mean?”

“Patients almost never do what we tell them is best for their health and then complain when they just get sicker or their injuries don’t heal. It’s incredibly frustrating.”

“So you’re saying what we do is futile.”

“All it takes is one win, one life saved, and all the other bullshit doesn’t matter.”

WHAT'S MOVIELAND ABOUT?
The way that Lee Goldberg describes Malibu Creek State Park in this book makes ti seem like something he created just to have a setting for this book. Exhaustive research (Duck Duck Go +45 seconds) shows me that he didn't make it up and that he barely scratched the surface of what a great place that must be. Sadly, if Goldberg has Eve Ronin and her partner, Duncan Pavone, at the Park, it can only mean one thing: someone's been murdered there.

Before Eve got promoted and assigned to Lost Hills station, causing upheaval in Duncan's life, he'd been trying to tie together a series of cases of shootings (at buildings, cars, that kind of thing) around the Park. He was convinced it they were related, but once he started mentoring Eve through high-profile murder cases, that got put on the back burner. But now, his gut tells him that those shootings and this shooting are related.

The LASD brass doesn't want to hear it--they want the two focused on the murder and preventing the media storm that's brewing around it--also, they want this all to come to a quick resolution so the Park can be reopened and people will be willing to use it again.

This is, of course, when things get complicated.

THE VICTIM AS A HURDLE
The victim's girlfriend is an activist blogger well-known in the area for taking on developers, local politicians, celebrities--and the LASD. She was also injured in the attack. She might be the only person who is more skeptical of the Department than Eve. Zena's convinced that her girlfriend either was killed to silence her or that Zena herself was the intended target and the wrong person was killed.

Zena doesn't trust the Sherriff's Department to find the murderer, she assumes they're not that interested, either. She has her own list of suspects and lashes out at them on the blog she works for, muddying the waters and serving as a distraction to the avenues of investigation that Eve and Duncan want to pursue.

This is a great dynamic to see play out in the book--I don't remember seeing this a lot in fiction, but seeing the way media attention (however well-intended) makes it hard for the police to do their job properly is a great way to ratchet up the tension.

IS EAVE LEARNING?

“When I start investigating a homicide, I go all-in.”

“You become obsessed.”

“I become focused,” she said.

He shook his head. “You can’t sustain that, physically or emotionally. I keep telling you that. The way you’re going, I’ll outlive you.”

I've talked before about Eve's reckless, pursue-the-case-at-all-costs mentality, and how that's not sustainable--Duncan's been on her for quite a while, too. From the way she reacts after this conversation, he might be getting through to her. Then again, action is her default position, so who knows how well it'll stick.

She also might be paying attention to what he (and others) have been saying about the way she interacts with people, how she plays politics--and tries to apply it.

Basically, Eve's learning. Goldberg said from the beginning that this was about a rookie detective learning, making mistakes (and we see the blowback from past mistakes here--as well as new ones), and growing into a seasoned detective. Bosch was fully formed when we met him. Ditto for John Rebus, Renee Ballard, Walt Longmire, Jesse Stone, and so on. We really don't see that many detectives learning their trade. I love this aspect of it.

FRANK BELSON REDUX?

"Is there a way to broach it that won’t offend all of them?”

“Nope, so I’ll handle it,” he said.

“Why you?”

Duncan got out of the car with a groan, clutching his right knee. “Because I’m lovable and retiring and you’re abrasive and sticking around.

I finally put my finger on it while reading this book--Duncan Pavone is Goldberg's version of Sgt. Frank Belson, from Parker's Spenser series without the cigar. He's closer to Ron McLarty's portrayal in Spenser: For Hire, actually. He's a slob, getting food on every item of clothing, he doesn't seem to be incredibly interested in the job, etc. But he doesn't miss a thing, he's doggedly stubborn, and will do what it takes to close a case. (he's also quick to make a caustic and/or cynical comment, and will dole out unsolicited advice like it's his life purpose).

Knowing that when this book opens that he was 2 weeks away from retirement (which makes him impervious to political pressures, incidentally) cast a shadow over everything in the novel. Eve's a great character, but I'm really starting to think that Duncan's the guy to watch in this series.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT MOVIELAND?

"How old so I to be before people stop offering me life lessons?”

“It’s not age, it’s experience.”

“There’s another one,” Eve said, but with a smile, to show there was no bitterness or anger behind the remark.

“It won’t be long, Eve. You’ve crammed more experience into the last few months than most detectives I know have in decades.”

It shouldn't be this way, but I always end up liking an Eve Ronin book more than I expect to going in--and I'm always champing at the bit for the next one. This is no exception. The Eve Ronin books are one of my favorites in the last couple of years. Movieland is the twistiest, most complex case she's dealt with, there's a harder edge to this novel, and fewer reasons to grin or chuckle.

That is not a complaint, it's a description. Nor does it mean that this is harder to read--Goldberg doesn't do that--the action moves quickly, his style is deceptively breezy, and the characters pop off the page.

At this point, I'm really invested in these characters and can't wait to see what's next for them.

The book also features someone who might be Michael Connelly's most misguided fan. That was a nice little treat.

Readers of this series probably don't need the encouragement to read this, but here it is. People who are looking for solid police procedurals with engaging characters and great plots would do well to hop on the Eve Ronin train now (or jump back to book one, Lost Hills). ( )