I've read just about everything Lee Goldberg has written, and I love all of his characters. Except Eve Ronin. She has this partly naive but partly egotistical way of navigating the world that makes me a little bit crazy. And I think that's why I'm so drawn to this series. It's easy to read a series about characters you love. Reading about Ronin presents a bit more challenge, but it's also fun to see her grow and learn (just a LITTLE bit) with each book.

In this adventure, Ronin is up to her usual tactics in spite of her best efforts to change. And her partner, Duncan, is as entertaining as ever. Now HE is a likable character. As usual, the story is set against a backdrop of real places and highlights fictional characters you'd swear you recognize as real people. I'd love to know if the Kardashians provided any inspiration for the Winslows...

Ronin books are always an adventure, always exciting, and always a bit frustrating in the best way. If you've enjoyed the other Ronin books, this installment won't disappoint. Lee Goldberg has the best imagination!

Ebook/Murder Mystery: This is book four of the Eve Ronin series and I want to thank Netgalley for a copy of the book,..even though it took me a while because I had to catch up as I was two books behind.
I'm glad I was able to read the next installment of the series. Eve and Dunkin are such fun partners and I hate when the book is over and my friends disappear.
Fun series with rich characters. I love that Eve gives her dad no slack as an absentee father.

Reading the Eve Ronin and now the Sharpe and Walker series as they're released give me this acute feeling of being "in" on a writer whose popularity is on the cusp of exploding. These books are so good and Goldberg has been so prolific lately (3 books in a 12 month span) that reading them makes you feel like he must be a household name. Eve Ronin continues to be a compelling character and the case she works to solve in this book is again interesting, engaging, and fun, with callbacks to earlier cases and even a reference to Sharpe from Malibu Burning, care of Duncan. I love this series and look forward to (and get excited about!) each entry. I will be purchasing a copy to add to my bookshelf alongside the other 4 in the series when Dream Town is out. Thank you to the author and publisher for the free advance copy! I will read everything Lee Goldberg writes.

We are back with Eve Ronin and her partner. They get a call that a celebrity named Kitty Winslow has been killed now they must solve the crime if it is a crime, because she and the family have a reality show. Also, the home of the murder is in an inclusive neighborhood hood which is also policed by one officer from the sheriff's department. She and that officer really don’t see eye to eye. You come to find out about a music war and also a Chilean gang which all have caused problems and maybe any of these could be a reason or not. While this is all going on she is also dealing with the TV show about her that her father and mother seem to think they control. A really good book and a Who Done It that will surprise you at least it did me. Good characters as well.

We are now pretty well into the Eve Ronin series. I was trying to think whether or not this book could be read as a stand alone and I think that it could. But, there would be a lot of back story that would be missing. Specifically, HOW Eve kind of blackmailed her way into becoming a successful Homicide Detective. It is glossed over in this 5th book and some things are mentioned briefly as they are now into filming the Ronin TV series. Without the back story though, the reader doesn't really understand how much Eve has been through because of that one viral video. While portions of the history are mentioned and we do get some back story, specific things like the level of vitriol that Eve throws at her producer father wouldn't really be understood. It might make Eve look especially petty and mean to a new reader when she REALLY does have reason to be angry with him. Things like that.

About this book. I'm so happy that Duncan has decided not to retire and I love the relationship that has developed between the two. He is especially funny in this book and seems to "get" Eve much more than he did in the beginning. Their working relationship has come a long way and it is good to see.

The case itself, well, without going into spoilers, I will admit that I had an idea immediately who was responsible for the initial killing. I did enjoy the case as it unfolded and in the end, there were definitely a lot of moving pieces. I also enjoyed seeing Eve's relationship with Daniel continuing to progress and it also felt like she was easing up a bit on the aloofness that we felt from her during the first few books.

There was definitely lots of action and drama as the story develops and everything does build until the final reveal. This wasn't my favorite book of the series, but I did enjoy it and am looking forward to continuing with the series.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. The opinions above are mine and mine alone.

Great read
This was a quick and fun read. It had everything I like in a police procedural: good main character (Eve Ronin, nice but a little flawed), good sidekicks, nice setting, and people you love to hate (reality TV stars).

This starts out with a reality star being shot and her brand new, enormous diamond stolen. You know, the one she was just flashing on social media. Then, bodies are being found buried in the woods around Hidden Hills, an area I had never hear of, but intrigued me enough to do a deeper dive into the real development. Eve Ronin has to find out who killed everyone and if their murders are connected.

There was a refreshing lack of twists. Some authors seem to think that they need one after another., each more outlandish. I guessed "who dunnit fairly early on", but the ending was still good.

I have enjoyed other books by this author and will continue to seek out the next installments.

Good read. I really enjoy reading this series. Kept you reading and looking forward to the unfolding plot. Love this author and this series. Strong characters. I recommened this to any crime book readers.

This is part of a series, background on the characters history is helpful or can be read as a standalone. I’ve read and enjoyed them all. The characters have personality, the locale is depicted by scenes I can see in my mind. Detectives and partners Eve and Duncan (Deathfist and Donuts) work out of the Calabasas Sheriff’s office where there’s hills, canyons and mountains. The area is notorious for being a good place to hide a body, thus bones are frequently discovered. Eve has her own TV series thanks to her excellent crime solving ability, it’s earned her the disdain of those she bypassed on her way up. The intertwining of movie sets with real life crimes is disruptive and many at her station aren’t thrilled with her fame. She has a new relationship with Daniel, a forensic anthropologist. She has a non-existent relationship with her absentee father and an eccentric mother. She has no backbone when it comes to her dysfunctional family.
As the wealthy influencers, TV personalities, athletes and various famous personalities look to escape crowded LA, McMansions spread behind recently developed gated communities. A new type of criminal element has followed the diamonds flaunted on Instagram – Chilean gangs. Eve and Duncan have a murder and robbery to untangle. It’s a case that has dead-end leads, a laundry list of suspects and an off-duty sheriff’s deputy, who acts like an old Western Marshall. The lines between real life and reality TV blur so much I had no idea who killed who, much less motives. There’s the victim’s large family, rappers, gang members, cops, news media and countless law enforcement personnel trying to solve the murder. This was an elaborate plot brimming with action and twists. Mr. Goldberg knows how to entertain, kept me guessing with my favorite installment yet. Can’t wait to read what he has in store next.
Thanks to NetGalley for the digital advance reader copy of “Dream Town” Eve Ronin #5, by Lee Goldberg, published by Thomas & Mercer. These are always my own honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without any compensation.

Eve Ronin returns in the 5th book in this series, and it’s another 5 star read. Homicide Detective Eve Ronin and her partner are tasked with investigating the home invasion and murder of a reality tv star in an exclusive community. Simultaneously, several corpses are found just beyond the gates of that community, and the hunt is on. The banter between the partners is priceless, the plot moves along seamlessly, and there are suspects galore in this fast moving story. If you haven’t been reading this series then you’re missing out on some of author Lee Goldberg’s best work, and fans won’t be disappointed. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The series is becoming formulaic with Eve running around in circles and getting a sudden insight in the conclusion. The suspense is also plain and simple and staring at the face of the detectives. Okay for the regulars of the series to keep in touch with the personal lives of the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

4+ stars

Detective Eve Ronin and her partner Duncan are back solving the murder of social media star Kitty Winslow in the gated equestrian neighborhood of Hidden Hills (a real place!!!).

This might be my favorite Eve Ronin book yet. The book is fast paced and entertaining. I highly recommend this book and the series.

One reason I connected with Net Galley was to find new authors to read and I found a gem in Lee Goldberg. His writing is witty and smart and I’ll read everything he has written now.

What is Hollywood waiting for? There are no better 'buddy cops' than Deathfist and Duncan Donuts in the genre. Dream Town is the latest proof of that from the mind of Lee Goldberg. Yes, Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone are back again in another wildly entertaining book. This time they have to walk the mean streets which run between the real world and the world of reality tv shows. It's a case which is solved twice because, well, that's how Eve works. Dream Town is full of the fun we've come to expect from Goldberg. There is no shortage of colorful characters to keep you turning the pages. And Eve, when she's not coming up with clever sayings for T-shirts, also discovers there are things you can learn from old TV westerns. Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the advance reading copy in exchange for my honest opinion. #DreamTown

In this the 5th book in the Eve Ronin series the line between fantasy and reality is blurred for Eve as a TV show based on her own life begins filming while at the same time she and her partner Duncan "Doughnuts" Provone are called on to investigate the murder of Kitty Winslow, the glamorous daughter of a Reality television family similar to that in "Keeping Up With The Kardasians." Eve and Duncan are detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The murder takes place in Hidden Hills, an exclusive gated community filled with the rich and famous. With everything seemingly under the eye of television cameras Eve and Duncan find it difficult separating TV fantasy from reality when dealing with the family and within the gated paradise that is Hidden Hills. Other cases involve skeletal remains found in a remote Malibu state park and gangs from Chili who burglarize homes of persons revealing their wealth on social media. Eve is an interesting character, a kind of female Harry Bosch who just wants to do her job, but continually finds a world of unwanted fame intruding and making an already tough job even tougher. I have read and enjoyed all of the Eve Ronin series. This one was no different, but the glimpse behind the scenes of "reality TV" made it even better. I recommend this entire series and suggest that you read them in order. Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for allowing me to read this advance copy in exchange for an unbiased review. The book is due to be published in January 2024.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is the 5th in the Eve Ronin series. I couldn’t wait for another installment of Eve and Duncan. Goldberg makes them jump out of the pages of the story. Eve is dealing with the filming of the series on how she became a LASD detective which she is very unhappy about but is trying to deal with. She is then called out to an abandoned ranch where bones have been found and they are trying to find the rest of the bodies. Eve and Duncan have been told to leave for now and a new search will begin in the morning. Then Eve and Duncan are called in to investigate who killed reality superstar Kitty Winslow which once again puts Eve into the spotlight. Pick up this fast-paced, action-packed book and join Eve and Duncan in another exciting adventure. Find out if Eve and Duncan can solve Kitty Winslow’s murder, and will they find the rest of the bodies in the desert? I give this book a 4.5 stars!

3.5, rounded.
Maybe it's me, but I felt like this read more eve dallas than eve ronin. That isn't the worst thing that could happen, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for either.

You can't not love Eve and root for her, she is smart, tough, and resilient. I tore through this book and didn't expect the outcome. Those are my favorite!

The super wealthy are safely hidden away in their gated and guarded private enclave,
where nothing can ever touch
them~ until it does. When there is a troubling and trouble case Homicide Detective Eve Ronin,
the youngest now most famous member of the LASD (Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department will be
brought into not only the case, but the
lives of a more
famous family and her estranged father,
who is directing the television series based loosely on the
really high profile case Eve solved.
This is an outstanding and ripped (almost) from the. news from a crime spree in a nearby community that gave a
brief burst of extra fame to the author, Lee Goldberg..) As we stick to the fictional story of greed, foreign gangs and
murder, the excitement is on every page and it’s a great ride. In order to be really mindful of spoilers, I will just say
that the criminals outnumber the good guys and the level of criminal sophistication is really well done with murder,
possible suicide and malfeasance in every walk of the storyline.
This is the 5th in this series and in my opinion, it’s really. best to read the series. While the book would certainly.
be exciting with no background, you’d miss a lot of the nuance.
I would highly recommend this to Lee’s massive fan base, to fans of Michael Connolly and Renee Ballard along
with a splash of Brad Taylor, minus the Military angle.
My thanks to NetGalley and Publisher Thomas and Mercer for a download copy of this book for review purposes.
I must also thank the Author for sending out three titles in a little over a year~ a treat for us all.

Dream Town is the latest installment in the Eve Ronin series. There is something in this novel for everyone— murders, skeletal remains uncovered, Chilean thugs, a reality TV family, production on the Ronin TV series, animosity toward Eve by many of her work colleagues, rap musicians , difficult family relationships and, finally, a romantic interest for her.. all of these happenings are blended together into a fast paced, well written and entertaining novel. I particularly enjoyed the Rottweiler incident.
I thank NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the opportunity to read and review this intriguing novel prior to publication.

This was my first read by Lee Goldberg and I really enjoyed it. I think Eve Ronin is an absolute queen and I will definitely need to check out his other works after reading this one!

Thank you netgalley for the arc :-)