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| Strangers in Death (In Death) | 
 enlarge | Author: J.d. Robb
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $0.70
You Save: $25.25 (97%)
New (104) Used (165) Collectible (5) from $0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  84 reviews
Sales Rank: 17079
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0399154701
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780399154706
ASIN: 0399154701
Publication Date: February 19, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New Book! Excellent Condition! Usually ships same or next business day!
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| Customer Reviews:
 Can it get any better? February 24, 2008
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
The 31st installment in the Eve and Roarke series is one of the best. I wait impatiently for each new story to come out. Once a year I read the whole series from Naked in Death all the way through to the latest installment. I was thrilled by this latest.
The book is fast-paced and hard to put down. I laughed at times and burned with anger at the arrogance of the murderer. It takes a unique talent to create a series with characters that seem so real they become family and friends. I wish somethimes that Nora Roberts could be cloned so one of her could focus only on the J.D. Robb books. The six or seven months between installments sometimes feels like eternity. I read every thing she writes but my favorites are the "in Death" series hands down.
I loved the resolution of a relationship that I wasn't comfortable with throughout the series and cheered when Eve sews up the perpetrator in a classic interview session. Really, can it get any better?
 Eve is becoming insufferable (SPOILERS) April 23, 2008
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
Sorry to disagree with the others who enjoyed it, but what stood out for me is how self-righteous and arrogant Eve is becoming. Rather than have her grow and cnange in a somewhat quirky way, as Robb usually does, the entire book should have been subtitled "Eve is always right."
Eve's take on relationships is always right. Good people (aka Charles) come around to agree with her. Bad people (like the murderer) are bad people, murder and go to jail.
Noble, selfless Eve has to be urged to take her husband's money (ridiculous), but evil, horrible villain is only after money... and so on.
The book really did nothing for me at all. I haven't really enjoyed one of Robb's books since Innocent in Death (and that was hard to read because it was so emotional). The last one was a Roarke lovefest and this one she turned into a cop version of Oracle of Delphi. I would have enjoyed the story better with more ambiguity.
Also, I'm getting incredibly tired of the contrived way in which Roarke is brought in so often. The last book, okay, the one in which he's targeted or his employees were - that makes sense. Does a multi-trillionaire really have so little to do that he can afford to take time out like that? Doesn't he ever stress out or need support? Or sleep?
I hope Robb produces some better plots coming up, because this was a disappointment.
Another great Eve Dallas mystery February 22, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is an enjoyable return to form for J D Robb whose Eve Dallas series numbers over 25 books now. I have felt that the last ones have perhaps been rather tired and showed the limitations of a long-running series but "Strangers In Death" was a definite improvement with an interesting mystery, rather more natural-seeming reactions between characters and not too many references to events in previous books which might confuse newcomers to the series.
In this story Eve is called to the scene of an apparent accidental death during some sex play. The widow of Thomas Anders was away in St Lucia with two friends and there is great humiliation for her in the way her husband was found, especially as everyone believed they had a great marriage and were faithful to each other. As Eve Dallas and Delia Peabody begin to investigate, looking at Thomas Anders' nephew amongst other people, they discover that one of the people around Anders is a rather good actor who has been playing a part for many years in order to set themselves up for money and power.
As usual Eve seems able to make some rather impressive leaps of imagination which get her on the right track; also as usual she's rarely wrong, Roarke has superhuman abilities with computers and money and seems to be able to take time off from his own work at the drop of a hat. Still the mystery in this story was very well constructed, the characterisation unveiled effectively and the resolution worked well. There wasn't any great soul-searching or moralising in this story as there have been in others, this was rather more of a straight murder mystery tale than a deep delving into the marriage of Eve and Roarke and, for me, that made it a better and more enjoyable book. Eve Dallas fans will no doubt love this contribution to the series and, for me, it has proven that there is still some mileage in this series.
Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book Helen Hancox 2008
Best "In Death..." in a while! February 24, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I have read all of the books in this series as well as most of everything else Nora Roberts puts out. I have felt let down by a number of her recent books, but this one was exactly what made me a fan of NR to begin with! What was notable for the In Death series was that it was more lighthearted than usual. Eve and Roarke seemed to just really enjoy each other in this story without some of the occasionally overwrought drama you find in the other "In Death..." books. Don't get me wrong, that drama is part of what makes the story line work, but this was a nice breath of fresh air. I enjoyed the banter between the characters. I loved the side story with Charles and Louise. I guess one negative would be that McNab seemed fairly peripheral to the story.
Anyway- two thumbs up, I enjoyed this more than any other book Nora has put out in a while.
The best of the lot --- at least, so far February 25, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
It's 2060 in New York City. Much has changed in police work, but little has changed in crime. People still kill people. Lieutenant Eve Dallas has another big case --- and another girly thing to do. She relishes the first and dreads the latter. Fortunately, she has the support of a good man to help her and/or torment her over her lack of feminine interests.
Insinuating himself into her professional life more every day, Eve's hunky husband Roarke is a huge help --- and a very sexy one. He lends a hand with her cases, but always with an underlying motive for being around her. And he grabs any chance he has to engage her in a little non-police work. She doesn't often mind. Roarke has good looks, Irish charm, big bucks, playful impishness on his side and an overactive romantic bone: "Every minute with you, I'm alive. I never knew before there were pieces of me unborn, just waiting for you. I'm alive with you, Eve." She sighed, touched his cheek. "We'd better get out of here. We're getting mush all over the pool." Was that before or after they made love --- again?
This case gets to Eve in a way that many others before it have not, including the one that featured her as a prime target. She could deal with that, but this victim shouldn't have died the way he did. "It hits me. Some of them do, and it hits me because he was a nice man who loved his wife and used his money and position to do good things."
Thomas A. Anders --- philanthropist, loving husband and extremely rich man --- is discovered dead in his bedroom, in a highly compromising position. The scene does not suggest accident but screams "Murder." With so much planning required to set this stage, it seems as though someone hated him a great deal. But subsequent interviews fail to turn up anyone with a bad word to say for dear old Tommy.
Cops always take a close look at the spouse, especially when vast sums of money stand to be inherited. Mrs. Anders --- Ava --- was out of town at the time of her husband's death, and her alibi is unshakable. Besides, her reaction to the news of his murder is an appropriate amount of upset mixed with the right touch of sadness and horror. Why, then, does Eve put Ava at the top of the list of suspects? It's just a feeling she has, and the lieutenant's instincts are usually spot on.
Maybe spurred on by the victim's example or perhaps just following her heart, Eve does her own philanthropic thing. She indulges her soft spot for the underdog and rewards those desperately trying to be good citizens. She allows her tough veneer to crack around deserving downtrodden types. But people who allow themselves to be constant victims and don't attempt to fight back draw her disgust and make her very unhappy. Keeping Eve happy is a wise thing to do, for she can be one rough lady, unsympathetic, even downright cold.
J.D. Robb has another blockbuster with STRANGERS IN DEATH. Her handling of Eve dealing with a case that grows very personal is flawless; the writing is tight, the dialogue snappy and the plot intriguing. The books in the In Death series are always romances wrapped around a mystery, set in the future with some old-fashioned wooing. Her latest is no exception. In fact, it may be the best of the lot --- at least, so far. I'm betting that Robb isn't finished with Eve and Roarke yet. Now that would be criminal!
--- Reviewed by Kate Ayers
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