SERIES REVIEW - In Death Series by J.D. Robb - SEVEN titles

In this combined series review, I will be reviewing seven of the In Death books by J. D. Robb. They are #s 12-17, and include a novella. As displayed above, they are Betrayal in Death, Interlude in Death, Seduction in Death, Reunion in Death, Purity in Death, Portrait in Death and Imitation in Death. With the exception of the novella, I listened to these books via audio and the narrator is Susan Ericksen. She did an absolutely marvelous job. What I loved with her narration is how she gets these voices! She does Eve remarkably well, and oh, when she does Roarke it is so cool. Also, I love how she does Peabody, I almost always laugh.

Title:   Betrayal in Death, Book #12

Genre:   Mystery/Thriller

Publisher:  Berkley

Format:  Audiobook

No. of Pages:   355

Date of Publication:   March 1, 2001

My Rating:   5 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

At the luxurious Roarke Palace Hotel, a maid walks into suite 4602 for the nightly turndown - and steps into her worst nightmare. A killer leaves her dead, strangled by a thin silver wire. He's Sly Yost, a virtuoso of music and murder. A hit man for the elite. Lieutenant Eve Dallas knows him well. But in this twisted case, knowing the killer doesn't help solve the crime. Because there's someone else involved. Someone with a more personal motive. And Eve must face a terrifying possibility - that the real target may, in fact, be her husband Roarke... 

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MY THOUGHTS:

Eve and Roarke go out for a nice evening. However, at Roarke's club there is a gruesome murder in a hotel room. When a maid is murdered, readers get to read the murderer's perspective and by so doing J. D. Robb kept me on my toes while reading this book. As I am doing my best to get to these books I have fallen in love with Eve, but especially Roarke. 

I love the vulnerability this couple has, especially with Eve's painful past. I get chills when I imagine this pair together , and this book definitely digs deep into their relationship and makes their love so incredibly intense. With Eve always wondering how Roarke can have such powerful feelings of love towards her is most certainly an integral part of the story.

One thing that is a bit different in Betrayal in Death is that we know exactly who the killer is. So, watching Eve - and Roarke - dig deep to discover his identity before any more murders could take place was handled with aplomb. 

As deep and dark as the killings were in this book, Robb gave a bit of levity to it with humor. I love how Eve is with her candy - hiding it so no one can find it - with her reasons for doing so. Add in the fact that Peabody and McNab are a couple and the humor is layered on yet again. Another direction in the book occurs when someone from Roarke's past comes into the picture and Eve worries whether or not he could be trusted.

So, the chase is on and everything collides together in a quick and shocking conclusion. I loved this entry in the series and was eager to head on to the next book.

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Title:   Interlude in Death, Book 12.5

Genre:   Mystery/Thriller

Publisher:  Berkley

Format:  Kindle

No. of Pages:   88

Date of Publication:   2001; 2006

My Rating:   4 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

In early spring of 2059, Lieutenant Eve Dallas is called off planet to face a grueling ordeal - giving a seminar at the largest police conference of the year, to be held in a swanky resort. A resort which just happens to be owned by her husband, Roarke, of course. Even though Eve can't quite see it that way, it's supposed to be at least partly a vacation. But work intrudes in the form of a bloody homicide, and Eve is off and running. The case is complicated by Eve's personal history with the victim - and by the killer's history with Roarke. As danger closes in and the body count rises, Eve must find a way to stop the cycle of violence and revenge, and shove the past back where it belongs.

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MY THOUGHTS:

A short novella to be sure, but J. D. Robb get it right yet again! Eve has to speak at a seminar off planet (it is 2059), and she is none too happy about it. Will she even get a chance when a murder occurs? Oh, and it is someone she knows. And the murder occurs at one of Roarke's properties, so as usual, he is involved when it comes to Eve getting totally involved.

How could such thoroughness be done in 88 pages just blows my mind. After all, we have Eve and Roarke involved in killings while we have Peabody's drama and another glimpse at the intensity of Eve and Roarke's feelings for one another. There is one exceptionally cool detail that shines through in this book and others. It is the fact that Roarke is so gorgeous and women drool for him, even Peaody, who now has McNab. However, Eve has come to accept that what she and Roarke has is fairly well unbreakable, so she has no jealousy when it comes to Peabody's comments, and that of any other woman.

Quite naturally, this was a quick, one-sitting read that had me so keen on the next in the series that I just had to start it right away.

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Title:   Seduction in Death, Book #13

Genre:   Mystery/Thriller

Publisher:  Berkley

Format:  Audiobook

No. of Pages:   354

Date of Publication:   2001; 2004
My Rating:   5 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

Dante had been courting his victim in cyberspace for weeks before meeting her in person. A few sips of wine and a few hours later, she was dead. The murder weapon: a rare, usually undetectable date-rape drug with a street value of a quarter million dollars. Lieutenant Eve Dallas is playing and replaying the clues in her mind. The candlelight, the music, the rose petals strewn across the bed - a seduction meant for his benefit, not hers. He hadn't intended to kill her. But now that he has, he is left with only two choices: to either hole up in fear and guilt or start hunting again. . . 

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MY THOUGHTS:

Well, back to a full-size book and this one takes off running as J. D. Robb introduces yet more murders tor Eve to solve. It is a game of death in this book. It begins with online dating that leads to one direction - death. How have two young men learned to be so competitive when it comes to murder? Eve is determined to get to the bottom of it and quick.

Eve and her team, which includes Peabody, McNab and Feeney, dig deep to find the identity of the killers before any more innocent young women lose their lives. As Eve works this case, her tragic childhood is called to mind. Eve might seem vulnerable as her thoughts and nightmares make this childhood  past ever too real, but she rises above it in a remarkable way. As always, when this occurs Roarke is there for Eve in an absolutely wonderful way. Eve has an inner strength anyone would admire, but factor in Roarke and that strength is extraordinary.

Meanwhile we are treated to the killers and their motives and actions. We are also keyed into Eve's though process while she seeks to sort this all out. Seduction in Death is a fast-paced novel that hits a lot of point in its execution. Meanwhile, along with Eve and Roarke's love growing ever deeper, Peabody and McNab's relationship is going through the motions. As already mentioned, I am listening to these books via audio so all of these scenarios become deeply imprinted because the narrator (Susan Ericksen) is just so good. 

As always, Peabody and McNab's interactions are laced with humor. I did wonder whether or not Robb did this in order to lighten up a serious and deep novel with the sick minds of the killers that readers were privy to in this book.

So for fast-paced intrigue, humor (including Eve's comments and how McNab calls Peabody "She-body"), drama involving Eve's past, and the incredibly intense interactions with Eve and Roarke, this book ranks as one of my favorites so far in this series.

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Title:   Reunion in Death, Book #14

Genre:   Mystery/Thriller

Publisher:  Berkley

Format:  Audiobook

No. of Pages:   371

Date of Publication:   2002; 2004

My Rating:   5 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

A birthday bash sets the scene for a frightening reunion with a killer from Eve Dallas's past. At exactly 7:30 p.m., Walter Pettibone arrived home to over a hundred friends and family shouting, surprise! It was his birthday. Although he had known about the planned event for weeks, the real surprise was yet to come. At 8:45 p.m., a woman with emerald eyes and red hair handed him a glass of champagne. One sip of birthday bubbly, and he was dead. The woman's name is Julie Dockport. No one at the party knew who she was. But Detective Eve Dallas remembers her all too well. Eve was personally responsible for her incarceration nearly ten years ago. And now, let out on good behavior, she still has nothing but bad intentions. It appears she wants to meet Dallas again -- in a reunion neither will forget. 

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MY THOUGHTS:

Walter Pettiborne got all primped up. He was about to to to his surprise birthday bash. Oh he knew about it yet what he got certainly was planned. He was murdered. As soon as Eve dives in she discovers that her past is part of this investigation. How is this woman connected with Eve and will Eve be able to find her before yet another man is murdered. 

Will Eve finally catch this calculated killer and put her away for good? Eve managed to get this woman behind bars years ago. Why is she out and why has she killed again? When Eve realizes that Roarke is one of her targets she goes to extremes to keep Roarke protected, which Roarke really balks at. Roarke is as obstinate as he can be. Eve matches him step by step.

As always, Robb manages to touch on all of the characters in her books and she does a fine job in this one. For one thing, she expands on Peabody and McNab's relationship. Part of what makes things humorous for me while reading (listening to) these books is Eve and Summerset (Roarke's majordomo} cantankerous relationship. Furthermore, Eve's past continues to haunt her, but Roarke is always there to comfort her. 

The suspense in this book is on point and kept me reading straight through. Factor in the drama, romance and humor and this is yet another excellent book in the series.

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Title:   Purity in Death, Book #15

Genre:   Mystery/Thriller

Publisher:  Berkley

Format:  Audiobook

No. of Pages:   355

Date of Publication:   2002; 2005

My Rating:   5 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

Louie Cogburn had spent three days holed up in his apartment, staring at his computer screen. His pounding headache was unbearable - it felt like spikes drilling into his brain. And it was getting worse. Finally, when someone knocked at his door, Louie picked up a baseball bat, opened up the door, and started swinging....

The first cop on the scene fired his stunner twice. Louie died instantly. Detective Eve Dallas has taken over the investigation, but there's nothing to explain the man's sudden rage or death. The only clue is a bizarre message left on his computer screen: 

ABSOLUTE PURITY ACHIEVED

And when a second man dies under near-identical circumstances, Eve starts racking her brain for answers and the courage to face the impossible...that this might be a computer virus able to spread from machine to man.... 

Link to purchase the book

MY THOUGHTS:

When a man commits a violent murder, Detective Eve Dallas does her best to help the cop who arrived on the scene. In trying to stop the man, he apparently killed the crazed man. The cop, someone who is very important to Eve, insists he only fired his stunner, so the man should not have died. 

When it was made clear that the man was out of his head, a very important clue is facing Eve and her team...absolute purity achieved. Then another man dies. How isa computer virus a factor in causing this unique murders? As Eve digs deep, and as has happened before, Roarke becomes part of the investigation. 

Purity in Death has been another audiobook for me. Can I say yet again that Susan Ericksen is amazing? As I listened to this book, to Eve, Roarke and Peabody, as I mentioned, the main players in this astonishing novel by J.D. Robb, as well as the young cop who has now killed in the line of duty, were all played in fascinating ways. I could not stop listening to this book. If anyone reading this review has also listened, what do you think of Roarke, and Peabody?  I cannot get over how the the narrator switches up these voices in the book. And then the scenes...whether they were involving the case or the interpersonal relationships between the major players, well, it was done so very well that this book got yet another 5 stars from me.

The fact that this book is futuristic - 2059 - helped to make the fact that a computer virus was actually a killer seem incredibly real. Oh, and the nicknames ... Roarke referring to Eve as Lieutenant and McNab calling Peabody She-body was something else too. Also, Mavis is back in this book, with something special to share with Eve. And I loved Summerset in this 15th entry in the series as well. Couldn't put this book down.

And those part of the computer virus, well, needless to say they were of the worst sort, thus Eve worked especially hard to get to the bottom of things in this book. And Eve and Roarke's relationship, it continually grows, and those scenes were written with intensity. And McNab, and what he experienced in the novel and how it affected Peabody, well, that was a nice aspect to an already incredible book. Needless to say I rushed into the next book in this series,  Portrait in Death.

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Title:   Portrait in Death, Book #16

Genre:   Mystery/Thriller

Publisher:  Berkley

Format:  Audiobook

No. of Pages:   372

Date of Publication:   2003

My Rating:   5 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

After a tip from a reporter, Eve Dallas finds the body of a young woman in a Delancey street dumpster. Just hours before, the news station had mysteriously received a portfolio of professional portraits of the woman. The photos seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary for any pretty young woman starting a modeling career. Except that she wasn't a model. And that these photos were taken after she had been murdered. Now Dallas is on the trail of a killer who's a perfectionist and an artist. He carefully observes and records his victim's every move. And he has a mission: to own every beautiful young woman's innocence, to capture her youth and vitality—in one fateful shot... 

Link to purchase the book

MY THOUGHTS:

Lieutenant Eve Dallas is clued into a gruesome murder by a reporter that a woman has been killed. Why is the news station being notified? And why was the woman's body posed as a portrait? As usual for Eve, she is fast on the case. Are other women in danger and why is this particular killer so precise with this victim?

Knowing that Eve was going in for the long haul gave me just the opportunity I needed to listen to this audiobook. Again, narrated by Susan Ericksen, it was just fabulous. While Eve is focusing on the case, Roarke does step aside for a moment -  for a while really - and deals with his past. Wow this was an amazing part of this book and series! Trying to avoid spoilers, I will mention that Roarke is in Ireland and there is trauma and there is drama.

While Eve and Roarke were not together as much in this book, Eve and Peabody were, and I just love their dialogue. In addition to what is going on with Roarke, Summerset has quite a bad experience in this book thanks to Galahad, their ever present cat.

When Roarke and Eve have their scenes together they singe the pages. I don't know if there is a way for me to express how intense their scenes are. Roarke's situation in this book was hard to read, but the levity occurred between Eve and Peabody. I will never forget the "chocolate" scene. Yes, real chocolate. Read the book to see what I am referring to. 

While the serial killer at large is the backdrop of this story, Portrait in Death is a pivotal story when it comes to Roarke and thus will be a top favorite for me. 

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Title:   Imitation in Death, Book #17

Genre:   Mystery/Thriller

Publisher:  Berkley

Format:  Audiobook

No. of Pages:   342

Date of Publication:   2002; 2008

My Rating:   5 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

Summer, 2059.

A man wearing a cape and a top hat approaches a prostitute on a dark, New York City street. Minutes later, the woman is dead. Left at the scene is a letter addressed to Lieutenant Eve Dallas, inviting her to play his game and unveil his identity. He signs it, "Jack." Now Dallas is in pursuit of a murderer who knows as much about the history of serial killers as she does. He has studied the most notorious and the most vicious slayings in modern times. But he also wants to make his own mark. He has chosen his victim: Eve Dallas. And all Eve knows is that he plans to mimic the most infamous murderers of all starting with Jack the Ripper...

Link to purchase the book

MY THOUGHTS:

A Jack the Ripper copycat? That is what Lieutenant Eve Dallas is faced with in Imitation in Death, thus the title is apropos. As it turns out, the murderer is not only seeking to imitate Jack the Ripper, he is apparently well versed in gruesome serial killers in history and plots his horrid murders based on the past. 

There is a caveat. He has made it clear that Eve will become one of his victims. Can Eve and her team compete in this race against time not only to stop people from being killed while at the same time keeping her own life safe?

With what Roarke has experienced in the previous book in the series, Portrait in Death, there is a bit of a disconnect between him and Eve. Besides Roarke's situation, Eve's past comes up yet again, with memories previously not explored. As these situations came up,  I really appreciated how their love for one another shone through. The way they handled their conflict they experienced in this book and how it was resolved really got to me.

The next in the series is a novella, Big Jack, and Divided in Death follows that one.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Nora Roberts was born in Silver Spring, Maryland, the youngest of five children. After a school career that included some time in Catholic school and the discipline of nuns, she married young and settled in Keedysville, Maryland.

She worked briefly as a legal secretary. “I could type fast but couldn’t spell, I was the worst legal secretary ever,” she says now. After her sons were born she stayed home and tried every craft that came along. A blizzard in February 1979 forced her hand to try another creative outlet. She was snowed in with a three and six year old with no kindergarten respite in sight and a dwindling supply of chocolate.

Born into a family of readers, Nora had never known a time that she wasn’t reading or making up stories. During the now-famous blizzard, she pulled out a pencil and notebook and began to write down one of those stories. It was there that a career was born. Several manuscripts and rejections later, her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published by Silhouette in 1981.

Nora met her second husband, Bruce Wilder, when she hired him to build bookshelves. They were married in July 1985. Since that time, they’ve expanded their home, traveled the world and opened a bookstore together.

Through the years, Nora has always been surrounded by men. Not only was she the youngest in her family, but she was also the only girl. She has raised two sons. Having spent her life surrounded by men, Ms. Roberts has a fairly good view of the workings of the male mind, which is a constant delight to her readers. It was, she’s been quoted as saying, a choice between figuring men out or running away screaming.

Nora is a member of several writers groups and has won countless awards from her colleagues and the publishing industry. Recently The New Yorker called her “America’s favorite novelist.”