Happy April everyone! This is not an April Fools Joke. I never got the hang of April Fools Day. So, let’s dive in!
I’ll never post a review of Nora Roberts’ body of work, or new releases, because, let’s face it, there are more professional and much better paid critics who are paid to read and review Ms. Roberts’ work and post those reviews to papers or websites with a higher reader content. Also, I review indie and small press books. Neither of which Roberts belongs to.
Roberts’ work, for me, is mostly hit and miss. While I’m not a fan of her single romances, some of the series romances I have been known to devour. Especially the supernatural/paranatural romance series that involves siblings or friends and a challenge. But my favorite series, the one that I will buy/ get without even looking at the blurb on the back is the series written by her alter ego, J.D. Robb.
The In Death series now sits at 54 titles, the most recent being Abandoned in Death. There are two more coming, Desperation in Death which releases Sept 2022 and an as of yet untitled 56th novel to be released in Feb of 2023. At this point, Robb is releasing two novels a year all involving Lieutenant Eve Dallas of the Homicide Division, her husband, ridiculously wealthy philanthropist, Roarke, her partner Detective Delia Peabody, and a host of other characters that come and go throughout the series’ run. Dallas is a hardline murder detective whose only goal is to speak for the dead, no matter who they are. Billionaires, celebrities, sex workers, single poor mothers, criminals. If they were murdered and fall under her watch, Dallas does everything necessary to find closure for her victim.
Along the years this has put her at odds with powerful men, politicians, even the Thin Blue Line, where she took no flack going against her own, i.e. the NYPSD, to collar a murderer. Her dedication has earned her not only accolades and notoriety (she’s the subject of two books written by her friend, journalist Nadine Furst. One of those books was made into an Oscar winning movie), but also loyalty, respect, and a close-knit circle of friends and found family who have Dallas’ back and who know that no matter what, Dallas will have their back as well.
After 54 books, of course there’s a trope to the way the books are written but Robb does it in such a way that the repetition doesn’t matter. There’s a murder, Dallas is called to it or discovers it, she goes through the methodology of suspects, motives, and alibis to slowly find her person. And while she does it sometimes with dubious means, her husband’s ability to hack any system in the universe (mostly because he created some of them), her police work is always legal, covered with paper trails and legal means of acquiring any information discovered. While, at times, we see the victims and the murderer through their eyes, we watch the entire web tightening around the criminal as Dallas and her team close in.
For me, this is fun reading. It’s the warm blanket, comfortable read. I know the way the story will lay out, I know the methodology of the way Dallas will solve this murder. I know that while there are sex scenes between Roarke and Dallas, they’re not the main part of the story and are often used to have that moment of rest between scenes. I’m not going to lie, I often wonder where one goes about acquiring their own Roarke, because I would like one. Irish, ridiculously attractive, richer than God, loves and respects the hell out of his wife? Sign me up!
I know that when I pick up this series, I’m going to read through this in about two days. For me, they are that engaging. If you’re here for engaging characters, good storylines, an even better murder procedural and a bit of AU, this is the series for you. It’s just a fun read and I am so happy I found this series. Even happier that Roberts decided to let her alter ego have some fun.
It’s April everyone! Where has the time gone? The birds are singing, the rain is falling. This is the perfect season to curl up with a drink on a rainy day and get comfortable with a good book.
Mouse's Reading Nook 