Review: Dexter by Design

Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Book Info: Genre: Supernatural Thriller/Police Procedural
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: twisted people
Trigger Warnings: murder, desecration of the dead

My Thoughts: This is a crazy book. I found myself extremely amused by Astor's declaration that “nobody speaks French” and Dexter's response that “several people in France do.” I also found Dexter's assessment of the bodies they found to be humorous, not to mention his thoughts on the clothing and various accoutrements that accompanied each. Deb I wanted to smack several times with her doubting Dexter and threatening to turn him in all the time, plus the way she continues to take his assistance for granted and treat him so badly all the time, always acting like everything is his fault if he doesn't immediately know the answers she's looking for. His patience with her astounds me. Then again, I never had a sister, so...

A cool note about my edition: I picked it up used somewhere, and it's the UK edition. While it is not completely Britishized, the formatting is done in the British style, and some of the spellings have been altered accordingly.

I was a bit puzzled about the fact that Chutsky was allowed to stay with Deborah in ICU. Maybe things are different in Florida, but it's my understanding that typically ICU only allows family members to visit, and them only one at a time. There's also a point where Dexter thinks to himself that Deb's crying was out of character and he hadn't seen it since she was 12, but strangely enough, he thought almost exactly the same thing in the previous book when Chutsky was kidnapped and Deb became upset about it and cried...

Of course, Dexter has typical male reactions to crying.

“There are few things in the world that make me feel more clueless than a woman's tears. I know that I am supposed to do something comforting and then go slay whatever dragon caused the crying fit, but it has been my experience, in my limited dealings with women, that the tears never come when they should, and they are never about what you might think, and consequently you are reduced to truly stupid options like patting her head and saying, 'There there,' in the hopes that at some point she will let you in on what the display is actually about.”

Watching Dexter trying to deal with having a wife and children is quite hilarious most of the time, and Cody and Astor's preternaturally adult mannerisms just add to the humor level.

This book has also reaffirmed what I've felt for a long time, and that is I'd really like to visit Cuba. I know this attitude is dangerously unAmerican, but it sounds like a neat place and I'd like to go there sometime.

Most fans of the series were happy that this book retreated from the supernatural elements found in the third book. I would have liked to have seen Dexter more on his toes—he really isn't at his best in this book—but overall, yes, this is an excellent addition to the series. Definitely not to be missed!

Series Information: Dexter Morgan series
Book 1: Darkly Dreaming Dexter, review linked here
Book 2: Dearly Devoted Dexter, review linked here
Book 3: Dexter in the Dark, review linked here
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: After his surprisingly glorious honeymoon in Paris, life is almost normal for Dexter Morgan. Married life seems to agree with him: he’s devoted to his bride, his stomach is full, and his homicidal hobbies are nicely under control. But old habits die hard—and Dexter’s work as a blood spatter analyst never fails to offer new temptations that appeal to his offbeat sense of justice... and his Dark Passenger still waits to hunt with him in the moonlight.

The discovery of a corpse (artfully displayed as a sunbather relaxing on a Miami beach chair) naturally piques Dexter’s curiosity and Miami’s finest realize they’ve got a terrifying new serial killer on the loose. And Dexter, of course, is back in business.



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