Guilty Pleasure - Steamy Crime Fiction
Crime Fiction Favorite Author: J.D. Robb
I started this favorite authors’ blog series with a mystery writer, Sue Grafton. I continued with a grittier suspense/thriller writer, David Baldacci. In keeping within similar/related genres, I’m adding my favorite crime writer, J. D. Robb and her “In Death” series. This series crosses over into a bit of science fiction as well.
I discovered J.D. Robb (a pseudonym for romantic suspense writer Nora Roberts) quite by accident. A number of years ago, I picked up her book “Innocent in Death” in a supermarket discount bin while on vacation. I devoured the book. To hell with sleep when I’m in the grip of a good tale!
As it turned out, “Innocent” was number twenty-four in Robb’s “In Death” series. Of course, I had to locate the earlier books. Our introduction to homicide detective Eve Dallas comes in a book entitled “Naked in Death”. Robb releases two books a year and recently released number forty-five in the series: “Secrets in Death”. Although I usually take the most economical approach to feeding my addiction, I treated myself by purchasing the ‘Secrets’ e-book on Amazon at the normal price instead of waiting months for library availability.
New York homicide detective, Eve Dallas, is the main character in the series. She is the lead in an ensemble assemblage of characters who appear throughout the series. In each book a sometimes grisly, always intriguing, murder presents itself for solving– worthwhile but not necessarily compelling reading. The characters and their relationships are what make this series stand out. Eve’s steamy, initially contentious and always evolving, relationship with Roarke, the gorgeous, Irish billionaire with a criminal past, takes center stage in her personal life and a supportive role in her professional life.
Background: Eve Dallas was a severely abused child who has limited recollections about her horrific past. She uncovers the details about her parents and her early life as the series evolves. Eve’s life is focused on solving murders, on standing for the victims. She has no time or interest in frivolity, and no understanding of nuance, cliché, or popular culture. Roarke, her opposite in so many ways, would say such limitations are part of her special charm. What to say about Roarke? So much and so little time! They are both forces of nature. Their love, their passion, and their differences, are a staple of the series backstory. Enter into that backstory other memorable and well-crafted characters such as Eve’s partner, Detective Peabody, whose relationship with Eve sometimes injects laugh out loud humor (or at least a chuckle) as a counterpoint to the darker side of the stories. Then there’s Summerset, McNab, Doctor Mira, and other interesting and unique characters who are part of Eve’s world.
Invite these folks into your own world. You won’t regret it.
