Celebrity In Death: 34

This book once again focuses back on the Icove book now there is a film being made on what happened with that case. There is a murder on set and the story is centered around this murder and no other side issues. This is once again a good read that leaves you wanting to read the next book to see

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what happens in the lives of not only Eve and Rourke but everyone else in the series.

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I laughed out loud while reading the very first chapter - and that may be the primary thing that keeps me coming back again and again for more In Death. Robb packs a lot of humor into her books, in addition to solid mysteries and the underlying romance. Considering the dark storyline from the

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previous book, I wasn't too surprised at the slower pace of this one. Eve and Roarke are coming to terms with their past, and their relationship is finally taking the next steps. The mystery wasn't the most exciting (and I do admit to a bit of boredom with the Icove case - let's move on, shall we?), but the character development, especially in the relationships, was excellent. Not only are Eve and Roarke admitting their own vulnerability toward one another, but Peabody and McNab move forward as well. There were a few cameos from popular secondary characters (like Mira and Feeney), but for the most part they stayed in the background. This was about Eve letting go of her painful past, which I think will allow the series to go to a new level.

Overall, I didn't find this as fast paced as previous installments, but I couldn't put it down either. Another winner from Robb that leaves me eager for the next book. Highly recommended.

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I enjoy the "In Death" series. Lt. Eve Dallas is a favorite character of mine. I like reading about strong women and Eve is definitely that!

By the time you're into #34 in a series, you're going to feel quite at home with the characters and the setting. I thought 2060-something New York felt less futuristic in this book than in previous ones, but maybe I'm just getting used to being there. I want an Auto Chef! I love Eve, and Peabody,

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and Roarke, and Feeney.... and everyone else here. The murder mystery wasn't as intense and fast-paced as some of the previous in the series, but still enjoyable. An added bonus is just how funny Eve and the others are...love 'em and looking forward to the next.

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I love the Eve Dallas books. For some unknown reason it took me a while to get into this one. Perhaps because of the setting-I'm not into celebrity things.
However once into this book I loved it.

For me, the "In Death" books are ones that I will read straight through so I have to start them with a fairly free day ahead. That said, this latest book in the series will not end up as one of my favorites.

We start with Dallas and friends attending a dinner party to celebrate the near completion

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of the vid being made from Nadine's bestseller about the Icove affair (an earlier case).
The actors and their real life counterparts enjoy dinner and then watch a gag reel in the host's home theater. Just as the party is breaking up one of the actors is discovered dead and it is unclear whether it's an accident or homicide.
Naturally, Dallas ends up as the primary investigator.

In this book the main focus is on Dallas and Peabody with the usual satellites appearing infrequently. Even Roarke has a smaller role than usual. I also thought there was less emphasis than usual on the differences between the New York of 2012 and our own New York. A slight irritant was the overuse of NYSPD cop jargon, especially acronyms, in the first part of the book.

Recommended for fans who have read all the earlier books. (There are definite spoilers for a couple of those other books in the series.)

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The time has come for me to give up on these books. Actually, the time might have been 4 or 5 books ago, but I couldn't finish this one. I could barely start it. THe characters have grown and changed over the series, but I can only stand reading the same conversations so many times...

I liked this one, interesting twists and turns to the who-dunnit and how they did it and the shock felt by several of the characters to the death of someone who looked like one of their own came across quite well.

The Icove murder is being filmed and the people involved are interested in getting

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Dallas involved in the publicity, it's hard enought o see yourself almost mirrored but to see your partner murdered is unnerving, particularly as the actress isn't really liked. As Eve chases the clues she finds more bodies and the clues say things are even more complicated than things look.

Most of this series is going back to people I enjoy reading about and having an entertaining time doing it. I like the characters and I like how they've developed over the series. I also like that they actually feel consequences for previous incidents. This is one of my favourite series to read and I hope it continues for a long while, as well as some day becoming a TV series

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A fun installment in the In Death series. Nora Roberts probably has an in-depth perspective on the movie-making process because some of her books have been made into novels. It comes across in this book as Dallas's case is being made into a movie and that is where her new case is set.

I really enjoyed this installment. My favorite books are the ones were Eve and Roarke are at odds, and though that wasn't the case here I found the case interesting and the usual cast of characters engaging. There was quite a bit of humor laced throughout. The whodunit was pretty easy to figure out

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but I enjoy watching Eve puzzle her way through the evidence.

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I enjoyed this one, being back in New York, but still dealing a bit with the fallout from Dallas. I did feel that the tension was missing in this one. I never felt any real emotion at all, towards the victim, towards the killer, not even any tension or stress between Eve and Roarke. I mean, it's

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nice they're good, but I missed that extra element. No one was even at any personal risk this time, everything just felt like it was tied up so easily. I guess I missed the blood and the danger this time around.

I'd give this one more of a 3-3.5, but bumped it to 4 because it's Eve and Roarke, it was a good story, and it still kept me engaged to the end.

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A movie is being made about the Icove case, and Dallas and Peabody are invited to a party with the major cast and crew members. But the party is marred by murder.

The usual.

Love Eve, Roarke and all the rest! There were a lot more quiet moments between Eve and Roarke, it was great. I love them together.

I have been a die hard J.D. Robb fan for a long time. Have most of the death series in hardback. I was able to get this one very quickly at the library, and was thrilled. Same great cast of characters, but really no interaction. We have brief peeks at Mavis and Leonardo, even Sommerset didn't

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appear much. it mostly revolves around Dallas, and Peabody. The two murdered people actually seemed like they deserved it! Just not my favorite. I will certainly look carefully at the next "Death" offering.

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This was really good. I love the "in death series".

Favorite “In Death” reporter Nadine Furst wrote “The Icove Agenda” based on one of Eve Dallas’ previous cases. The book is now being made into a film and Eve, Roarke, et al are at a cast party celebrating the upcoming wrap of the film. It is a little eerie socially with the actors who

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look and sound so much like the people in Eve’s life. It becomes even more frightening when the actress portraying Peabody in the film is found murdered. Getting to the bottom of the homicide, when all the suspects are trained actors is a little tricky, but Eve and her crack team get the job done yet again.

I like these books very much and it was nice to see this one back on Eve Dallas’ home turf of NYC. All the major players made an appearance in this one, which I also enjoyed as I found I missed them in the last book (New York to Dallas). Another thing I have to praise about this book is that it stepped out of the usual “cookie cutter” format of the books … Eve didn’t get slammed or beaten nor did she find herself in a life threatening scenario at the end of the book. Good job by Ms. Robb (aka Nora Roberts).

To any other fans of the In Death books: I enjoy revisiting these characters with every new installment to the series and I love Roarke … BUT … is it just me or does Roarke seem to get just a tad more controlling in each book? And does Eve seem to lose a little of her grit with every new story? I know they are trying to meld their separate worlds and meet in the middle, but I miss the fireworks.

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another sold read from JD Robb. I got hooked on this series years ago and quiet like to drop in on it occasionally. This one was not the best (in my opinion) but still enjoyable. My main issue with it is the repetition of the main characters and dialogue.

The book was a best seller and now Nadine's book is being made into a movie. The stars are gathered, a party is in order but murder decides to attend. This one will keep you guessing until the very last page. I hope Nora Roberts is busy writing as I type this - Gotta have more.

Well, I tried to make this one last as long as possible. Good thing I had work to distract me and keep me from reading this straight through. The fun part of this book was watching Eve interact with Hollywood celebrities.

I'm really becoming interested in Morris, and hope he features larger in

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future books. I think Eve has a real soft spot for him.

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While on the set of the filming of one of Eve's more intense cases Eve and Peabody are introduced to their filmic doppelgängers. The actor playing Eve is almost perfect for the part but Peabody's part is taken by an actor who couldn't be more different from the delightful Delia Peabody. Actor

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Peabody is seen to be a self-serving b*tch, whose first and only thoughts are on what she can get out of life. But its still a massive shock when actor Peabody is found dead in a colleague's pool. Now all Eve and Detective Peabody have to do is find out who would want Actor Peabody dead (pretty much anyone who'd met her it seems), and work out which one actually did the deed. And wonder how much weight they could put on the testimonies of people who were amongst the top acting talent of their times.

There is still plenty of humour in this story but thankfully (for her if no one else) Eve's managed to bury the ghosts of her past (mostly).and Eve finds a PR guy she cab find some respect for - miracles can happen!

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With the making of the film “The Icove Agenda,” New York Police and Security Department homicide detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas becomes, much to her chagrin, a celebrity. Peabody’s delighted to rub shoulders with Hollywood royalty; Eve, not so much. But one of their cases became the basis

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for the film, so they’re attending the celebrity-studded debut of the film.

Eve finds it spooky that the actress portraying her in the film looks quite a bit like her long-lost twin, but the hobnobbing with celebrities comes to an abrupt end when the body of K.T. Harris, the self-absorbed actress who portrayed Peabody in the film, is found floating in the rooftop lap pool.

Can Eve find the murderer before others in the cast fall victim?

This, the thirty-fourth installment in the “In Death” series, puts Eve back on more solid [for her] ground after the drama of “New York to Dallas.” Anchored by a strong sense of place in the near future and by the relationships between the characters, readers will enjoy having all the expected characters in place once again. As always, the camaraderie and ever-evolving relationships are the heart and soul of this series.

Eve’s a bit more introspective than usual, thanks to the goings-on in Dallas; her relationship with Roarke is a highlight of this story. The requisite humorous trade-offs between Eve and Peabody are spot-on . . . and there are the pink boots to provide an endless stream of chuckles!

Highly recommended.

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This episode of the In Death series goes back to a sort of basic mystery and had less of the emotional intensity the New York to Dallas. It was a sort of a breather both for Eve and for us as readers. Eve is learning to cope with the events of the previous book and is having some lucid dreams that

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have her relive part of the experience. Roarke is worried about her and treating her more carefully than usual which is actually worrying Eve more than the dreams.

The murder of an actress that no one liked is the focus of this story. Adding to the tension is that the murder occurred at a dinner party which brought together the cast of the movie with their real-life counterparts incuding Eve and Roarke, Peabody and McNab, Dr. Mira and her husband, and Nadine Furst. The victim who was portraying Peabody in the movie was a very unpleasant person. She was a prime manipulator who liked to have inside knowledge of the other cast members that would let her get some advantage from them. Many of the actors at the party had good reason to want her dead.

Eve uses her skills to interview all of the suspects and uncovers something that makes her even more eager to stand up for the victim. This story was more in the lines of a police procedural than many of her more recent cases. But even though the focus was the case, it was still good to see the relationships Eve has with the people around her. I liked her relationship with Peabody as they work the case. They both have a strong respect for each other and respect each others skills but Peabody feels comfortable enough with Eve to tease her on occasion. I liked the relationship with Nadine in this one. Again there is strong respect in each of them for the other and a deep friendship.

I especially liked seeing her relationship with Roarke. The love and support that each has for the other is just such a backbone of this series. But it is not anything either of them take for granted. Both are willing to work hard to keep their relationship strong. I love the way Roarke keeps surprising Eve with gifts and how uncomfortable this makes Eve. I love the way Eve constantly teases Roarke about his business.

This was an excellent addition to the In Death series. I recommend it for mystery lovers and romance lovers.

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Celebrity in Death
4 Stars

Pleasure turns into business for Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her partner when the actress portraying Detective Delia Peabody in "The Icove Agenda" is murdered at a cast party. The trouble is that the victim was a nasty piece of work who antagonized virtually every person that

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she met, so Eve and Peabody are forced to sort through numerous suspects and motives.

The mystery is good albeit reminiscent of Witness in Death in terms of the setting and suspect pool. The numerous red herrings keep the reader guessing throughout, but the ultimate revelation of the killer and motive are problematic as they come out of left field. Personally, having a more likable culprit would have made for a more intriguing moral dilemma.

There are also some wonderful moments between McNab and Peabody as well as Roarke and Eve as they all cope with being the focus of a Hollywood film.

Overall, an enjoyable addition to the series.

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Lieutenant Eve Dallas never wanted to be famous. Being Roarke’s wife has bought her more than enough unwanted attention as she sees it. There is also a certain amount of attention that comes her way working the occasional high-profile case. But, nothing like this has gone on before. Now Big Bang

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Productions is filming a vid (movie) about what she and Detective Peabody went through solving a certain case as Celebrity in Death by J.D. Robb begins.

Peabody is absolutely thrilled. Dallas isn’t by any measure. She also isn’t thrilled that she has to keep going on to the set because the bosses want her there. She also isn’t thrilled that she has to attend a dinner party hosted by the director. All the actors and actresses will be there as well as the real-life people they are playing such as Dallas, Peabody, and many others.

Despite doing what she can to try and avoid, Roarke and Dallas make it to the party. The evening was going okay, as well as those forced events do, and she even has had fun now and then. That was until the actress that plays Peabody is found dead in the garden on the roof. The actress was a nasty piece of work and somebody decided enough was enough.

The problem is not only is the case a bit of locked room mystery, Peabody and Dallas are also on the suspect list. While they and their bosses know they did not do it, should they even work a case where they are possibly suspects? Will the fact that this is going to very much be a high-profile case factor into the decision?

What follows is an intriguing and complicated case set in October 2060. Guns are pretty much outlawed and nonexistent, but there are plenty of ways to kill. Such is the case here in another fun read.

My reading copy came by way of the Libby/OverDrive App and the Dallas Public Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

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