It’s hard to believe that author J.D. Robb is up to book fifty-sixth in her In Death series! ENCORE IN DEATH is a lively whodunit in the near future featuring one of my favorite duos in investigation. That duo could either be New York Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her yummy uber-billionaire husband Roarke, or Dallas and her police departmental partner Dahlia Peabody. Either way, Eve Dallas is front and center here, dishing attitude and (rightfully) taking prisoners.
The poisoning of a beloved actor-director occurs at the party celebrating his actress wife’s upcoming reprisal role in a famous Broadway play. It’s unclear if the husband was the intended victim, or could it be his actress wife, whose poisoned drink he held for her as she belted out a tune from the show with her co-star? Robb gives her readers lively details about the lives of the rich and the famous, as well as those not so lucky in the search for stardom.
Eve Dallas is a favorite character of mine. She’s grumpy and mouthy, and always entertaining. Some In Death books spend a significant amount of time exploring Dallas’ childhood traumas or her relationships with her friends and family. ENCORE IN DEATH, in contrast, is more of a straight procedural. Sometimes Robb shows us who the killer is right away in the book, but here we must wait until the end for the actual killer to be revealed.
Long-time fans of Robb will enjoy another chance to see Dallas be her usual pugnacious and funny self. The full cast of characters never ceases to entertain. ENCORE IN DEATH brings us a showstopper death and a brava performance from the detective who always gets her (wo)man.
It was a glittering event full of A-listers, hosted by Eliza Lane and Brant Fitzhugh, a celebrity couple who’d conquered both Hollywood and Broadway. And now Eve Dallas has made her entrance—but not as a guest. After raising a toast, Fitzhugh fell to the floor and died, with physical symptoms pointing to cyanide, and the police have crashed the party.
From all accounts, he wasn’t the kind of star who made enemies. Everyone loved him—even his ex-wife. And since the champagne cocktail that killed him was originally intended for Eliza, it’s possible she was the real target, with a recently fired assistant, a bitter rival, and an obsessed fan in the picture. With so many attendees, staff, and servers, Eve has her work cut out determining who committed murder in the middle of the crowd—and what was their motivation. As one who’s not fond of the spotlight herself, she dreads the media circus surrounding a case like this. All she wants is to figure out who’s truly innocent, and who’s only acting that way…
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