A fifty-five-gallon drum washes ashore in the Malibu Lagoon, packed with the corpse of Gene Dent—the central figure in a bribery scandal that brought down several local politicians. LASD detectives Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone are all too familiar with the case—and its cast of shady characters. But just as they launch their investigation, the sheriff drops a bombshell: newly uncovered evidence links the murder to Los Angeles’s mayor.

Eve and Duncan, however, suspect the explosive claim—true or not—is rooted in something far more dangerous...

The author claims that this is a standalone book even though it has the same cast of characters in the previous 2. I read both earlier books, but I was confused about the plot, the character and the stakes.

Eve Ronin is living because a TV show about her life is a success. However, she bitches too much. She's very luck and very rich. Get over it.

Fallen Star by Lee Goldberg 5 Stars

Fallen Star by Lee Goldberg is the sixth novel in the Eve Ronin series that began in January 2020 with Lost Hills. As the author points out in his note at the beginning of the book, there are major spoilers in the read for two of his books. He does not mention the fact that there are also other spoilers for previous books, though they are not as significant as the ones he cites.

He also mentions in his note that reading about Duncan eating all the time in this series makes some folks hungry. He suggests that one should have some carrots or celery on hand for those moments. How eating rabbit food is going to work when Duncan is eating a breakfast sandwich and hashbrowns, a burger and fries, and other great meals is never explained. Maybe that is being saved for the next book. It could also be an unsolvable case.

It also comes to mind that a book that featured crime locations mentioned in the series as well as food locations that Duncan has eaten at and thereby endorsed, would also make a great book for those in the Los Angeles area. Maybe something the author and publisher should consider. Just a thought.

Homicide Detective Eve Ronin of the Los Angeles County Sherrif’s Department is looking forward to a quiet evening at home with her boyfriend, Daniel Brooks. That is once they get through the grocery shopping. A chore he seems to enjoy and one that she ready to have finished on this drizzly Sunday evening in early November. Pay for the stuff, get out, and get the heck home. At least that was the plan until, as they were working their way through checkout, she noticed a numerous cars swarming the parking lot.

There has been a string of flash-mob smash-and-grabs across the area and the beauty store next to the grocery store where they are has been hit before. Homicide Detective Ronin thinks it is about to happen again. As the hooded and masked occupants step out of the many cars and start heading for the store carrying trash bags for their planned loot, she knows she can’t stop them easily as she is far outnumbered. After getting backup started her way, she does the next best thing.

She proceeds to move from car to car, shooting tires along the way, making the numerous vehicles undriveable for the moment. With no way of leaving as they exited the store, short of their own two feet, a number of the thieves surrender immediately, while others attempt to flee and are soon caught.

Of course, in the aftermath, Eve Ronin is in trouble yet again as her actions violated numerous policies. It is not the first time her actions have violated policies. She also didn’t see any other way to stop the thefts from happening and it got the job done.

(It also caused this reader to laugh out loud like crazy.)

Suspended, and probably facing a quick termination and the end of her career, she is quickly returned to duty by Sheriff Richard Lansing. A political animal and a mayoral candidate, the optics of what she did can’t be ignored. Videos of her actions went viral and the people of Los Angeles are expressing how thrilled they are with what she did. For a department that has been through some things, Eve Ronin is again generating good publicity, and they need it.

That means she is back at work that Monday morning when a fifty-five-gallon plastic drum was pulled onshore at the Malibu Lagoon. Once he got it on shore and out of the way, the lifeguard went and opened the drum. What he found means that Homicide Detective Eve Ronin and her partner, Duncan “Donuts” Pavone have a murder case. This is the first of several deaths and other cases they will handle in Fallen Star by Lee Goldberg.

The latest installment in this series is another very good read. It contains numerous references to previous books in this series as well as events in the Sharpe and Walker series and both the arson investigators are well involved here. As a result, if you are like me and have read all the material, you are ready for this one. If you have not, make sure you read this series, at the very least, before embarking here.

A great book in a great series, Fallen Star by Lee Goldberg, is definitely worth your time.



My digital ARC reading copy came from the publisher, Thomas & Mercer, through NetGalley, with no expectation of a review.


Kevin R. Tipple ©2025

“Fallen Star” by Lee Goldberg is the sixth book in the Eve Ronin series. Eve is the renegade Sheriff in the Los Angeles Sheriff’s department. Wherever Eve goes a riveting mystery follows, and in this book a five gallon drum washes up on Malibu Beach containing the corpse of a key player in a bribery scandal involving several local politicians. Our heroine spends a lot of time in this book dealing with her personal conflict which is based on a TV show that depicts her as a super-hero cop. Her true longing is just to be an exemplary police officer and her TV persona keeps interfering with her judgement.
When a helicopter crashes next to her home killing everyone aboard the mystery becomes very personal. From here the action ramps up to a complicated and shocking ending. Another fun and enjoyable read!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Eve Ronin always wanted to be a detective. As a young police officer she single-handedly subdued a famous action hero actor physically abusing his female companion. The incident was caught on video and immediately went viral. Eve became in the public’s eye the new poster girl for the LA County Sheriff’s department. She took advantage of her notoriety and asked for the next open detective’s slot. Jumping over several long-time officers qualified for an opening left Eve persona non grata among her fellow officers. The only detective willing to partner with her was Duncan, a pot-bellied wise cracking veteran looking towards retirement. Duncan, putting off retirement, became her mentor and friend through the first six books in the series, including Fallen Sky. It has turned into a terrific partnership.

Fallen Sky is a well plotted police procedural full of snappy dialogue—a Lee Goldberg specialty—that begins with an off-duty Eve and casual boyfriend, Daniel, shopping at a local Calabasas mall when she notices several cars pulling into the parking lot with all the occupants wearing masks and hoodies. Flash-mobs have been active for several months in Southern California rushing into brand name stores grabbing all displayed items and leaving before the police arrive. Eve calls it in but decides to take quick action once the mob enters the store. She shoots the tires flat on most of the getaway cars and as the looters come rushing out of the upscale cosmetics store she identifies herself as a police officer. All hell breaks loose as the looters scatter but Eve’s actions leads to the arrests of every member of the flash-mob. Of course the event goes viral and once again Eve is front page news. But her boss only sees Eve breaking numerous rules and regulations and suspends her pending investigation.

While at home awaiting the results of the investigation Eve is visited by the head of the Sheriff’s department who gives her badge back. He overrode her boss due to the public outcry the suspension would have caused. Back at work she and Duncan catch the homicide of a man found in a barrel floating in Malibu Lagoon State Park. The man’s identity is key to Fallen Star forcing Eve and Duncan to revisit past events now exposing police corruption, political bribery, shady property developers, and questionable investment foreign companies.

Eve’s many dangerous exploits have led to a popular weekly tv show, Ronin, that cause Eve all sorts of psychological grief. as often as she says tv Eve is not real life Eve her behavior mirrors tv Eve. Her instincts, determination, and doggedly following clues lead the duo to connect the man in the barrel with a helicopter crash and a former Hollywood star. The action ramps up towards the end as Eve closes in on the truth she becomes the target. Will Eve survive the murder attempts and resolve her current moral and ethical conflict? The shocking ending supplies the answer. Lee Goldberg is turning the Eve Ronin series into one of my favorites.
Thanks to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for providing me with an eArc to provide an honest review.

A mutilated body in a 55 gallon drum washes ashore in Malibu. A bribery case. A detective whose name and exploits are featured on a TV show . A helicopter crash. Oh, and a screenplay titled “Hercules: Licensed to Kill.” What else could this be but part of the daily job for Eve Ronin, Homicide Detective? And because Fallen Star is written by Lee Goldberg, Edgar and Shamus Award winner and TV show writer/producer, you know it will be full of surprises and twists you won’t see coming. Eve and her partner Duncan Pavone recognize the body in the drum as Gene Dent, informant and witness in a federal bribery case involving politicians, foreign money and some lesser Hollywood players. Then Eve realize that she and Duncan are part of a complicated coverup mixing crooked deputies and an old case. Eve’s conscience is telling her to resign. Before she can, a helicopter crashes killing all the passengers aboard who are linked to the movie industry and the bribery case. Nothing is simple in an Eve Ronin thriller!

It’s hard to review Fallen Star without spoilers. The easiest review is “Lee Goldberg wrote this. Read it.” That’s my philosophy and it should be yours. Of course, 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Lee Goldberg for this ARC.

I love everything this author writes . This was another good one in the Ronin series. I love the setting and plot . Goldberg knows how to craft a plot
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review book

The California cop novel is a peculiarly American art form. There have been a ton of good ones over the years, and just a few great ones. When Goldberg started the Eve Ronin series, I thought it had a chance to join the great ones. Alas, it hasn't.

Don't get me wrong. These are perfectly readable, even enjoyable books, but they never became what they promised they could be. Each title has been a bit less substantial than the one that came before, both in theme and execution. Now, with the sixth book in the series, Goldberg is edging up on sitcom territory, and the running jokes are getting stale. The Eve Ronin series never became 'Chinatown.' It's just 'Mr. Monk Goes to Calabasas.'

I may sound more negative here than I really intend to, but I'm just so damn disappointed.

Ambition is everywhere in the Hollywood’s Hills of Lee Goldberg’s ‘Fallen Angel’, where mobsters, producers, crooked cops, and fallen stars yearn for even more. Beattie, Lansing, a diverse cast of suspects, even the dead body in the five-gallon drum—they all want (or wanted) something that is just beyond them.

The paradox of protagonist Eve Ronin such is that she merely wants to be who she is now. External expectations plague her from the complex web of work politics, to her mother’s disparagement about Eve’s looks to the unwanted celebrity that’s come from the TV show about her life.
This is the sixth instalment of the Eve Ronin series and Eve is struggling with self doubt, worried that she has been corrupted by association. The mystery is twisty right until the end. So many bad guys to choose from! Her friends and allies also feature in the book giving the usual warmth and comic touches.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy.

Another epic Eve Ronin mystery you won’t be able to put down. A master at the procedural genre, Goldberg outdoes himself with the best twist I’ve read in years. You won’t see it coming, yet it makes total sense. I honestly don’t know how he does it. I’m in awe. And as a fellow writer, more than a little jealous.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for the opportunity to read and review "Fallen Star" by Lee Goldberg.
Where Eve Ronin goes - trouble follows, and there's no shortage of trouble brewing in this, the sixth book in Lee Goldberg's riveting mystery/suspense/action series featuring (sometimes) renegade Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Detective Eve (Deathfist) Ronin.
When a five-gallon drum washes up containing the corpse of a key player in a bribery scandal that ensnared several local politicians, Eve and her partner Duncan "Donuts" Pavone are on the case. And where this case takes them is a long and winding road, with many links to the past which will keep popping up when least expected.
Eve spends a lot of time conflicted - conflicted because of the 'reality' TV show based on her which has turned her into some kind of super-cop, and which the general public cannot seem to separate from her reality; conflicted because she was, earlier on in her career, party to a cover up that allowed a senior cop to get away with his criminal activity; conflicted because she just cannot help being who she is, even when it gets her into trouble.
Eve is agonizing over her moral dilemma when a helicopter crashes in the hillside below her Calabasas home. It’s not a coincidence. Eve soon discovers among the twisted wreckage and dead passengers shocking connections to her own past…and they lead straight to a fight for her life.
There is a lot going on in this book, and I don't want to inadvertently give anything away. But never fear, the action is pretty much constant and doesn't let up until the very end. The book also has the feeling of an ending of some sort - whether it's an ending for the series, or simply a change, I don't know.
Oh, and Walker and Sharpe also make an appearance to add to the action.
I read this book in one day - not because it's short, oh no, but because I just couldn't stop.
If you've read the other books in this series, you will certainly love this one. And if you haven't, please do. Right now. You won't regret it.
Highly recommended.

Fallen Star by Lee Goldberg, published by Thomas & Mercer is a thriller of its finest. This is book 6 in the Eve Ronin Series.
Detectives Eve Ronin and Duncan Pavone's latest case leads them in the underbelly of Malibu.
Complex. complicated. literally unputdownable - I read the book cover to cover in one single sitting, unable to put it down. Intriguing, twisty with turnrs that had me guessing till the last chapter, I greatly enjoyed reading this gem of a story.

Lee Goldberg is an auto buy author for me. His latest, Fallen Star, was a great read. Pick this one up later this year.

4.5 stars

A new Eve Ronin book?! Oh happy day!

I like that she and Duncan guest star in the Sharpe & Walker books but I'm so glad to have another full on Eve book. Sharpe and Walker return the favour with guest appearances in this book. I really enjoy the crossover aspects of these two series.

This book pulls on info from previous books. I think you'd be fine if you started with this book but it will spoil the whodunnits of some of the earlier books.

I teared up in the final pages and I really hope there are many more books in this series!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas & Mercer through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you, Thomas & Mercer!