dragonfire88's Full Review: J. D. Robb - Portrait in Death
I love the books in J.D. Robb’s In Death series. I have all of them and the two short stories that were also part of the series. I had been waiting impatiently for a few months for the 16th book in the series, Portrait in Death, to be published. I found out the exact release date, and I headed off to the bookstore after work that day.
Portrait in Death is the 16th book in an ongoing series that features the same group of main characters. Eve Dallas and her husband Roarke have been the main characters in every book. There is a large group of supporting characters in the series that continue to turn up in the new books as well. Some of them show up more often than others. I want to briefly mention a few of the other returning characters so people who are unfamiliar with this series won’t be completely in the dark.
Summerset is Roarke’s stuffy butler. The two men have known each other for years. Summerset was actually like a father to Roarke. Summerset was loyal and protective. He didn’t seem to like Eve too much. Delia Peabody is a police officer that works with Eve. The two women have become friends and Delia enjoys annoying Eve. Ian McNab is a police officer who works in the Electronics Detective Division. They work on computers to help investigations. He and Delia are involved in a relationship. Feeney, who is the detective in charge of the EDD, is the police officer who trained Eve. Mavis is Eve’s best friend. Mavis is now a singer. She is a bit wild, but she is a very nice person.
The books in the In Death series are set in the future. Portrait in Death took place in the summer of 2059. Eve is a homicide detective for the New York City police force. Each book in the series has a different plot connected to a case that Eve is working on. Her husband Roarke usually ends up involved in the investigations somehow. He is extremely wealthy and has a somewhat shady past. The books in the series also have some subplots that continue throughout the series helping to tie the books together. The main focus of the books is the cases Eve investigates, but things related to her life and her friends also happen in the books.
Eve was getting ready to go to work. She was in a wonderful mood because Summerset was leaving on his vacation that morning and would be gone for a few weeks. Roarke was amused by Eve’s good mood and the reason for it. They were having breakfast when they heard a loud crash. When they went to see what happened, they discovered Summerset on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. He’d tripped over the cat walking down the stairs. One of his legs was broken and he’d hurt a shoulder. Roarke was really shaken by the accident and worried. Eve called the medics, but she received another call and had to leave.
Nadine Furst, a reporter and one of Eve’s friends, had received some pictures of a young woman along with a strange note. Nadine thought that it looked like the woman was dead in one of the pictures. That was why she called Eve to meet her at the address in the note. Eve and Peabody got there first and discovered the woman’s body near where she worked. By the time Nadine got there with her crew, Eve had the area blocked off as a crime scene and she wouldn’t let any reporters, even Nadine, near it. Nadine was mad about that, claiming that it was her story and that she hadn’t had to call Eve to begin with. The two settle their disagreement later at the police station. Eve discovered some clues that made her believe that the woman had been carefully posed for the one picture after she had been killed.
Summerset was recovering from his injuries. He was upset about having to stay in the hospital over night and about having to put up with a live in nurse when he got home. Mavis and her boyfriend Leonardo stopped by to visit Summerset, and even had a little party for him when he got home from the hospital. Roarke was still very shaken by the accident, and he was going to make sure that Summerset got the best possible care. Roarke was a bit annoyed about Summerset’s grumblings. Roarke also seemed to be upset because Summerset refused to use the elevators that were all over the house. Roarke had other things to deal with after that because he learned something related to his past that really threw him. He didn’t know how to deal with what he discovered. He withdrew, shutting out everyone, and was in a bad mood. Eve was very worried about Roarke since he wasn’t acting like himself. She and Summerset put aside their differences to try to figure out what was going on with Roarke.
Eve and Peabody continued to work on the case. Feeney and McNab were also working on the investigation. Nadine received more pictures that seemed to be like the first ones. There were some candid shots of a young man, and one that looked like he was posed after he was dead. His body was discovered near his workplace, just like the first victim. Eve and Peabody continued to work on the case and they turned up some new clues. They discovered a connection between the two victims. Eve was a bit distracted by the fact that she was worried about Roarke and his strange behavior. She talked to a few friends before she finally confronted Roarke to find out what was wrong. At first he tried to continue shutting her out, but she finally got through to him.
I loved Portrait in Death, like I have the other books in the In Death series. I did make a special trip to the bookstore the day the book was released, but I did end up waiting a few days to read it because of how I was working - that is also why it took me longer to get the review done. Once I started to read the book, I couldn’t put it down. I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next. The plot grabbed my attention right from the beginning. I didn’t think that any part of the book was boring.
Portrait in Death was a complex book with a lot of things going on. Eve was working on a case, trying to find a killer before someone else was murdered. She also had to deal with Summerset getting hurt so he couldn’t go on vacation, and whatever was going on with Roarke. That tied into a subplot involving his past. The information he got was interesting and has opened up some new possibilities for future books in the series. There was something that was briefly mentioned concerning Peabody that could lead to a lot of new possibilities for her character in future books. There were a few other subplots that turned up in the book that dealt with other characters and things in their lives. Even though there were several things going on, the book wasn’t hard to follow or confusing. The subplots didn’t detract from the main plot. They just added to the book and helped to make it and the characters seem more real.
I thought that Portrait in Death was a romantic suspense book. The mystery was the main focus of the book. Most of what happened was tied into Eve’s case in some way. The book started off with Eve at home, but after a few pages, Eve and Peabody had already found the body of the first victim. Throughout the book, Eve and Peabody followed clues and tried to find the killer before another murder took place. Eve used different things to try to solve the case. She also had to deal with the press, which she hated even though she was friends with Nadine. I didn’t figure out who the killer was ahead of time, but it did make sense. New clues were discovered all through the book, which slowly added up. Closer to the end of the book, several clues were uncovered. Eve kept going over the clues she had and the new clues she found until she figured out what was going on. It took her a while since there was little to go on at first, but she did get it figured out. She didn’t just come up with a suspect right from the start when she had little or no evidence. She kept working on the case, uncovering more information, and that ended up leading her to a suspect. I thought that was more realistic than how in some books someone will somehow discover who the killer or villain is based on nothing. There were several suspenseful moments in the book when I didn’t know what would happen next.
There was a little bit of violence in a few scenes of Portrait in Death. There has been a lot more violence in other books in the In Death series. This book was one of the less violent books in the series. Three young people were murdered, but none of the murders were described as they happened. The bodies were described after they were found, but the descriptions weren’t too bad. The murders weren’t as grisly or brutal as they have been in some of the other books in this series. I don’t think that the books would be too violent for any readers.
There was some swearing throughout Portrait in Death by different characters. The word that rhymes with luck was used several times by a few characters. Eve did use colorful language a lot, especially when she was upset. I wasn’t bothered by the swearing in the book, but some people may be. People who are offended by any swearing in a book probably shouldn’t read this book.
Eve and Roarke met, fell in love, and got married in the first books in the In Death series. Even though the main focus of each book has been whatever case Eve was currently working on, there was also some romance in the books. Most of the romance in the series has been provided by Eve and Roarke’s relationship. Two other returning characters, Delia Peabody and Ian McNab, became involved during the books. They also met and started their relationship over the course of the series. Their relationship has helped provide some romance in the series. All of the romance in Portrait in Death was provided by Eve and Roarke. I would have liked it if there had been some more in the book related to Delia, Ian and their relationship. There were a few scenes that described them having sex. Those scenes were descriptive and rather steamy, so some people could be offended by those scenes. People who are offended by those types of scenes shouldn’t read this book.
Portrait in Death is the 16th book in a wonderful series by J.D. Robb. All of the books featured Eve Dallas and her now husband, Roarke. Each book had a different main plot that was related to the case Eve was investigating, but there have been some subplots that have continued throughout the series. Eve and Roarke, along with Sommerset, have been in every book. They have grown and developed a lot over the course of the series. There have also been several supporting characters that have returned throughout the series. Peabody started off as a small character and has grown into one of the main characters of the series. McNab first showed up later in the series, but he quickly became one of the main returning characters as well. There are other characters, like Nadine and Mavis, who show up briefly here and there in the books. Mavis did show up more in the first few books, but she hasn’t been around as much since she got involved with Leonardo. I love that the books have a group of returning characters. They seem so like since they have been developed so much. When I first read one of the new books, it is like I’m getting to visit friends.
I think that the books in the In Death series should be read in order, especially now that there are 16 books and two short stories in the series. If there were only a few books in the series, then it wouldn’t matter so much if someone started to read them out of order. Now that there are so many books with so many returning characters, it would make it rather confusing for a reader if they jumped into the series in the middle, or in this book, Portrait in Death. If the books are read in order, the reader gets to meet each new character as they are introduced to the series and watch them develop and grow. If the books are read out of order, the reader would miss out on that experience. It could also be confusing trying to figure out who some of the characters are. Sometimes in the new book, things that happened in earlier books will be mentioned. If the earlier books haven’t been read, the reader won’t know what the characters are talking about. These books are set in the future. In the first few books, more time was spent explaining different aspects of life in the future. In the later books, those things weren’t explained as much unless something totally new was being introduced. If a reader started with later books, they wouldn’t know what some of the things were that would be common by that time in the series if the books were read in order. I think that a wide range of people would enjoy the books in this series. The books are considered romance, but that isn’t the main focus of the books. The mystery is, so people who enjoy mysteries should give the series a chance. They are a bit different since they are set in the future, but they are wonderful books.
J.D. Robb, the author of the In Death books, is actually Nora Roberts. I read once that she decided to use a different name for the In Death series because it was so different from her other books. These books are different from the ones she has written as Nora Roberts, but they share a few similarities. I think that people who like Nora Roberts books should check out the In Death series, and people who like those books may also enjoy the books she has written as Nora Roberts. I read the In Death books first, and then moved onto the books she wrote as Nora Roberts. She is now one of my favorite authors. She has written one book, Remember When, that was listed as being written by both authors. The first part of the book took place in current time and the second part took place in Eve's time. Remember When took place between Imitation in Death and Divided in Death.
Portrait in Death was a very entertaining, enjoyable book that I loved. This book is a must read for fans of the In Death series. Nora Roberts fans may also enjoy the book.
The "New York Times" #1 bestselling police thriller series featuring futuristic cop Eve Dallas continues in this brand-new, first-time-in-print novel....More at HotBookSale
The New York Times #1 bestselling police thriller series featuring futuristic cop Eve Dallas continues in this brand-new, first-time-in-print novel. A...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.