Obsession in Death-Fabulous #40 in the series!

What can one say about the 40th book in a series other than Wow!; how does J.D. Robb keep doing this? 

Obsession in Death is a page turner about a murderer who offers their kills as an homage to Lt.  Eve Dallas.  Eve knows that this type of fixation will eventually turn against her and has to solve the case before that happens. 

What I really liked about this book was how it showed the personal growth that Eve has made since the first book in being able to let go of her need to only count on herself. All of the favorites are in the book, Mira, Nadine, Mavis and some new names are added in Cop Central. As the killer keeps moving closer to a confrontation, Eve has to rely on her friends and coworkers to shoulder some of the load she carries. She and Roarke have a couple of sheet burning episodes in this book and the cop and her civilian consultant have their teamwork down working to catch the killer.

This is such an amazing series. The little touches, like Eve and baby Bella interacting, add so much to each book and keep you hooked. The continuity is perfect.I loved reading it and now I'm stoked to listen to the amazing Susan Ericksen audio version.

Audiobooks- the reader will make or break them.

I have had two experiences recently that made me think about how the narrator of an audio book can improve your enjoyment of a book or ruin the book for you. I recently read that Ralph Cosham, the reader of all of the Louise Penny audio books, has passed away. I almost cried when I read that. I love the Three Pines mystery series and I own the print, eBook and audio version of all of them. I remember listening to the end of one of the books in the parking lot of the library where I work  and sobbing at the ending.

Ralph Cosham is the voice I hear in my head when I read the books. He will be very hard to replace. It has happened before. I am a long time fan of Susan Elizabeth Phillips (SEP) and she had a reader, Anna Fields, who read the majority of her books. Ms. Fields was killed in her home by a mudslide and all of the Seppies( fans of SEP) were devastated because she made the already wonderful books that much more enjoyable.  It was hard to listen to the next few books but we persevered.

Another long time reader is Susan Erickson who does the J.D. Robb series of futuristic mysteries. Again, when I read the books, I hear her voicing of the characters in my head. They have come to life for me through her.  There are lots of great readers out there who take a favored book and really make it special.

On the other hand, there are times when the reader absolutely ruins a book by their narration. I started to listen to a favorite book  in my car the other day and I had to turn it off after 10 minutes. The story takes place in France and the hero is an alpha male in a food profession. The reader had a very annoying habit of ending each sentence on an upnote so it felt like I was listening to a comedy. The worst part was her voicing of the hero was in a high pitched horrible French accent that kept making me picture a cartoon character. I had to stop listening before the book was forever ruined for me. Other books in the series were narrated by other readers and I loved those versions. I learned a lesson- LISTEN to the sample before you buy.

It will be very hard to listen to the next Louise Penny book and not hear Ralph because he is the voice of Armand Gamache to me. He will be greatly missed by all of his fans.

Celebrity in Death by J.D. Robb

Lieutenant Eve Dallas is no party girl, but she's managing to have a reasonably good time at the celebrity-packed bash celebrating The Icove Agenda, a film based on one of her famous cases. It's a little spooky seeing the actress playing her, who looks almost like her long-lost twin. Not as unsettling, though, as seeing the actress who plays Peabody drowned in the lap pool on the roof of the director's luxury building. Now she's at the center of a crime scene-and Eve is more than ready to get out of her high heels and strap on her holster and step into the role she was born to play: cop. ( Synopsis from B&N.com)

Hardcover, Penguin, 400 pages 

Celebrity in Death is the latest book in the Eve Dallas series and it is almost contemplative compared to some of the earlier books. Eve is the subject of a vid that is being made based on Nadine Furst’s book about the Icove case.  A dinner has been planned with the cast members and their real life counterparts to celebrate the near completion of the movie. As usual, Eve is grumpy about getting dressed up and having to attend a fancy social function. All of that changes when one of the actors ends up dead and Eve and Peabody have to solve the murder.

The victim, K.T. Harris, was disliked by everyone who worked with her and even had a tussle with Eve during the dinner. She was playing Peabody in the vid and her resemblance causes Eve and the rest of the NYPSD staff some moments of unease. AS they dig deeper into her life and death, they discover that K.T. had lots of secrets and was doing her best to disrupt the lives of her co-workers by various methods such as blackmail and coercion. It seems to Eve and Peabody that everyone has a motive and with the majority of the suspects being actors it is going to be difficult to really find out what happened.

This book has less of the action that earlier books had but more introspection into Eve and Roarke’s lives. Peabody and McNab have their special moments as well. Eve is moving on from the events that happened in Texas and coming to some measure of peace.  Roarke still worries about Eve but looks back on his life and realizes how much balance Eve brought to him. Their relationship just keeps getting stronger and more loving.  There are thirty four books in this series and they only cover a little over two years which adds to the continuity of Eve’s relationships both personal and work related.  The overlying theme of this book is about choices and how making a certain choice at a particular time has caused events to happen in each of the lives of the characters in the book. This is also the means that Eve uses to finally solve the murder-looking at choices made and how that person’s life was affected by them. It all ties together and makes this a satisfying addition to the series

Treachery in Death-In Death# 40

In the latest from the #1 New York Times bestselling phenomenon, Eve Dallas tracks down those who break the law-including the ones sworn to uphold it.
Detective Eve Dallas and her partner, Peabody, are following up on a senseless crime-an elderly grocery owner killed by three stoned punks for nothing more than kicks and snacks. This is Peabody's first case as primary detective-good thing she learned from the master.
But Peabody soon stumbles upon a trickier situation. After a hard workout, she's all alone in the locker room when the gym door clatters open; and-while hiding inside a shower stall trying not to make a sound-she overhears two fellow officers, Garnet and Oberman, arguing. It doesn't take long to realize they're both crooked-guilty not just of corruption but of murder. Now Peabody, Eve, and Eve's husband, Roarke, are trying to get the hard evidence they need to bring the dirty cops down-knowing all the while that the two are willing to kill to keep their secret.  (Synopsis from Barnes & Noble.com)

Publication date: February 22, 2011- available at  RPL in Hardcover and Audio

I could not wait to get this book home and start reading it!  The book begins with a trio of stoners robbing a small store and killing the owner. As the investigation starts, Lt. Eve Dallas throws the reins to Det. Peabody and Peabody gets her first case as primary. One of the best part of this series is how the history of the characters plays throughout the books. Seeing Peabody step up to the plate almost makes you feel proud because we have seen her grow through the previous books. When she finds herself in a deadly situation after going to and old police gym to workout, we are holding our breath along with her. She overhears a conversation that implicates two cops in a murder and corruption scheme and is lucky to escape undetected.

Peabody goes to Eve and tells her what she heard and the investigation begins.  Eve is a cop to the bone and takes this situation as a betrayal of all she stands for. The fact that one of the cops involved is also a female lieutenant, whose father was a revered Commander in the department, makes it all the worse. Eve draws her troops around her and goes to work making her case. All of the characters we have come to know- Commander Whitney, profiler Mira, Eve's husband Roarke, McNab, Truehart, Baxter, Mavis, and even IAB Det. Webster have a part in the operation. There is plenty of action as well as a strenghthening of some of the core relationships that have been in place since the first book.  

As always, when I got to the end of the book, I was antsy for the next one. This is a great series and if you haven't read it you need to start at the beginning and work your way through. The series takes place about 30 years in the future but has very little of a scence fiction feel to it. It is primarily a police procedural mystery and is very popular among library readers.  The audio version is excellent with the same reader for all of the books.