dragonfire88's Full Review: J. D. Robb - Seduction in Death
Seduction in Death the thirteenth book in the In Death series by J.D. Robb. This book is set in the future, like all the books in the series. It is the year 2059 and takes place in New York City. Eve Dallas is a Lieutenant on the police force.
When the book begins, Eve Dallas was having another nightmare about her childhood. She woke up alone because Roarke, her husband, was in Ireland taking care of something. Yes, the book told what exactly he was doing there, but I'm not going to say. It was 1:15 in the morning when she woke up from the nightmare. She was walking around, considering calling Roarke, when she received a call. There was a death for her to investigate.
Eve arrived at the scene with her aide, Delia Peabody. A young woman was dead. It looked like she jumped from the balcony. There was a witness, Dr. Louise Dimatto. Louise lived in the building and was returning home. The body almost fell on top of her. She never heard any screams. Louise was in one of the earlier books, but I can't remember which book right now. Eve and Peabody uncovered the woman's identity. They check out her apartment and see that she had company that night because there were two champagne glasses. Eve discovered that the woman had a date that night with a man, Dante, she met a few weeks earlier on-line. She met him somewhere for drinks and then brought him home with her. Her bedroom had been set for seduction - candlelight, romantic music, and rose petals on the bed.
Eve determines that this was a murder. The woman had been pumped full of two different drugs. One was a very expensive date rape drug that hadn't been seen in years. The street name for the drug was Wh*re. The other drug was a stimulant called White Rabbit on the streets. The two drugs combined were lethal. Eve jumped right into the case. More bodies were found and Eve thinks they are related. That is all I am going to say about the main part of the plot because I don't want to say too much and spoil the book for anyone.
Eve assembled her team of Peabody, McNab, and Feeney to work on the case. Peabody and McNab were tense around each other because of something that happened in the last book, but they worked it out by the end of this book. Roarke returned home from his trip and got involved in the investigation. He, like usual, owned some of the buildings and business that were involved in the investigation - but he did manage to miss an apartment building. This time, Eve seemed a little more willing to ask Roarke for his help in gathering information. Roarke went ahead and did a few things to help her, like he has before, and this time Eve didn't get that mad at him about it. She was learning to accept his help, even though he bends some laws a lot when he does these things. Roarke even managed to be around during something important related to the case.
Summerset, Roarke's butler, and Eve continued to annoy each other. Eve did things she knew would annoy him because she enjoyed annoying him. Summerset did things to annoy her because annoying her amused him. I think Summerset actually likes Eve, but he kept up the act because he didn't want Eve to know. I think he came to like her because of how important she is to Roarke. In his own way, Summerset fussed over Eve a bit in this book. She got sick at one point and he helped Roarke doctor her. After that, Summerset had a little talk with Eve that helped convince her to take the rest of the medicine.
During Seduction in Death, Peabody had some personal problems to work through and figure out. She talked to Eve about these things a bit even though Eve didn't want to hear anything about it. Eve even found herself giving Peabody some advice. The scenes when Eve was hearing more than she wanted to about Peabody's problems were very funny. Eve was still trying to figure out how to deal with more friends. The relationship between Eve and Roarke continued to develop. I like how these books have shown how the two of them were adjusting to marriage. They have now been married for almost a year. I am hoping there is something involving their anniversary in the next book.
Eve again has trouble with her car in Seduction in Death. She has had some kind of trouble with her car in almost every book. I think she is cursed when it comes to her car. I think the problems she has with her car are very funny. I never know what will happen with it next. Roarke owned several cars, but Eve almost always drove a car that was issued to her by the police force. She has had to have the car serviced in almost every book.
Seduction in Death was a very well written book. I loved it. It was so descriptive throughout. I could easily picture the characters and the settings. I loved the futuristic gadgets that show up in the books. This book, like all of the books in the series, had it's own main plot. Each book can stand alone, but I think it is best to read the books in order. That way you can meet the new characters as they are introduced and watch how they develop and change over the course of the series. There are continuing sub plots in the books - like Eve and Summerset's relationship - and returning characters.
Seduction in Death was mainly a mystery with a bit of romance thrown into the book. The mystery dealt with the case Eve and Peabody were working on. Several people were murdered during the book. There wasn’t that much violence in the book. There were descriptions of dead bodies in the book, so if that offends you, you should stay away from this book. There was some swearing in the book, but it was not excessive. The word that rhymes with luck showed up several times, but again, it was not as excessive as it is in some books. People who are offended by that word in books shouldn’t read this book.
The main focus of Seduction in Death was the case that Eve was working on, but there was some romance in the book in the form of the relationship between Eve and Roarke. In this book, there was also some romance between some of the minor supporting characters. No, I am not saying which characters. You have to read the book to find that out. Two of the other characters have been involved in a relationship in past books, which continued in this book. Two other minor characters began a relationship during the book. Eve and Roarke’s relationship was focused on more than the other two. Eve and Roarke have been married for almost a year. Their relationship has developed over the course of the In Death series. There were some intimate scenes between Eve and Roarke in the book. Those scenes were descriptive and even a bit explicit. The scenes may be too descriptive for some people. Anyone who is offended by reading those types of scenes shouldn’t read this book.
Seduction in Death was the thirteenth book in the In Death series. The books in the series are set in the future in New York City. Eve and Roarke have been in every book in the series. They met in the first book, and their relationship developed over the course of the series. I have loved reading how their relationship grew and changed over the course of the series. I love that the same group of characters return for each new book. Robb created all kinds of high tech gadgets for the characters to use since the books are set in the future. I love that aspect of the book. I think the gadgets are interesting. I would really love to have one of the Auto-Chef things. You just put all kinds of food in it, then when you want something to eat, you push some buttons, and the food comes out, cooked in no time. It can cook entire meals. Something like that would be very handy.
J.D. Robb, the author of the In Death series is actually Nora Roberts. I read somewhere once that she decided to use a different name for this series since it was going to be so different from everything else she had written. She has written mystery books with romance in them as Nora Roberts too, so the In Death series is similar to her other books. The main difference is that the series is set in the future, and the same main characters return for each book. People who like Nora Roberts books may also enjoy this series. Likewise, people who like the books in this series should also enjoy books by Nora Roberts. I started with the books in this series, and then moved on to her other books once I read them all. She has written one book, Remember When, that is listed as being written by both authors. The first half of the book took place in current times and the second half took place in Eve's time. The two halves of the book were connected by a mystery. Remember When took place between Imitation in Death and Divided in Death.
The character development of the returning characters builds from book to book. Eve and Roarke were well developed in the first book since they are the main characters. More is learned about them as the series continues, a little here and there. Also, through the course of the books, their characters change a bit, more so for Eve, as they adjust to being together. Eve is still evolving as a character, still learning how to do what she calls the wife things. She still has trouble dealing with some things. She still isn't use to having several friends. She is getting better at depending on Roarke. There are some characters that show up for the first time in Seduction in Death. They are developed enough for the amount of time they appear in the book.
CHARACTERS
In Seduction in Death, a whole cast of characters returned. I love how all the main characters, and some of the minor ones, return in the books. By now, many of the characters are very familiar, almost like they are friends. There are some characters that only show up a few times, so I am not going to talk about them. There characters are Nadine the reporter, Dr. Mira the psychiatrist that consults on cases with Eve, Mavis, Eve's best friend, Leonardo, Mavis' boyfriend, Charles, a licensed companion, and Trueheart, another officer on the police force.
Eve Dallas - Lieutenant on the New York police force. She is very dedicated to her job. She pushes herself very hard, too hard at times, to solve cases. She is tough when working on a case, and won't take anything from anybody. She had a horrible childhood and still has nightmares about it. She is still trying to deal with it. She has been married to Roarke for almost a year now.
Roarke - Eve's husband. He is a very wealthy man who has a shady past. He is a legitimate business man now, but he will go around laws to help Eve. He will do whatever he can to help her. He takes care of her when she pushes herself too far.
Delia Peabody - Eve's aide. She gets a little more responsibility at a crime scene. She has some problems she has to work through in this book. She keeps trying to talk to Eve about the problems. She works them out by the end of the book.
Ian McNab - Detective on the police force. He works in the EDD, Electronics Detective Division. He is a computer whiz. He has worked on several cases with Eve now. He had to figure out just what his feelings are for a character, and what to do about them.
Feeney - Detective on the police force in charge of the EDD. He trained Eve several years before. He works on a lot of cases with her.
Summerest - Roarke's stuff, proper, butler. He and Roarke have known each other for ages, since long before Roarke became rich. Sumemrset does things to annoy Eve. Annoying her gives him pleasure. He is very close to and loyal to Roarke. Because of this, and because of how important Eve is to Roarke, I think Summerset actually has come around and likes her now. He just won't admit it.
Dr. Louise Dimatto - Witness to the first murder, well, at least to the body falling. She runs a clinic in a bad area of town. Later in the book, she sees something else that is tied into the case. She shows up a few times in the book.
Seduction in Death was a wonderful book. It kept my interest throughout. I couldn't put it down. I stayed up all night reading it. Something happened in the last book of the series that really ticked me off, so much so that I actually stopped reading when that happened. I completely lost interest in the book. It wasn't anything relating to the case, but to some of the characters. That is all I will say about that so I don't spoil it people who haven't read the last book. The mess that was made by the incident that ticked me off was fixed in this book, so that made me happy. I actually stood in the bookstore flipping through the book to try and see if that mess was going to be fixed before I bought the book. That is how irritated I got with the last book. I found a part where it looked like the mess was getting fixed, so I got the book.
Anyone that likes the In Death series of book should enjoy Seduction in Death. Anyone who likes mysteries with a touch of romance should like this book. This book can be read if the other books in the series haven't been read, but I do really think it is best to read them in order. Then you will see how the characters develop, and how some change, over the course of the books.
Dante had been courting his victim in cyberspace for weeks before meeting her in person. A few sips of wine and a few hours later, she was dead. The m...More at Buy.com
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