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TinaNoir

Tina's Reading Books

Genre fiction lover:  Romance, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Mystery, Urban Fantasy

Naked In Death

Naked in Death  - J.D. Robb, Susan Ericksen

Originally read in 1995, re-read 2016

The year is 2058. Prostitution is legal and licensed, guns are considered antiques akin to the crossbow, real coffee and meat are hideously expensive, and Eve Dallas is one of New York's finest.

She is called to the scene of a crime where a Licensed Companion is found murdered and the weapon of choice is a gun. Guns are kept in museums or are in private collections of the rich. One such private collector is the handsome billionaire Roarke (no last name, just Roarke). He becomes a prime suspect. Even though two other victims are murdered by the same MO, the first victim was the granddaughter of a state senator who has an eye toward the presidency. The powerful family puts pressure on Eve to find the murderer while simultaneously using her death further their conservative political agenda.

As Eve continues her investigation she grows closer to Roarke and learns some surprising truths about her victim.

I bought and read this book back in 1995 when it was first published. Having followed Nora Roberts from her Silhouettes to her mass market novels, I figured I was prepared for what she was writing under this newfangled pseudonym.

I was not prepared for Eve Dallas. I honestly don't think that at the time any Nora Roberts fan was at all prepared for what JD Robb had to say.

Eve Dallas was very different from any romance heroine at the time (and I would also argue even now). She's a hard, tough bare-knuckled brawler who has such a clear moral center and a commitment to justice that you feel almost righteous as you read about her. Truthfully it is a misnomer to consider Eve a romance heroine or these books truly romance. They are not. They are police procedurals. But because the writer is Nora Roberts and they feature prominently the romance of Eve and Roarke, it is difficult not to consider them alongside other romances. They are more a mystery-romance-futuristic-thriller hybrid.