Naked in Death by
J.D. Robb
pbk out October 03
(Piatkus)
at £5.99
Eve Dallas is a dedicated New York police detective investigating a series of murders of
prostitutes – so far, so normal. But Eve Dallas is living in the future, and a fully automated
future at that. And although at times this reads a little like Star Trek without the aliens or
the dodgy costumes and sets (though with a certain amount of explicit sex), there's no
doubt that all the gadgets and scientific and technological developments of the future
make the mechanics of detection a much slicker process. We also get tantalising glimpses
of events which are history to Eve but which may well be our future – for example "…
twenty-first century street gangs during the Urban Revolt".
Apart from this, however, this crime story could just as well have been set in 1995, the
year of its first publication. The murders are vicious, the murderer not only very skilled but
taunting the police (particularly Eve) with the certainty of more murders to come, and the
progress of the case is hindered by the U.S. Senator whose grand-daughter was the first
prostitute to be murdered. So what with dedicated cops, corruption in high places, a
psychotic murderer and an attractive anti-hero who veers between the rôles of prime
suspect and Eve's lover, this is not an unfamiliar scenario. Add to that Eve's own
vulnerability (she was abused and abandoned as a child) and there is not much here that
really depends on a future setting for its interest and efficacy. That said, J. D. Robb (more
familiarly known to probably millions of readers as Nora Roberts) has certainly produced a
very satisfactory police procedural murder mystery: the key characters are sympathetic,
the plot ticks along nicely and the gadgets intrigue. The whole series (of which this is the
first) is being re-issued in paperback and will make a welcome addition to the bookshelves.
Naked in Death by
J.D. Robb
