Naked in Death

Naked in Death by J. D. Robb

I decided to read this book after seeing a bookmark at the Library called "Read Them in Order." These bookmarks give readers a chronological list of many popular fiction series, which is sometimes difficult to figure out.

For the uninitiated, J. D. Robb is a pseudonym for popular romance writer, Nora Roberts. Naked In Death is the first of her Eve Dallas/Roarke series. When I first started reading this book, I believed that it was a futuristic mystery. Several chapters in, I found that Roberts, while writing as Robb was staying true to her romantic roots, despite the book's cover.

The story concerns a no nonsense woman police detective (Dallas) and her investigation into the murder of a prostitute. In the process of finding the killer, Dallas must deal with politics, police bureaucracy and the demons of her own childhood abuse. She also manages to meet a rich, mysterious and handsome man known only as “Roarke.” This stranger, while under suspicion for the murder, manages to seduce Dallas.

The mystery part of the book was satisfying and had a nice twist to its ending. The characters in the novel were very typical of mystery and romance novels, somewhat shallow in development. The relationship between Roarke and Dallas is also fairly typical of the romance genre. In regards to the future setting of this novel- I felt that many of the details of America in the year 2058 were awkwardly included, but one should not compare Nora Roberts/J. D. Robb to masters such as Orwell or Heinlein.

Overall, this book was fun and a nice escape.

The Kewanee Public Library has a copy of Naked in Death available for check out in Adult Fiction.

Jill Gray

Information Services
Kewanee Public Library