Secrets in Death

By: J. D. Robb

Narrated by: Susan Ericksen

Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

A new novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series: Lt. Eve Dallas must separate rumors from reality when a woman who traffics in other people's secrets is silenced.

The chic Manhattan nightspot Du Vin is not the kind of place Eve Dallas would usually patronize, and it's not the kind of bar where a lot of blood gets spilled. But that's exactly what happens one cold February evening.

The mortally wounded woman is Larinda Mars, a self-described "social information reporter," or as most people would call it, a professional gossip. As it turns out, she was keeping the most shocking stories quiet, for profitable use in her side business as a blackmailer. Setting her sights on rich, prominent marks, she'd find out what they most wanted to keep hidden and then bleed them dry. Now someone's done the same to her, literally - with a knife to the brachial artery.

Eve didn't like Larinda Mars. But she likes murder even less. To find justice for this victim, she'll have to plunge into the dirty little secrets of all the people Larinda Mars victimized herself. But along the way, she may be exposed to some information she really didn't want to know...

©2017 Nora Roberts (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Delightfully full of secrets!

Another great Eve Dallas story. This one is lighter (less gruesomely explicit) than some have been, with great moments of humor. I'd say though that this is one that that doesn't stand alone as well, but leans on several of the others, so it's not a good one to start with if you're unfamiliar with the series. There are direct references in particular to Glory in Death, Portrait in Death, and even Devoted in Death that figure significantly in understanding the story. Nice character relationship moments; they really have settled together into a family. As always, Susan Ericksen delivers them to us with skill. If you're already a fan of the series, I predict you'll enjoy this book. If you're new to it, don't start with this one. You won't appreciate the character moments if you haven't traveled with them a while to get here.

30 of 30 people found this review helpful

A fun who did it.

This is book 45 in the series and Robb has not repeated a story. She also changes the formula from time to time to keep the reader engaged. This book is a bit of a change just to keep things exciting. I am amazed that Robb’s Death Series is still as exciting and fresh as in the beginning. It is a rare author that can achieve this longevity. The main thing I like about Robb is her fascinating characters. She has a large array of them in this series and brings different ones out to fit the story. In this case, Eve Dallas meets with Dr. Garnet DeWinter, the forensic anthropologist, who works at the city morgue. They are meeting at a new restaurant called Du Vin (no big surprise we find out that Roarke, Eve’s husband owns the place) for lunch when gossip columnist Larinda Mars arrives and then collapses. Garnet and Eve try to save her but she dies. Eve decides she was murdered and the team is on the case.
I started reading this series years ago because it was set in the future about 2060 or so in New York City. I was curious as to how the author would see the future, what stays the same, what is very different, how does technology, automobiles etc. evolve. I found Robb’s future quite intriguing. Eva Dallas is a tough, cool-headed, competent detective. I like stories about strong women. This is a slower paced investigative type story and the reader gets the clues at the same time Dallas does. Great fun trying to figure out “who dun it”.

The book is about thirteen hours long. Susan Ericksen does a great job narrating the book. She has been the only narrator for this series. Ericksen is an actress, writer, linguist and is married to David Colacci another well-known audiobook narrator. Ericksen has won the Audie and numerous Earphone awards. For the audiobook narrator the Audie is equivalent to winning the Oscar or the Tony.

15 of 15 people found this review helpful

Entertaining but not as riveting as her usual.

I think we've been spoiled by her usual twists and turns. This one was a little bland.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Not quite up to snuff

I love the series and anxiously await each installment, but this one felt "light". It was like Robb was trying to fit in a touch of each character (Nadine, Mavis, Eve's evil past) and there wasn't anything that grabbed me this time. Also the bad guy was just too obvious. I'll continue with the series, but I think I'll revisit some of the earlier novels for my next fix.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Seems different

I've missed my favorite characters and narrator but something seems different. This book, like her last few seem rushed. We aren't getting as much interaction with other characters like we use too. There isn't as much of a build up to the bad guy, the discovery and interrogations don't seem as heart felt as they use too. I'm beginning to think our author is tiring of these characters.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Same old story

I guess it's getting a little tired now- same formula, nothing new or exciting. Eve's seemingly innocent questioning of common similes feels contrived. The author's dragging out the story of Eve's rape as a child in every story like a souvenir, along with graphic sex scenes in the present, is more than distasteful. If I count up all the times Ive fast forwarded these parts I'd have a whole new book. This storyline had numerous red herrings and by the time the author got to the second victim I had no idea who that was and the I had to go back to even remember the perpetrator. I just didn't care. Basically, meh 😐- just not worth the 10+ hours. The only mystery worth investigating is "who's the candy thief?"

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

Okay but not as good as previous books

I live the In Death books. This one had some good Eve and Roark moments, but the solving of the murder seemed to happen out of the blue and the ending was rather anticlimactic. Narration excellent as always.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Snooze in death

Another that was hard to get through. I listened at 1.25x speed and almost forwarded through parts. There were a couple sweet moments, but a lot of listening for about 30 minutes of good content. I don't want the series to end because I love the characters, but this is so far from original quality. Some big changes need to happen, otherwise I will be waiting for library copy.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Disappointed.

I love this series, but do not like this one. The story was boring and nothing new with character development. It's becoming too formulaic. It was hard to finish this book because I kept losing interest in it. I think it's better when there's some danger to one of the main characters and when there is something that helps the characters' growth, either individually or as couples. Hoping the next one is better.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Still good but missing something

Not sure what the story is missing but it lacks the luster of most of the in death series. I enjoyed the book, But: I loved the interaction between Eve and Roarke, it was good, could have been more. most of the characters were present, but had small parts. I really don't care if Eve and Dr. Dewinter like each other or if she is in anymore books.

I think Larinda Mars the DB, was introduced in Glory, she worked for channel 75. Eve does not like Ms. Mars, but she investigates her murder to the fullest. The storyline with her (Dr. Dewinter) and Eve at the beginning was interesting, but not sure it worked. I am with Eve, don't want her with Dr.Morris either. I don't think the killer was as obvious as some think but I felt it sort of dragged a bit without anything for you to hold on to. Eve checked out that all the suspects were being black mailed by Lorinda, Also, Not sure I was crazy about all the stuff everyone was being black mailed about. It sort of hit too close to Eve's background as well. Usually, if the book hit certain things it's a winner for me. All in all, it was still a worthy piece. we fans just expect more. It fed my addiction to the series, and I am waiting on the next installment in Feb. Susan did a great job. I don't want anyone else reading this series.. She has all the characters down. This works No need changing it.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Great story, narrator poor on accents

A satisfying story but the narrator's
attempt at an Irish accent is shocking and spoils things.

good book pity about the Irish accent

i enjoyed the book but as an Irish person found the fake irish accent of roarke exceedingly grating and extremely fake. Would prefer not to hear an accent than a bad one.

Love these two

Classic With all the main players involved. Cheesy as always but I am totally addicted and always gutted when I get to the end

like meeting old friends

My Thoughts:
Forty-five books down the line and and I am still buying the In Death series books. Shouldn't it have waned by now? But the thing is, I still look forward to it every year. I like the way their lives evolved and its like meeting old friends again. Once a year. A lot of the scenes are unrealistic of course, something that would only happen in a book but never in real life, so why is it so easy to suspend disbelief? The only answer I could find to that, is that the author has a way of telling things and weaving a story that makes it easy for readers to believe in it. It's masterful story telling quality! And that probably also explains the staying power of this series. However, this particular book seems to have a... just slightly... a tiny tinee... predictable villain. Or maybe I am just reading too many In Death books...

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 5
Ending = 5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4
Pace = (13 hrs & 2 mins listening time)
Plot = 4.5
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Dallas does it again

Another scintillating read from the In Death series J D Robb at her best once again

Story great as always

The continuing saga of Eve, Rourke and their various friends and colleagues is as fascinating as ever. I have always read this series before, but thought I would try the latest on Audible. The narrators attempt at Rourkes Irish accent is pathetic and put me off to start with, but I got used to it and really enjoyed this latest enthralling addition to the set.

Disappointing

Overall I've enjoyed the series, but this book was a real disappointment. It was pretty obvious who was the killer from very early on and the plot was really weak. Susan Erickson was excellent as always. Hopefully the next "in Death" will be back to standard

Always love these books

Where does Secrets in Death rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I loved it just because it was an In Death book. I adore the characters and it feels comfortable listening to these books now.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I love Roarke and Dallas. Just love when they're together and how lovely they are with each other and how much he adores her.

What about Susan Ericksen’s performance did you like?

I love all the different voices she does and how distinctive they all are.

Any additional comments?

The story was a little disjointed I found. I didn't really follow the reasoning behind the murderer and why Larinda had changed herself so much and her background was a bit odd but I still loved it just because it was what it was. For a fan of the books it was good but if it's your first go at them then please start at the beginning.