PamG's Reviews > Encore in Death

J. D. Robb (pseudonym for Nora Roberts) infuses murder, suspense, and drama in Encore in Death , a well-written futuristic police procedural set in New York City featuring Lieutenant Eve Dallas with the NYC police department and set around 2061.

Celebrity couple Eliza Lane and Brant Fitzhugh throw a party on the night before Brant is scheduled to leave for New Zealand. He is producing and starring in a movie being filmed there while Eliza is set for the role of a lifetime on Broadway. Eve Dallas arrives after Brant toasted Eliza, fell to the floor, and died. The drink that killed him was originally intended for Eliza. Which of them was the target? With over 200 guests, staff, and servers, it’s not going to be easy to identify the killer.

Time spent with Eve, Delia (Eve’s partner), Roarke (Eve’s husband), and Eve’s colleagues is always entertaining. The main characters are compelling and three-dimensional. Eve’s 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. As always, the interactions between Eve and Roarke are enjoyable and bring a different facet of Eve’s personality to light. Several of the recurring police characters play significant roles in this book, and readers get to see a bit of their private lives. I also enjoyed seeing Delia take on more responsibility in this story line.

The prose is well-written and engaging. The plot is thought-provoking and tragic. While this book has some action, it is mostly a police procedural. Robb usually manages to weave humor in her novels, providing some much needed levity to offset some of the more serious and grim aspects of the story. The humor manages to bring out Eve’s personality. Everything from phrases she doesn’t understand, to her reactions to the loud clothing worn by her colleagues and to a candy thief make her more relatable. The author brings strong characters, great plots, wonderful relationships, and excellent pacing to the series. Woven through the novel are threads of caring for others, friendship, relationships, ego, glamour, careers, leadership, and trust.

Overall, this novel was a twisty tale with great characterization that kept me turning the pages. If you enjoy engaging near-future police procedurals, then I recommend this series. This is the fifty-sixth book in the In Death Eve Dallas series and I have read all of them up to this point. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

St. Martin’s Press and J.D. Robb provided a digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way. Publication date was February 7, 2023. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.
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My 4.88 rounded to 5 stars review is coming soon.