Vidya's Reviews > Encore in Death

Encore in Death by J.D. Robb
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did not like it

Standard, below par Eve Dallas book.

Well written and formulaic, but the story fails to stand the test of logical reasoning in the central scene. This is the one where Eve intuits who she thinks the killer is. That chain of thinking is weak and hinges purely on "instinct".

If investigators everywhere used their "instincts" like that, God help the innocents who get caught in the cross-fire.

There's a deliberation about the writing in the first chapter leading upto the murder and Eve's introduction, it looks like it was "bolted on" with thinly buried clues, purely to substantiate the eventual killer.

It seems like the author wrote herself into a dead-end, then used the investigators "instinct" to force fit another central character into the role of the killer and finally edited in a bunch of cues and clues in the first chapter to tie it together.

Like a recipe with salt sprinkled on instead of cooked in.... its not bad, but its missing something in terms of smoothness and flow.

This book is the straw that breaks my personal value for money equation - the reason I stop reading JD Robb, 20 years after I started, with "Seduction in death" in 2002.

The quality of the writing is still great, still very visual; but the characters have stopped resonating... I suppose its fair to say that this series and this author isn't relatable anymore.

I guess, I've finally outgrown her.

Good bye. Thank you for 20 years of good books.

It was nice while it lasted!
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Reading Progress

Started Reading
February 7, 2023 – Shelved
February 7, 2023 – Finished Reading

Comments Showing 1-2 of 2 (2 new)

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Chrissie Kirk I think you hit the nail on the head and given me food for thought...I've outgrown this series...there is nothing new to be had. But if Robb ends thi series, I surely hope she will tell us who is the chocolate thief in Eve's precinct.


Cybercrone The characters have quit resonating because i have problems believing the book was written by Robb. They were just all wrong.


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