STRANGERS IN DEATH

By NORA ROBERTS, writing as J.D. ROBB

Last Tuesday Arthur led our discussion of J.D. Robb's latest (26th!) book in the NYC Detective Lt. Eve Dallas series, set in the year 2060 (STRANGERS IN DEATH). We now understand that this author is one of the most prolific authors we have ever heard of. She began writing Harlequin romances at a clip of 10 or so a year, if we have the math right, as Nora Roberts. She expanded into Fantasy Romance and in this series into Crime Romance, as this is clearly a book with a romance theme.

The Detective Lieutenant tackles the case of a well-known, well-liked, and well-heeled businessman, who is killed in mysterious circumstances involving kinky sex gone wrong. About half way through the book, Lt. Dallas is convinced it's the businessman's wife and sets her goal to prove it.

Our criticisms were primarily for plot development and a bit, mixing genres, and a really major flaw of setting the book (and series) in 2060 with very little 'world-building' to help us suspend belief. Jumping more than 40 years into the future requires many more changes in how things operate then the author was willing to share with us. While everyone felt she was a terrific writer (and why wouldn't she be considering the number of books published), neither the boys nor girls in the meeting felt they would recommend this to another male. There is a lot of romance in the book as we follow Detective Eve Dallas' relationship with her husband Roarke. Perhaps to the degree that action in the book suffers. However, the group on Tuesday night gave Ms. Robb high marks for character development, with one member pointing out that 'half the book was dialog'.

In the end about half said they would read her again and a few said they would read the author if there was nothing else near at hand to read. Most said they would recommend the book with the caveat that they would only recommend the book to females, however.