Category: Futuristic

Encore in Death by J.D. Robb

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Encore in Death (In Death #56)

Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Series: In Death #56
Publication Date: 2/7/23
Period: Future 2060’s New York
Number of Pages: 400

This author nails it with another enigmatic, puzzling mystery to be solved by Lt. Eve Dallas, Detective Peabody, Roarke, and the rest of the crew at the New York City Police and Security Department (NYPSD). While most of the books in the series are thrilling, hold-your-breath, suspenseful jaw-breakers, this one is a more sedate police procedural. It is an intriguing mystery, but you won’t be sitting on the edge of your seat and rapidly flipping the pages to see what happens next. This story, this villain, this victim doesn’t lend itself to that thrilling, suspenseful set of mind. It is to be read, savored, examined, digested and thought through as you are trying to uncover the murderer right along with Eve. There are plenty of very believable red herrings along the way before you get to the final reveal. Will it surprise you? Maybe – probably? I had a good idea of who it was a good bit earlier than it was revealed – but I wasn’t sure – and that is why it is so much fun.

Renowned stars of stage and vid, Eliza Lane and Brant Fitzhugh are hosting a gala event at their home. They’ve been married for almost ten years and are still in love and devoted to each other. What better time to throw a party than at the launch of two new projects that will be milestones in both of their careers? Unfortunately, for Brant, that means he has to leave the next morning and spend the next six months filming in New Zealand while Eliza stays in New York and opens a new play in a role she’s coveted for a quarter of a century.

Also, unfortunately for Brant, he won’t survive the party. He holds up his champagne cocktail glass to salute his wife, places his other hand over his heart, takes a sip, and falls to the floor. Cyanide! Who? How? Why? Brant was actually a genuinely nice, caring man who was beloved by all who knew him. And yes, it stays that way throughout the story. He didn’t put on airs; he helped people however he could; he remembered people’s birthdays; he played cards with the stage hands; he helped other performers get roles they wanted. Yes, a genuinely good man, and it broke my heart that he died.

Was Brant truly the intended victim? Could Eliza have been the target? Did it really matter which of them died as long as someone in the household was harmed? Hmmm – lots of questions and few answers. You’ll just have to read the book to find out who and why.

I always love it when Roarke is front-and-center in the story, but he wasn’t as active a participant in this book as he has been in some others. I mean – goodness – you can never have too much Roarke. As always, I love Eve. The banter between Eve and Roarke and their sense of humor is a wonderful enhancement for each book. One of my favorite Eve attributes is her consternation at/with old sayings/adages/phrases. She just doesn’t get them and is always butchering them one way or another. Things like – Curtain Call – Eve says, “Why is it a call? Nobody’s calling anybody.” Or Red-Letter Day “Why isn’t it ever a blue-letter day, or a green-letter day?” There are always several of these in each book and they are always highly entertaining and greatly lighten the mood if it is dark.

Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb is a prolific writer and I have no idea how she writes as many books as she does while keeping them all fresh and new. This was not my favorite book of the series, but it was an excellent read and I definitely recommend it. I lean more toward those thrilling, fast-paced, can’t-put-it-down kinds of books rather than those that are more slow-paced – but all of them – including this one – are excellent reads.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Desperation In Death by J.D. Robb

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Futuristic, Mystery, Part of a SeriesLeave a comment

Desperation in Death (In Death, #55)Barbara’s rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Series: In Death #55
Publication Date: 9/6/22
Period: Future New York – 2061
Number of Pages: 368

OMGoodness! This 55th addition to the series is just as fresh, thrilling, engrossing, and suspenseful as the first one. The characters are some of the most intriguing and interesting I’ve ever read and they grow personally and professionally with each new book. You also couldn’t ask for a better cast of supporting characters – from the hard-hitting reporter, Nadine Frist, to the ebullient singer, Mavis Freestone, to the cops in Eve’s squad at Cop Central, they are all outstanding. I really enjoyed this story because all of those supporting characters – and more – played key parts in solving the mystery and taking the bad guys down. I have read every book in the series – some of them several times – and there isn’t a clinker in the bunch!

The Pleasure Academy has been in the business of kidnapping young girls for many years. Once the girls are imprisoned within the academy, they are ‘trained’ to service the gentlemen who will eventually purchase them. There is no escape for the girls – no windows to climb out, no doors they can leave through. They either comply with the training or suffer very severe consequences. The Academy has survived all of these years because they are smart – very smart – with how they acquire the girls. They have tentacles all over the world and they never take from the same place – at least not close together. There is no single police force that has ever recognized the larger picture. Each force investigates its own kidnappings – with many thinking the girls have just run away. Then, the Academy makes a huge error. Two of the girls manage to figure a way to escape – one of them dies for it – and Lt. Eve Dallas catches her case.

From the beginning, things just don’t add up for Eve. This child had to have been well cared for, but she’s been missing for several months. Her hair is perfectly styled with expensive products – even her nails are perfectly manicured. But then, there is the sexy undergarments. Why would this young girl be wearing expensive silk underthings? When Eve identifies the girl as Mina Rose Cabot, a child missing from Devon, Pennsylvania – a child who was much loved – Eve knows she isn’t just looking for a murderer – she’s looking for a child abductor. There is a second set of bloodstains on Mina, and they belong to Dorian Gregg, a runaway from Freehold, New Jersey. Is Dorian lying dead somewhere and just hasn’t been found yet? Is she injured? Was she recaptured? Or, is she the one who took Mina’s life?

Eve, Roarke, Peabody, and the rest of the team put their laser focus on finding these child abductors and murderers only to learn that the operation is so much larger than they could ever have imagined. Eve and Roarke struggle with emotional issues as they work through the case – after all – what these children are going through is very similar to both of their backgrounds as children. That, of course, only makes them that much more determined to solve the case.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I believe it is one of my favorites of the series and I am quite sure it is one I’ll read again and again.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

View all my reviews