Celeste's Reviews > Encore in Death

I obviously love this series if I’ve stuck around for 56 (!!) books. I love the near-future setting, I love the procedural setup, but most of all, I love the characters. By 56 books in with the same core cast, I know these people intimately. They feel more real to me than some people I know in real life. I also love the episodic nature, how each case is self-contained to a single book, while we get to see how the lives of the central cast are progressing and changing from book to book.

This particular story deals with the celebrity world. When a hugely beloved actor dies of cyanide poisoning at the party he was throwing with his equally famous actress wife, Eve has to determine which half of the power couple was truly the intended target as she weaves through this world of glitz and glamour and long-held grudges. Just because you’re famous doesn’t mean you aren’t willing to get your hands dirty for revenge’s sake if opportunity presents itself.

I found the central story of this particular installment a bit lackluster in comparison to some other books in the series. However, I readily admit that this is due in large part to the fact that I am in no way enamored with the celebrity realm. I see what Roberts was doing with this installment, though. The past few books have dealt with heavy, dark, disturbing content, and this provided a bit of a breather for both the reader and the characters. Even if I wasn’t deeply invested in the case, there were a few interesting twists, and I’m always incredibly happy to catch up with the characters.