For me, this installment in the "In Death" series was far better than teh previous book. I thought the idea of sacrficial cults and religion was an interesting way to go with this murder mystery. We are introduced to the murderer almost right away, and now it's just a matter of Eve gathering enough information to prove it. Along the way we are taken on a few detours, but to me there was no question who was the culprit. I think this was obviously intentional and it was nice to see the story taken from a different angle, keeping things fresh and not following the exact same pattern. 
 We get to learn more about Peabody in this installment. We've known that her parents / family are "Free-Agers" and this book deals with an off shoot of those beliefs. 
 We also see Eve and Feeney's relationship tested which was hard to read. I've like their relationship from the beginning. He has really been a father figure to Eve so it's sad to see problems with that. 
 Eve and Roarke are still happily married. For this book, I felt there was less progression on their relatiship which is fine because we have so many other books to keep exploring. We do see a little more how far and how much he wants to keep Eve safe. He knows she can handle herself but it's nice to see him so interested in her safety even though she doesn't want himinvolved in her work. 
 I look forward to continuing to read this series. I'm happy that there was improvement, for me, between this book and the previous.