FFB Review: Time of Death by J. D. Robb

 

Time of Death by J.D. Robb is a novella collection featuring NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas. Unlike the Three in Death collection that was primarily straight forward, the strange and flat-out weird plays a bigger role in this read.

 

It opens with Eternity in Death. In late April 2060, Tiara Dent bought into his myth of living forever. Now she won’t see 24 as the young beautiful woman is a very dead celebrity. The two puncture wounds on the left side of her throat give some indication to how it happened.

 

Eve Dallas hates stiletto heels. She hates the dressing up to mingle and socialize party nonsense. But, when you are married to Roarke, a very rich man, you do what you have to do. That means being very dressed up and in attendance at the gathering hosted by Maxia Caryle. It was supposed to be a fun evening in Eternity in Death. Certainly not a murder scene. But, it is, and now there is a victim, one very bloody suspect, and many other folks that also have to be ruled considered as killers or witnesses. Now the real party can get started.

 

It is early spring in 2060 and the traditional ferries still sail across the water to the Statue of Liberty. One on those ferries, the Hillary Rodham Clinton, has a very bloody bathroom. No doubt the person that was in that bathroom is dead. Nobody could have survived that massive amount of blood loss. Yet, there is no body.  That person did not just get up and leave. It all means that Lieutenant Eve Dallas has a missing victim, a floating crime scene, and more than a few suspects in Missing in Death.

 

The three novellas in the Time of Death collection are all good ones. They push the boundaries of the strange a little bit, but all three end up being logically solved. As always, there are plenty of twists and turns as the reads move quickly to a resolution.

  

My reading copy came by way of the Libby/OverDrive App and the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

FFB Review: Three in Death by J. D. Robb

Recently on one of my reviews in this series, Jerry House mentioned in a comment that there were also novellas. I had seen something to that effect before, but had not gone looking. Jerry’s comment got me looking in the Dallas Library system where I found a few bundled together in groups of three. Three in Death is one of those bundled novella collections.  It contains the novellas titled, Interlude in Death, Midnight in Death, and Haunted in Death.

 

It is the spring of 2059 as Interlude in Death opens and Lieutenant Eve Dallas of the NYPSD is unhappily off planet. Even worse than the fact she is off planet, something she does not like at all, is the  fact that she has been ordered to give a seminar on murder at the Interplanetary Law Enforcement and Security Conference. It is being held at the Olympus Resort in a hotel owned by her husband. She isn’t happy at all about any of it. Though, as she grudgingly admits, the resort does have some perks. One of those is the fact that her husband, Roarke, is with her and has some tricks to help her mood.

 

Peabody and a number of other coworkers are also in attendance. So too is the legendary former commander Douglas R. Skinner. Within a few minutes of meeting him, it is clear that Skinner is going after her husband. He foolishly wanted the help of Dallas. Predictably, that went nowhere.  One knows a murder will soon happen.

 

The reader is not disappointed as soon one of the men in Skinner’s detail is very much dead. Dallas is off planet and out of her jurisdiction, and quite possibly a suspect, but that is not going to stop her from working the case.

 

Midnight in Death is next and opens on Christmas morning. It was supposed to be their first Christmas together. Instead of being home with her husband and taking a much-needed break after a recent brutal case, she is standing over a body before dawn in the below freezing cold.

 

The very dead body at her feet is Judge Harold Wainger. He is naked and was dumped in the center of the ice rink at Rockefeller Center. It is clear he has been on ice for quite some time. It is also clear he was beaten and tortured extensively before he died.

 

A cryptic note and a list of those he plans to also torture and kill was left with the body. David Palmer is back in town and up to his old ways. So much for having him locked away for his previous savage crimes. It would have been nice if those in charge at the prison had alerted Dallas that he had escaped their custody. He is back and Dallas is in a race to find him as he keeps grabbing folks on the list despite all her security efforts.

 

It is January 2060 as Haunted in Death begins and Dallas is in a cold room in a derelict and abandoned building. She is with Peabody at the site of another murder.  Radcliff C. Hopkins III is very much dead thanks to being shot multiple times by a gun of some type. While guns are outlawed, there are still some around and clearly one was at work here. So too was rage.

 

He is a grandson of a legendary rock and roll family that made its fortune and name back in the late 60s.  Legend has it that the grandfather overdosed in the building that housed his club. Legend has it that the building is very much haunted. “Number Twelve” is a disaster for anyone who ever tries to live or run a business out of the building. Now his grandson is dead on the floor in a room of the old building.

 

Lieutenant Dallas does not believe in the paranormal. In the here and now of January 2060 she is going to go through some things in that building that just might make her rethink her stance. One thing that she is sure of is that ghosts don’t kill people. Flesh and blood real people do and she has a living killer to catch.

 

The three reads in this Three in Death collection are all good ones. Fun novellas, they more quickly and entertain the reader. While not as quite as complicated as full-length books, all three are fairly complicated, and are well worth your time.

 

 

My reading copy came via the Overdrive/Libby App of the Dallas Public Library System.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

FFB Review: Creation In Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries by J.D. Robb

 

It is March of 2060 as Creation in Death begins, and for NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, it is movie night at the crib. In their case, a mansion in New York City, a video on a big screen, and real popcorn massively drenched with butter and salt. The movie is a mindless action one which gives her more time to contemplate how good life is these days and how she has plans for Roarke and his body once the movie is over.

She should know better.

Long before the movie is over, Commander Whitney calls and orders her to report to a scene. He gives no explanation and she does not ask because of her training and the fact that for him to do this means it is important. For fun, and to watch his wife in action, Roarke goes with her.

That is just as well as Roarke knowns the naked dead woman who is arranged as if she is a piece of art. The death tableau is arranged in a certain way and with a certain style. A style last seen over nine years ago when Eve Dallas was part of a task force on the hunt. After a series of gruesome torture murders, the killer went dormant. They hoped he was dead.

He was not.

Now he is back as this is no copycat. His apparently first victim of what will probably be another wave of killings is 28-year-old Sarifina York. Last time he took, tortured, and ultimately killed four women in fifteen days. Lieutenant Eve Dallas knows that already his next victim has been taken and is going through hell. That victim’s only hope, as well as the next ones to follow her, is for Eve Dallas and her team to find and stop this psycho. 

What follows is a complicated read. While some of the head hopping and other flaws are still present in these books, it is also clear that they are far fewer than the early books in the series. What is also increasing clear is that by repeatedly having Roarke directly or indirectly knowing the victim, it creates an easy excuse to be involved in the case. Granted, Roarke owns virtually everything, but seeing him involved so much in several books in a row, the author’s crutch becomes noticeable. 

Collection in Death puts Dallas and all the recurring respective characters through their paces as it takes a team, if not a family, to find the killer. One knows they are going to get him. The pleasure of the read is the hunt.

My reading copy came in digital format by way of the OverDrive/Libby app and the Dallas Public Library System. 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Lesa's Book Critiques: DESPERATION IN DEATH BY J.D. ROBB

 Lesa's Book Critiques: DESPERATION IN DEATH BY J.D. ROBB

FFB Review: Ceremony in Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries (Book 5) by J. D. Robb

Ceremony in Death by J.D. Robb opens with Lieutenant Eve Dallas gazing at the body of Frank Wojinski who died of a heart attack as he sat in his chair watching arena ball. The year is 2058 and natural deaths happen to cops as do murders. 

He leaves behind a wife, Sally, adult children, and grandkids that have questions about what happened. They are not the only ones.

Commander Whitney also has questions. The commander was aware that former officer Wojinski was either conducting an off the books investigation or was involved illegal drugs. There is video surveillance of him in a private club conducting some sort of hand to hand buy operation. At the time, Whitney tried talking to Wojinski who refused to explain. He willing took a week off and submitted to a physical and a drug scan that he passed. So, Commander Whitney sealed the file and let the matter drop.

Commander Whitney regrets that decision now for several reasons including the fact that the autopsy indicates he had digitalis and the powerful drug Zeus in his system. Though he never showed any sign of being on Zeus and such signs are hard to conceal, it certainly is present in his system now according to the autopsy. A possible explanation of why it never showed up in his recent physical and drug scan and shows up now could be internal police corruption.

He wants Dallas to investigate the death as well as the possibility that fellow officer and friend, Feeney, may have covered for him and falsified records. Feeney trained Dallas and is more a father to her than a mentor. The idea he is corrupt is unthinkable. She can’t and won’t believe that. Commander Whitney orders her to investigate secure in the knowledge that her ethics are stronger than her friendship and she was uncover the truth no matter where it leads her. He also orders her to only report to him and to do so using private channels keeping the investigation secret to the suspect, Feeney, as well as the entire police department.

Dallas has no choice but to do the job assigned. The case leads her into the shadowy world of the occult. The year is 2058 and there are any who believe in Wicca, Satanism, and other unseen forces that can’t be can’ be explained or easily dealt with no matter how good technology is now. Solving murders still means asking lots of questions. It also means, at least for Dallas, putting yourself at considerable risk again and again.

As always, the head hopping between characters stands out in the read. As always, graphic sex is present. So too is crime, murder, and plenty of action as well as a couple of laugh out loud moments. Book five of the series, Ceremony in Death by J. D. Robb (Mora Roberts) is another fun read. 

 

The series to this point and my reviews:

Naked in Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries (Book 1) March 2021

Glory in Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries (Book 2) April 2021

Immortal in Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries (Book 3) May 2021

Rapture in Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries (Book 4) by J. D. Robb (June 2021)

 

Ceremony in Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries (Book 5)

J. D. Robb

https://jdrobb.com/1997/05/ceremony-in-death/

Thorndike Press

1997

ISBN# 978-1-41041-1634-6

Large Print Hardback (out of print in this format by this publisher. Available elsewhere in audio, eBook, and print formats)

495 Pages 

 

My copy came via the good folks at my branch, Lochwood Library. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2021

FFB Review: Rapture in Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries (Book 4) by J. D. Robb

Rapture in Death by Judy Robb picks up approximately three weeks after the wedding between Lieutenant Eve Dallas and Roarke in Immortal in Death. After an offworld honeymoon that that fully involved Dallas personally and professionally, Lieutenant Dallas finds her old desk more buried than it was when she left. She has paperwork to do, court hearings to attend and testify at, and soon a murder to solve. 

Or, that murder could be a suicide.

NYPD Homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas does not think so. Just hours after high priced defense attorney S. T. Fitzhugh tried to trash her, her character, and her investigation, in defense of his client, Fitzhugh is found floating dead in his tub in his home. A hand that is hanging over the edge of the clear tub has a gaping wound and has let blood flow out over the titles. More blood is in the water making it clear that there are other injuries as yet unseen. The knife, presumably the tool of choice, is present. It has all the appearances of a suicide though Dallas isn't so sure.

 

Before long, she is sure a murderer is at work as Fitzhugh isn't the only apparent suicide. Proving that the cases are linked and are actually murders is getting increasingly difficult. Not only due to the pressure coming at her from all sides, but the sheer lack of evidence. Somebody is playing god, she is sure of it, but finding proof and the identity of the person or persons responsible is proving nearly impossible in Rapture in Death.

 

This is the fourth book in the In Death series written by J. D. Robb. Police procedurals set in the late 2050s, these books feature complicated cases, flashes of humor, and often graphic sex. While all that is fine this reader, I remain annoyed by the abrupt head hopping pov switches through multiple characters in the same paragraph. The writer and editor in me screams when I see them as that is slopping story telling. However, that being said, I must admit that what seems glaring obvious in the first part of these books, fades to the background as the story progresses and I get lost in the read.

 

These are fun books that serve as a nice break between reads for me. I recognize the flaws while I also recognize that they are highly entertaining. Like any series, one should read in order. However, each book has brief recaps of what went on before and therefore one can pick up any one of the first four to start and have a pretty good idea what has been going on in the series. A fun series that should not be taken too seriously, Rapture in Death is an enjoyable read. 

 

The series to this point and my reviews:

Naked in Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries (Book 1) March 2021

Glory in Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries (Book 2) April 2021

Immortal in Death (Book 3) May 2021

 

 

Rapture in Death: Eve Dallas Mysteries (Book 4)

J. D. Robb

https://jdrobb.com/1996/10/rapture-in-death/

Berkley Books (Penguin Random House)

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/340850/rapture-in-death-by-j-d-robb/

October 1996

ASIN: B000OIZTAO

eBook (also available in audio, hardback, and paperback formats)

299 Pages 

 

My copy came via the LibbyApp from the Dallas Public Library System. Big time thanks to my son, Scott, as always for making the technology work for me.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2021