Faithless in Death is JD Robb/Nora Roberts’ 52nd book in the Eve Dallas / Roarke (In Death) series and it’s probably the best I’ve read for some time.

I appreciate that Robb manages to come up with new plots and offers readers something different in each outing and I suspect it’s that, along with the like-ability of her main cast that keeps readers like me coming back. Again and again. And again and again. Well, 52 times.

Faithless in Death
by J.D. Robb
Series: In Death #52
Published by Hachette Australia
on 02/02/2021
Source: Hachette Australia
Genres: Crime Fiction, Police Procedural
ISBN: 9780349426280
Pages: 390

Goodreads

It's a beautiful Spring day in NYC when Lt. Eve Dallas gets an early morning murder call. A talented young sculptor hasn't had such a perfect day in May. Killed by her own hammer, at first it looks like an argument with a jealous partner but it soon becomes clear that there is much more to this case than a lovers' quarrel turned fatal.

Eve finds herself drawn into the dark and dangerous world of a secret order. A world in which white supremacy, misogyny and religious fanaticism are everyday activities. Eve has dealt with some tough cases before but is it too much even for her to take on a wealthy, influential organisation with friends in very high places.....?

Given what was happening in the US in 2020 when Robb would have written this (the Black Lives Matter movement, heading into the election, the rise of Proud Boys etc), it’s interesting she dips into religious cults and many ‘isms’ and phobias here; racism, sexism and homophobia to name but a few. It’s probably more confronting because the world in which this series is set (late 2050s and early 2060s) is very progressive and permissive so the cops are agog that such bigotry could exist.

There’s probably a little less of the detectives’ (and extended cast’s) personal lives on offer here but it’s still quite a ‘dense’ book because the crime that sparks this investigation is complicated, setting off the proverbial chain reaction threatening some powerful people. Thankfully however (because it’s been done to death before elsewhere) Robb doesn’t allow the investigation to be thwarted because of it.

I’m often stunned by the popularity of this series as it regularly appears on best-seller lists and futuristic crime fiction (with added romantic suspense) is probably a little obscure.

I very much appreciate that Robb isn’t dialling-it-in as I’ve felt has been the case with other long-running series’ in which the lead characters and their cases have become a tad a bit monotonous. (And I’m thinking of Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series which needs to be put out of its misery.)

Faithless in Death by JD Robb was published in Australia by Hachette and is now available.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review.