Review: Dearly Devoted Dexter

Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Book Info: Genre: Thriller/Police Procedural
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: twisted people
Trigger Warnings: murder, torture, vivisection

My Thoughts: This book opens with a scene that plays on our expectations of Dexter... and then turns them on their ear. I just love that! This book is filled with scenes like that, scenes that turn our expectations against us and make us look at things from a slightly different perspective.

Watching Dexter's complete confusion over how to deal with Rita is always hilarious. However, I always wondered why no one ever mentioned that the ring was actually Kyle's and that Dexter would need to somehow retrieve it for him. That wasn't the only comment in the book that didn't really make sense. There is a scene toward the end where Dexter thinks to himself about the three remaining potential victims being unaware, and includes Acosta among them, although Acosta not only was aware but had fled. I was a bit surprised something like that would make it through the final editing process. However, these are very minor things, and with all the busyness, I'm sure a lot of people would not even noticed these minor, questionable situations.

I remember back when I first read this book I was so excited to see where the series was going with the children. I still find this a really interesting idea, and was disappointed when the TV series did not include this. I suppose involving the children was just too much and not nearly “sexy” enough, but to me I much prefer the direction the story is going in the books over what I saw in the first four seasons of the TV show.

If you have a really dark and twisted sense of humor, and like reading about rather dark and twisted vigilantes, then you definitely need to spend some time with Dexter Morgan.

Series Information: Dexter Morgan series
Book 1: Darkly Dreaming Dexter, review linked here
Book 2: Dearly Devoted Dexter
Book 3: Dexter in the Dark
Book 4: Dexter by Design
Book 5: Dexter is Delicious
Book 6: Double Dexter
Book 7: Dexter's Final Cut

Disclosure: I purchased this book for myself. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: Dexter Morgan has been under considerable pressure. It's just not easy being an ethical serial killer—especially while trying to avoid the unshakable suspicions of the dangerous Sergeant Doakes (who believes Dexter is a homicidal maniac... which, of course, he is). In an attempt to throw Doakes off his trail, Dexter has had to slip deep into his foolproof disguise. While not working as a blood-spatter analyst for the Miami Police Department, he now spends nearly all his time with his cheerful girlfriend, Rita, and her two children, sipping light beer and slowly becoming the world's first serial couch potato. But how long can Dexter play Kick the Can instead of Slice the Slasher? How long before his Dark Passenger forces him to drop the charade and let his inner monster run free?

In trying times, opportunity knocks. A particularly nasty psychopath is cutting a trail through Miami—a man whose twisted technique leaves even Dexter speechless. As Dexter's dark appetite is revived, his sister, Deborah (a newly minted, tough-as-nails Miami detective), is drawn headlong into the case. It quickly becomes clear that it will take a monster to catch a monster—but it isn't until his archnemesis is abducted that Dex can finally throw himself into the search for a new plaything. Unless, of course, his plaything finds him first...



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