Blog Tour: Obsession in Death by JD Robb

A crisp winter morning in New York, in a luxury apartment, the body of a woman lies stretched out on a huge bed. On the wall above, the killer has left a message in bold black ink: FOR LIEUTENANT EVE DALLAS, WITH GREAT ADMIRATION AND UNDERSTANDING.

Eve Dallas is used to unwanted attention. Famous for her high-profile cases and her marriage to billionaire businessman Roarke, she has learned to deal with intense public scrutiny and media gossip. But now Eve has become the object of a singular and deadly obsession. She has an ‘admirer’, who just can’t stop thinking about her. Who is convinced they have a special bond. Who is planning to kill for her – again and again.

With time against her, Eve is forced to play a delicate – and dangerous – psychological dance. Because the killer is desperate for something Eve can never provide – approval. And once that becomes clear, Eve knows her own life will be at risk – along with those she cares about the most.

This is the first of J.D Robb’s books I’ve read and I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised. On opening the book I saw that it is the latest in a very long line of books all named along the same theme, {something} in death, so I was not sure how easy it would be to get into without knowing any of the characters. It turns out that my concerns were ill-founded. The book stands well on its own and although it references what I assume to be events from other books, prior knowledge it not required.

I have read many different crime / thrillers and I have to confess this one was most satisfying and I think it would appeal to readers of Kathy Reichs and the like. As this is the first of these books I have read I cannot comment as to how formulaic it is.

The characters are well-defined and believable. The main character, Lieutenant Eve Dallas, is a very well-developed character. At various points in the book the author alludes to Eve’s past and I find myself wanting to read more of the books so that I can find out more about her.

The book is set in the second half of the 21st century so there are various sci-fi elements, mainly with relation to the scene-of-crime technology, which, as an avid reader of sci-fi, I rather enjoyed. The story centres around a series of murders committed by someone who considers themselves to be doing the work that Eve herself cannot do due to the constrains of the law, such as executing a defence lawyer who made her living defending guilty people (in the eyes of the murderer, at least).

By the time the identity of the killer is revealed I had figured out a few of the details but the final identity eluded me right up until the end.

The writing style suits my reading style, with reasonable length chapters, fair length sentences and good level of description; defiantly sticking to the old adage of “Show, don’t tell”.
All together a very enjoyable read and I shall defiantly be reading more of J.D Robb’s books in the future.

Obsession in Death is due for release from Piatkus on 12th February 2015.

For UK readers, view the book on Amazon.co.uk

For US readers, view the book on Amazon.com

About the author: 

Nora Roberts is the number one New York Times bestseller of more than 200 novels. She published her first novel using the pseudonym J.D. Robb in 1995, with the In Death series, Robb has become one of the biggest thriller writers on earth, with each new novel reaching number one on bestseller charts over the world. With over 450 million copies of her books in print, she is indisputably one of the most celebrated and popular writers in the world. For more information, visit Nora’s website – www.noraroberts.com/ or visit her on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/norarobertsjdrobb

by

Chris Parish