The first books that I read in this series were published under the name Robb but the cover of this one makes the fact that this is an alter ego for Nora Roberts very clear. All the books about Detective Eve Dallas, except one, use the phrase In Death as part of the title and this is no exception. I must say that for me these titles are totally unmemorable; I have to read the blurb every time I pick a new title up to see if I’d read it before. I wondered if this problem applies to more of Nora Roberts’s prolific output since her website explains that you can tell if a book is totally new by looking for NR on the cover - this means First time in print. Presumably this applies only to hardbacks when they are first issued in the US so it would not help readers in the UK very much. This paperback was first published in the USA in 2002 and there are already another six volumes of the In Death series in print there and two more planned for 2005.
These books are set in the future - 2059 for this book - which gives the author
plenty of fun in imagining advances in aspects of US life particularly in the
murky depths of a futuristic New York. Eve is a highly successful detective
who specialises in murder. She is faced here with a murderess newly released
from gaol who has resumed her murderous career. Since Eve was instrumental in
getting her sentenced for her earlier crimes the criminal wants revenge. I felt
when I reviewed a previous volume of Eve’s adventures that Eve did not change
much - she is very serious about her work and has no other activities (except
sex); she also has problems dealing with memories of her abused childhood -
but here she moves on a step in facing the demons of her past. This book not
only shows some development in Eve’s private life, it also adds to the cast
of characters around her. These books are episodes in the heroine’s life and
each one demonstrates a skilled writer at work. They are well crafted, often
including several parallel story lines but they do not offer a great deal of
detection on the Whodunit line. The criminal is often known and the suspense
is finding and trapping her or him. They are rather sameish for me.
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Jennifer S. Palmer