Celebrity in Death by JD Robb
Why this one: ‘Cause it’s JD Robb, ‘nuff said
Steam Level: Eve and Roarke make each other very happy shall we say.
Blurb: Lieutenant Eve Dallas is no party girl, but she's managing to have a reasonably good time at the celebrity-packed bash celebrating The Icove Agenda, a film based on one of her famous cases. It's a little spooky seeing the actress playing her, who looks almost like her long-lost twin. Not as unsettling, though, as seeing the actress who plays Peabody drowned in the lap pool on the roof of the director's luxury building.
Now she's at the center of a crime scene-and Eve is more than ready to get out of her high heels and strap on her holster and step into the role she was born to play: cop.
My Thoughts: I HEART Roarke. I’m not sure if I’ve ever come right out and said it. Others may
rhapsodize over Jamie Fraser, but it’s Roarke all the way for me. I’ve never read about a hero who ‘gets’ the heroine as much as Roarke’ gets’ Eve. Of course he’s had 34 books now for that to happen – but still, I think he’s understood her from the beginning way back in Naked in Death. There are so many reasons why I love this series, this many books in when I get tired of most series after only four and my love for Roarke is a big reason. I love Eve too of course, though she still scares the heck out of me. She has mellowed considerably over the course of the series, but still, if I were to commit a murder and she hauled me into interview, I would cave like a wet Kleenex.
This latest installment is much mellower than some of her previous books considering they are murder mysteries that is. The victim is a real nasty piece of work so we readers don’t mind that she has met her demise. This particular book is far different from some stories where our hearts hurt for both the victim and the families. But in Celebrity, even Peabody wishes she had had a chance to beat the crap out of the victim before she ‘bought the farm’ so to speak. And this is PEABODY readers, Peabody, who comes from a family of Free Agers. And she is serious.
Of course part of the reason is the murder victim. KT Parrish is her. You see if you’ve been following along with the series, Nadine Furst wrote a best seller about one of Eve’s cases, the Icove case. And now they are just wrapping up filming a movie of it. Each of our beloved In Death crew has an actor portraying them and this makes for some nice levity. The ‘other’ Dallas, a very sweet woman in involved in a secret affair with the ‘other’ McNab. The ‘other’ Dr. Mira is a real potty mouth and the ‘other’ Roarke is an affable yet dim witted man slut drunk. The ‘other’ Peabody is the victim and a truly vile person she was. And as you can imagine, the more Eve and Peabody dig into her background and find more slimy things about her, the more upset Peabody is that such a person is portraying her.
There is a second victim in this book but as the murder happens ‘of screen’ so to speak and we never get this person’s POV, the murder isn’t as upsetting as it could have been if we readers were attached to this character
There is also a scene where we get a glimpse into a hair raising, rather tragic incident from Roarke’s past. As noted also by Eve, we really don’t see many details into his past, not from Roarke himself so I found this a bit insightful and appreciated.
I’ve always found it hard to put into words what I find so very appealing about this series, besides Roarke that is. But it’s the quiet moments when there is such a connection between characters whoever they may be. There was a scene in a previous book that encapsulated what is so special. Dallas and Whitney are discussing a case while both are watching as a fish swims around in a tank. It was a gift from Whitney’s wife and both are puzzled as to why she would buy such a thing. It’s moments like that that keeps me coming back book after book after book. It’s
like hearing a few chords of music that are so beautiful that you are transcended for a moment or two. That moment in Celebrity occurs early in the morning. Eve has just woken up from a bad dream; not the horrific nightmares she used to suffer from, but rather a dream about her mother where she knows she’s dreaming. She wakes up, not frantic as with her nightmares, but still a bit shaky. Roarke holds her and tells her gently shh and is just very loving to her. I know this happens many times, but like just a few chords of a song, this moment just made me melt.
There was one thing I got kind of a kick out of. Back when JD Robb first started this series, she was way ahead of her time. I’m thinking specifically of the ‘links, which today of course are cell phones or tablets or whatever. There was no such thing as texting so of course the characters didn’t do it. But I noted that a few times Dallas and Roarke would text each other. I dunno – that just kind of made me chuckle.
There was also a delightful scene between Peabody and McNab after the ‘other’ Peabody was found murdered. A bit of development in their relationship if you will.
I even found Mavis tolerable in this book. I don’t really care for either her or Nadine,
the only characters I don’t really like in this whole series.
This wasn’t my very favourite In Death book. For some reason I like to see more tension
between Roarke and Eve, but this was pretty darn close. Oddly enough, it was almost restful for an In Death book and I like that. I like that very much.
Grade: 4.75 out of 5
