Encore in Death: An Eve Dallas thriller (In Death 56)

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J.D. Robb’s In Death series, as the author herself put it, was created to give readers romantic suspense with a twist. The good thing with this 2058 near-future setting is that the author had the freedom to create her own world—to set up an environment and culture that she saw would be typical of that time. Without a doubt, technology and things like that will have stepped up and suited the era. The people, according to J.D. Robb, would remain more or less the same. After all, human emotions and nature do not change. Everything we feel now, be it love, hatred, fear, anger, happiness, courage, jealousy, etc, we will still feel then. So who is J.D. Robb? Well, she’s Nora Roberts, of course. J.D. Robb is her nom de plume which she used for this series as she and Berkley (one of her publishers) decided to publish the works so that they have no relation to Nora Roberts and her storytelling style. So, though we know it is the same person, this series is essentially the work of a completely different author. J. D. Robb (pseudonym for Nora Roberts) infuses murder, suspense, and drama in Encore in Death, a well-written futuristic police procedural set in New York City featuring Lieutenant Eve Dallas with the NYC police department and set around 2061. Little, Denise, & Hayden, Laura, The Official Nora Roberts Companion (New York: Berkley, 2003). ISBN 0-425-18344-0

Naked in Death centered on an NYPD Lieutenant by the name Eve Dallas. The story of this book takes place in the year 2058—not too distant a future—in NYC.Broadway and Hollywood megastars Eliza Lane & Brant Fitzhugh are hosting a party, celebrating the occasion of her return to Broadway in the revival of the play the launched her career. Everyone who’s important in the theater and film community are there to commemorate the event with rehearsals beginning the next day and Brant leaving to begin a new vid project. As Eliza and her co-star breakout into an impromptu duet, Brant raises a toast to her and then collapses, dying seconds later of apparent poisoning. It’s a scene of chaos that Lieutenant Eve Dallas and partner Detective Delia Peabody enter into with the monumental task of determining who’s lying and who’s telling the truth among a sea of skilled actors.

If investigators everywhere used their "instincts" like that, God help the innocents who get caught in the cross-fire. Even with fifth sixty books in the series, J.D. Robb shows no signs of stopping with the In Death series. In ENCORE IN DEATH, a well-known man dies of cyanide poisoning. I can’t recall the last time a victim died due to poisoning in this series so it was a welcome notion. As you can expect, Robb weaves an intricate storyline that kept me on my toes. Note: "stunner" and "laser" are both terms used interchangeably for the fictional weapons that the NYPSD carry in the In Death books; they release a strong electrical, laser-like stun that can do anything from incapacitating to killing the victim.The most richly accomplished of the brothers’ pairings to date—and given Connelly’s high standards, that’s saying a lot. The prose is well-written and engaging. The plot is thought-provoking and tragic. While this book has some action, it is mostly a police procedural. Robb usually manages to weave humor in her novels, providing some much needed levity to offset some of the more serious and grim aspects of the story. The humor manages to bring out Eve’s personality. Everything from phrases she doesn’t understand, to her reactions to the loud clothing worn by her colleagues and to a candy thief make her more relatable. The author brings strong characters, great plots, wonderful relationships, and excellent pacing to the series. Woven through the novel are threads of caring for others, friendship, relationships, ego, glamour, careers, leadership, and trust. Eve was found in an alley in Dallas, Texas with severe injuries and evidence of extensive physical and sexual abuse. Her social worker named her and put Eve into a foster home. After reaching the age of majority, Eve has a big desire to move to New York City, where she hopes to become a police officer. Throughout the series, her memories return, mostly through a series of nightmares, revealing a history of incestual rape and the patricide of her father, Richard Troy. Although her first name is Delia, she is referred to by her surname 'Peabody' throughout the books, as is standard for other police officers. Peabody has a very close relationship with Eve. Peabody comes from a family of "Free-Agers", which is a fictional extension of the New Age movement from the 1980s. Her family is peaceful and pacifistic, but Delia prefers exercising justice the police way. She is a responsible officer, but as the books continue, she becomes more confident in her cases and in teasing Eve, particularly about her sex life with McNab and her sexual fantasies.