Eve Dealt with Murder and Her Best Friend's Pregnancy in Born in Death
Written: Nov 02 '07 (Updated Nov 06 '09)
Product Rating:
Pros: Returning characters in an entertaining book.
Cons: Some characters not used enough. One thing was a bit too convenient.
The Bottom Line: Born in Death was another very entertaining addition to the In Death series by J.D. Robb. It is a must read book for fans of the series.
dragonfire88's Full Review: J. D. Robb - Born in Death
I had heard good things about the In Death series of books by J.D. Robb for a while before I finally picked up Naked in Death, the first book. I was quickly hooked on the series and started picking up the other books. I now get the new books in the series when they are released. I've been meaning to review Born in Death, the twenty-fifth book in the series, for a while now.
I want to share some information about the series in general before I specifically talk about Born in Death.
In addition to the full length books, there have also been three short stories as part of the series. They have all been set in New York City in the future. Born in Death took place early in the year 2060. The main character of the series is Eve Dallas, a homicide detective in New York City. Every book and short story has focused on different cases that Eve was working on while also sharing things from her personal life. Several other characters, like Eve’s extremely wealthy husband Roarke, also return in the books. Eve and Roarke have been in every book and short story while some of the other returning characters have been missing in some books. The series has covered close to two years since the first book.
For the most part, the plot of Born in Death was self-contained though it did build somewhat on things that had been mentioned in previous books, like Mavis being pregnant. For every book and short story, the mysteries have been resolved by the end. There was a brief mention of something that happened in the last short story, Haunted in Death. That short story took place shortly before this book. That was the only mention of anything connected to one of Eve’s previous cases. A few things were mentioned about Eve and Roarke’s past without going into the details that have been in some of the earlier books.
J.D. Robb has also taken time to show what things have changed and what things have stayed the same in the future. The police carry tasers instead of guns which are illegal. There are still many murders committed, and Eve has even had to investigate a few that were done with illegal guns. Cars have the ability to fly as well as drive on roads. Colonies and resorts have been established in space - Disney has their own planet - and space travel is common. I love reading about the futuristic things Robb created for this series and would love to have some of them.
Even though they both really cared for Mavis, Eve and Roarke were dreading being part of the birthing team. Just going to the classes was enough to freak them out. Eve made a bit of an effort for planning the baby shower, but Delia took over the details after discovering that Eve hadn’t bothered with certain things. Eve and Delia started a murder investigation that quickly turned into a double murder once they discovered that the man the victim was engaged to was also killed. Both of them worked for an accounting firm that had many high profile clients. Eve believed the murders were somehow tied to the firm. To make things more complicated, Mavis was worried about a missing pregnant friend, Tandy Willowby. Eve promised she would find Tandy to keep Mavis calm and set out to juggle two investigations.
Most of Born in Death was focused on the investigation into the murder of the two accountants. There were some things shared related to that case about how accounts could be manipulated that didn’t entirely make sense to me. I’m guessing that the description was accurate in how it could be done. I did think that the mystery was interesting. Later in the book more mystery was added when Tandy disappeared and Eve started looking for her. That did make things a little more complicated. I thought that both of the investigations received enough attention. Close to the end of the book, Eve and her team made a huge discovery. It did make sense and work, but it seemed just a bit too convenient. That didn’t make me like the book any less.
The two murder scenes were described in a lot of detail that could be too graphic for some readers. There was only a little bit of violence in the book and what there was wasn’t graphic. Several of the other books in the series have been much more violent. Eve wasn’t even swearing as much as she has in the past though she still did come up with a few interesting combinations. The book won’t be for everyone and people that are offended by swearing or violence in books may want to stay away from this one, and the entire series for that matter.
A major continuing plot line for the last several books has been Mavis’s pregnancy and how Eve and even Roarke were on the verge of panic at times because of it. Eve and Mavis have been friends for several years and Eve was glad that Mavis was so happy even though she didn’t fully understand it. Eve and Roarke agreed to be part of the birth team because Mavis meant so much to them, but both of them were dreading it. It was really entertaining to read how Eve and Roarke were reacting to things, like how Eve really didn’t want to throw the baby shower. It was especially entertaining to see Roarke panic since he is normally so calm and collected. Even though many other aspects of life, including things connected to medical treatments, had changed by the time the book is set, giving birth remained basically the same. Some of the things described connected to that were a bit descriptive and might bother some readers.
Eve and Roarke’s relationship has been important to the series since they met in the first book. Their entire relationship has been shared over the course of the books, something that I’ve really enjoyed. It has been very interesting and entertaining to read how they have adjusted to married life. I think it took Eve longer to adjust than it did Roarke. They keep each other grounded and are much better able to deal with problems now than they had been earlier in their relationship. She is more willing to ask him for help and to listen to him when he tries to get her to rest. There were a few sex scenes that were descriptive but not really graphic. Their relationship wasn’t the main focus of the plot even though it was important. I never felt like it distracted from the mystery. Delia and Ian McNab, a detective in the EDD, have been involved for a while and were living together. No details from their private life were shared, though Delia did like to make a few comments about their sex life to annoy Eve.
Eve and Roarke have been in every book and short story in the series. Roarke hasn’t been featured as much as Eve, but he has still been around a lot. Both characters are very well developed by this point and both have gone through a lot of changes over the course of the series. I really like both of them and love reading more about them and their lives together. In addition to Eve and Roarke, there are many other returning characters, which I love. Unfortunately, since there are so many characters, that means that several of them are underused. Summerset, Roarke’s butler, has been in almost all of the books with his part being rather small most of the time. He has played bigger parts in a few of the books. There are a few characters that only pop up once in a while and others that turn up at least briefly in most of the books like Feeney and Dr. Mira. It is always nice to see them again since most of them are so likable.
Delia has been around since the second book, first as an officer that impressed Eve, then her aid, and now her partner. Delia’s boyfriend Ian wasn’t introduced until several books later and he quickly became a regular character. He usually isn’t featured as much as Delia. I really like both of them, so I would have enjoyed reading a bit more about them and their relationship. Mavis and her boyfriend Leonardo - though I really think it was said they were married in one of the previous books - played a much larger part in this book since a lot of it was focused on Mavis getting closer to her due date.
Tandy was a character first introduced early in the book who became more important as the book progressed. She and Mavis were in the same birthing class and had the same midwife, which was how they met. Tandy was a very nice young woman who had moved to New York City from England not long after learning of her pregnancy. She didn’t have any family in the area, so she was alone for the most part though she did make some new friends.
J.D. Robb is the name that author Nora Roberts decided to use when she started the In Death series. I first read all the In Death books that were out at the time before moving on to the books she has written under her own name. The In Death books tend to have more violence, suspense, and stronger mysteries. The books she writes with her own name tend to have more focus on romance and the mysteries aren’t as strong. I have enjoyed all of her books that I’ve read, regardless of who was listed as the author. Since Robb and Roberts are the same person, people that have liked Robb’s books may also enjoy Roberts’ books. She wrote one book, Remember When, that has both names for the author. The first part of the book is set in current times with the second half concluding in Eve’s time. The two parts of the book were connected by a mystery. Eve’s portion of the book took place between Imitation in Death and Divided in Death. There was an important development for a character in Remember When, so fans of the In Death series should read the book.
I really enjoyed Born in Death. It was a very entertaining addition to the In Death series that fans of it should like.
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