You’ve read my reviews of some of books in the IN DEATH series by J.D. Robb. Now it’s time for another one.

The seventh book in the series is HOLIDAY IN DEATH.

What JD Robb does in this series is use the Christmas holiday season for the theme of this book.

While everyone loves the Christmas spirit and love the idea of Santa Claus, not everyone in Holiday in Death is happy to see him. This Santa, it seems, isn’t our ordinary jolly old man in the red suit. This Santa is a murderer.

Our Santa loves the holiday season – so much he’s willing to kill for it – and does! Dressed in his red and white Santa suit and holding a brightly gift-wrapped box, he has no problem gaining access to the homes of unsuspecting women. After all, who wouldn’t trust Santa Claus?

Once he’s gained entry, he wastes no time in subduing his victims. After repeated rapes, they finally face the end of their torture with a nightmarish strangulation.

You’d think that after all this, our holiday visitor would quickly escape into the night – but no. Not our Santa. This guy stays behind to clean his victims. It’s the holiday season and they should be dressed for it. To make them look more festive, he fixes their hair and applies some makeup. After accessing his completed chore, before he makes his exit, he leaves his victims a gift. After all, it IS Christmas.

Each of his victims is given a piece of jewelry – something that indicates the festive season – something that is familiar to everyone. Each piece resembles a part of the song, The Twelve Days of Christmas.

Our lovable Eve Dallas in the primary detective on the case and she is fully aware that unless our murdering Santa is caught, he’ll be sure to use all 12 of his Christmas symbols. While Eve isn’t used to celebrating Christmas, she still doesn’t want the holiday spoiled for others. Finding this killer is her first priority.

Her second priority is figuring out what get her husband for Christmas. Roarke is a man who truly has everything and if he didn’t, he certainly has enough money to buy whatever he wants – even if it’s a planet he hopes to someday build a city on. What do you get a man who has everything?

Roarke never ceases to surprise Eve with many wonderful gifts – something that has her uncomfortable (since she’s never had anyone to give her gifts), makes her awkward (since she’s never felt good enough to receive gifts) and lastly because she never knows what to give back.

One of the greatest gifts Roarke gives Eve on a continuing basis is help with her investigations. With his conglomeration of computers, legal an not-so-legal, there is very little he can’t find out or wipe out. He’s also Eve’s sounding board when she needs to verbalize her stage of investigations.

During her investigation of the Santa murders, she learns that the victims have one thing in common – they have all visited a local dating service. While she hates to put her own people in dangerous positions, she must recruit the undercover aid of her assistant Officer Delia Peabody and Detective Ian McNab from the EDD (Electronics Division of the NYPSD).

Detective McNab is the computer genius who can fix any computer or rig it to do all sorts of stuff all of which Eve doesn’t understand and doesn’t want to. As long as McNab does his job, Eve’s happy. McNab, much to his dismay, finds out that he also has a thing for Officer Peabody. It doesn’t help his attitude knowing that she’s setting up dates with other men. His mind knows it’s the job, but his heart won’t listen.

Officer Peabody is struggling with her own emotions about McNab. Every time he’s around, she gets nervous and frustrated. She hasn’t figured out yet why he is the one person on earth that totally and completely annoys her to no end.

Yet, both in the name of good police work, try to put their emotions on the back burner and do the job – and that is to catch a killer.

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You know I enjoy the In Death series but so far, as much as I like them, this one left me a bit thirsty. While I like the fact that JD Robb (aka Nora Roberts) brings back the same cast of characters (makes you feel like actually know them), in Holiday in Death, there are many issues that begin that aren’t ended. True, they are in the next book but unless you know that, you’re left feeling a bit out in the cold.

With every In Death book, you know that Eve Dallas is a homicide detective with the New York Police and Security Department.

Eve’s husband Roarke is a self-made multi-billionaire – something Eve still hasn’t gotten used to.

Eve’s partner is the lovable, free-ager, Delia Peabody who loves to eat and talks too much.

In every book, you know that Eve and Peabody investigate murders. That’s the job. And like any good piece of fiction, you know the good guys always get their man.

Yet, with Holiday in Death, you see Eve struggle to find the perfect Christmas for her husband. What you don’t find is his reaction.

You see Ian McNab realize his attraction to Delia Peabody but that doesn’t go any further either.

Maybe to other people, these little incidents are insignificant but when you get hooked on the characters that you come to know and love in every book, you just hunger for more information. I know I do. And I know I didn’t get it all with this book.

Don’t get me wrong. I still enjoyed Holiday in Death. It is a great murder mystery. It just didn’t answer all the questions I had in mind.

On the whole, if you enjoy a good murder story with characters that are so life-like, you’ll definitely enjoy Holiday in Death.


I did.

Thank you for reading.




Please, don’t forget to read my other reviews on the In Death series:

Naked in Death

Glory in Death

Immortal in Death

Rapture in Death

Ceremony in Death

Vengeance in Death


Recommended: Yes