• Secrets in Death

  • In Death, Book 45
  • By: J. D. Robb
  • Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
  • Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (6,318 ratings)

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Secrets in Death  By  cover art

Secrets in Death

By: J. D. Robb
Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
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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.

What listeners say about Secrets in Death

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

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.

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64 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

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.

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32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Slow Burning Secrets

This is Book 45 in the "In Death" series. That's Forty. Five. A couple of years ago Audible calculated the total hours of listening time for all the series in their library, and "In Death" came in first, leaving Robert Jordan’s "Wheel of Time" series in the dust. So a lot of people like these books, and I'm one of them.

I picked up "Witness in Death" (that was In Death #10) years ago without knowing JD Robb = Nora Roberts—it was still a trade secret in the early 90s. There was something about WiD that drew me in, and on my next trip to NYC I hit the 3rd floor (of 6) in the sadly now-defunct B&N at Lincoln Center, where you could find everything, and splurged on all first 9 books (they were only mass market paperback back then, no hardcover or audio versions).

It’s now 25 years and a LOT of episodes later and Dallas, Roarke, Peabody, McNabb, Mavis, Commander Whitney, and many others have become my imaginary friends. I want Terrible Trina to do my hair and I wish I had Summerset to run my household. Today we all carry around the "pocket link communicators" that seemed futuristic in 1993. We have self-driving cars and voice-operated home systems that turn on the lights for us, just like Dallas has always had. I can only hope that Robb/Roberts turns out NOT to be accurate about the Urban Wars that ravaged the In Death world in the 2030s, some 30 years prior to when the series is set. The Urban Wars scenario seems all too plausible to me.

All this is by way of saying that this series is an amazing achievement, and my hat is off to the author. It's also a lead-in to addressing a complaint I’ve seen in reader/listener reviews of "Secrets in Death"--that "it’s slow" and "nothing much happens." There is some truth in these comments. The shocking (and bloody) murder of a blackmailing sociopath happens early, and Eve’s unraveling of the various threads in the case may make the procedural-dense plot seem tedious to some.

Life in New York City in 2061 progresses slowly—I think I once calculated that 10 books = 1 year. Most of the books do have character progression and change for at least one of the large cast of core characters, and perhaps some of the complaints stem from the fact that that did not seem to happen here, although Eve does undergo a subtle but important battle with her conscience (I’ll stop here, no spoilers). Everyone in the cast ends up pretty much where they started, but I enjoyed the trip.

For the Friends of Dallas and the Fans of Roarke (let’s face it, in Roarke Robb has created the Perfect Male, alas that such exists only in fiction), Secrets in Death has the usual tropes and interactions, which I personally find soothing. The book was like Eve and Roarke’s marriage—settling down. If this goes on for too long, I might get bored, but the series is still a must-read/listen for me, and after 45+ episodes, that’s REALLY saying something.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

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?"

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

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.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

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.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

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.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

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.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Something lacking

I love this series and reread/ listen to it often. I loved the interchange with the characters as always in this particular book, but it felt like something was lacking in the plot. The villain was predictable, too predictable, and it feels like there are unanswered questions to the crime. Mainly, why did the victim change her identity so drastically?

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

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.

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4 people found this helpful