Novel review: Naked in Death by J. D. Robb (Nora Roberts)

I sometimes have a tendency to resist reading a series of books, or watching a series on television purely because people insist on telling me how good it is, not once or twice, but every single time I talk to them. It is childish of me, I know, but the more people try to push something on me, the more I resist.

That is how it was with J.D. Robb's 'In Death' novels, featuring the emotionally damaged homicide detective, Eve Dallas. J.D. Robb is, as most people who have read her novels know, one of Nora Roberts pseudonyms. I finally - and reluctantly - picked up the first novel in the series, Naked In Death, and sat down to read it. Several hours later I closed the book and put it down only because lack of sleep was starting to make the words swim around on the page.

Set in 2058 the novel follows heroine Eve Dallas on an investigation in the homicide of a wealthy licensed companion - prostitution being both legal and well controlled - who happens to also be the daughter of a conservative Senator. The world Eve inhabits is near enough to our own that it requires little in the way of imagination. True, menial tasks such as cooking and cleaning are often handed over to drones and other technological advances, but the less savoury aspects of life such as poverty, violence and drug addiction seem to exist in greater numbers than ever. As one of Eve's contemporaries points out, basic human nature cannot be altered, even with the advanced and common use of genetic controls in the mid twenty-first century. With the world's population larger than ever, items that we take for granted in our own lives, such as real coffee or meat, are available in large quantities only to the super-rich in this futuristic world.

During the course of the investigation Eve finds that not only is she falling in love with the billionaire suspect, Roarke, her investigation is being closely monitored, perhaps even interfered with, by her superiors in the police as well as the deceased's grandfather. The bad-tempered yet caring detective is well-written and I will admit that there were times that my heart was in my mouth during this gritty novel. Roberts strikes a balance between detail and pace that is rare; the world she builds is so well-written that it is easy to imagine yourself there watching as Eve fights her way through the case to its conclusion.

I can admit that I wish I had read the novel sooner. Roberts writing is a delight to read; a futuristic crime-thriller with enough violence, police intrigue and romance to appeal to a wide range of readers.