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lynguy1's review
5.0
GOLDEN IN DEATH by J. D. Robb (pseudonym for Nora Roberts) brings murder, mystery, romance and suspense to a well-written futuristic police procedural and romantic suspense set in New York City in April 2061. This is the fiftieth book in the In Death Eve Dallas series and I have read all of them up to this point.
This story starts with pediatrician Dr. Kent Abner receiving a package. When he opens the inner trinket, airborne fumes kill him. Our protagonist, Lieutenant Eve Dallas of the NYC police department, leads a team of homicide detectives and is soon on the scene along with her partner, Detective Delia Peabody. Questions arise while Eve calls in the hazmat team, undergoes testing and interviews those in the house. Who would kill a well-loved doctor? Was he really that innocent? What was the toxic substance? Are those that were first on the scene at risk?
It’s always entertaining to spend time with Eve, her billionaire husband, Roarke, their friends, and Eve’s colleagues. She is definitely a compelling and three-dimensional character. Her need to serve and protect comes through in every book, but the underlying impetus for this is best understood by reading this series in order. Due to the way Eve was raised, she often doesn’t understand commonly used phrases and this comes into play a few times in this book making her seem more real and less perfect. As always, the interactions between Eve and Roarke are enjoyable and bring a different facet of Eve’s personality to light.
In this novel several of the reoccurring characters play very minor roles or are only mentioned in passing. However, Peabody plays a bigger role and shows both her ability to bring thoughtful and intelligent perspectives to the case as well as actually getting assertive when a witness belittles her family, her education, and her colleague. This story managed to give more emotions and life to Delia; giving her character significant growth.
The prose is well-written, entertaining, and engaging. The plot is interesting, thought-provoking and intense. While this book has some action, it is mostly a police procedural. The case is complex and challenging with numerous suspects that have to be interviewed and researched and a motivation for murder that needs to be discovered. It is tragic in places and uplifting in others. Robb is an author that manages to embed humor in her novels, providing some much needed levity to offset some of the more serious and grim aspects of the story.
If you enjoy engaging near-future police procedurals with some romance, then I recommend this series. Overall, it is entertaining, and over time, it is like spending time with old friends. I have the next book in the series and can’t wait to read it. I recommend reading these books in order to gain more insight into the characters and their backgrounds.
I purchased a digital copy of this novel. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way. Publication date was February 4, 2020. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.
This story starts with pediatrician Dr. Kent Abner receiving a package. When he opens the inner trinket, airborne fumes kill him. Our protagonist, Lieutenant Eve Dallas of the NYC police department, leads a team of homicide detectives and is soon on the scene along with her partner, Detective Delia Peabody. Questions arise while Eve calls in the hazmat team, undergoes testing and interviews those in the house. Who would kill a well-loved doctor? Was he really that innocent? What was the toxic substance? Are those that were first on the scene at risk?
It’s always entertaining to spend time with Eve, her billionaire husband, Roarke, their friends, and Eve’s colleagues. She is definitely a compelling and three-dimensional character. Her need to serve and protect comes through in every book, but the underlying impetus for this is best understood by reading this series in order. Due to the way Eve was raised, she often doesn’t understand commonly used phrases and this comes into play a few times in this book making her seem more real and less perfect. As always, the interactions between Eve and Roarke are enjoyable and bring a different facet of Eve’s personality to light.
In this novel several of the reoccurring characters play very minor roles or are only mentioned in passing. However, Peabody plays a bigger role and shows both her ability to bring thoughtful and intelligent perspectives to the case as well as actually getting assertive when a witness belittles her family, her education, and her colleague. This story managed to give more emotions and life to Delia; giving her character significant growth.
The prose is well-written, entertaining, and engaging. The plot is interesting, thought-provoking and intense. While this book has some action, it is mostly a police procedural. The case is complex and challenging with numerous suspects that have to be interviewed and researched and a motivation for murder that needs to be discovered. It is tragic in places and uplifting in others. Robb is an author that manages to embed humor in her novels, providing some much needed levity to offset some of the more serious and grim aspects of the story.
If you enjoy engaging near-future police procedurals with some romance, then I recommend this series. Overall, it is entertaining, and over time, it is like spending time with old friends. I have the next book in the series and can’t wait to read it. I recommend reading these books in order to gain more insight into the characters and their backgrounds.
I purchased a digital copy of this novel. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way. Publication date was February 4, 2020. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.
vickory6's review against another edition
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
starthelostgirl's review against another edition
3.0
This is another unremarkable-yet-solid entry to Eve Dallas. 3.5 stars.
I was ridiculously happy that Robb FINALLY got with the program and stopped calling gay married people "same-sex spouses" instead of just "husbands." This has been one of my worst pet peeves with Dallas's future world, and Dallas and Roarke both participated in it. In this book, Dallas even corrects someone else who refers to a married gay man as someone's "partner" (another real-world peeve of mine).
Overall, nothing of consequence happened in this book. It felt like a filler to me.
Vague/minor SPOILERS:
One of the quotes before the first chapter completely spoils the motive and was a terrible choice on Robb's part. I also found the motive to be beyond my suspension of disbelief. I suppose it's inevitable after 50 books, but the motive and perpetrator were very similar to those of previous novels.
I was ridiculously happy that Robb FINALLY got with the program and stopped calling gay married people "same-sex spouses" instead of just "husbands." This has been one of my worst pet peeves with Dallas's future world, and Dallas and Roarke both participated in it. In this book, Dallas even corrects someone else who refers to a married gay man as someone's "partner" (another real-world peeve of mine).
Overall, nothing of consequence happened in this book. It felt like a filler to me.
Vague/minor SPOILERS:
One of the quotes before the first chapter completely spoils the motive and was a terrible choice on Robb's part. I also found the motive to be beyond my suspension of disbelief. I suppose it's inevitable after 50 books, but the motive and perpetrator were very similar to those of previous novels.
katyanaish's review
5.0
Wow, 50 books in and still riveting.
This was a fun one, with people getting this little golden egg in the mail, only to discover it contains a nerve agent (related to sarin gas) that kills quickly and brutally. Some deeply sad moments, with the victims. But it was a wonderful case for the team as they were firing on all cylinders trying to stop the lunatic responsible.
And as always, some truly lovely moments with Roarke and Eve. They've grown into such an amazing, 3-dimensional, solid relationship - I recently re-read the opening trilogy, and it is a beautiful thing to see how far they've come.
This was a fun one, with people getting this little golden egg in the mail, only to discover it contains a nerve agent (related to sarin gas) that kills quickly and brutally. Some deeply sad moments, with the victims. But it was a wonderful case for the team as they were firing on all cylinders trying to stop the lunatic responsible.
And as always, some truly lovely moments with Roarke and Eve. They've grown into such an amazing, 3-dimensional, solid relationship - I recently re-read the opening trilogy, and it is a beautiful thing to see how far they've come.
bookswithcuppatea's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
I always appreciate the books in this series. In this one a golden egg is used as a murder weapon. Once Eve Dallas has made the connection between the two murders vents start to speed up, with the resolution coming about quite simply and cleanly.
Some lovely moments between Eve and Roarke, good teamwork by Eve and Peabody and the rest of the NYPSD involved.
Some lovely moments between Eve and Roarke, good teamwork by Eve and Peabody and the rest of the NYPSD involved.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Murder
Minor: Drug use
ela_ela's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5