Immortal in Death ~ J D Robb

• Title: Immortal in Death
• Author: J D Robb
• Series: In Death #3
• Genre: Futuristic Murder Mystery Romance
• Format: e-book
• Source: Own copy
• Reviewed by: Erica
• Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Description:  It is 2058, New York City. Lieutenant Eve Dallas uncovers a world where technology can create beauty and youth, but passion and greed can destroy them.

She was one of the most sought-after women in the world. A top model who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted -even another woman’s man. And now she’s dead, the victim of a brutal murder.

Police lieutenant Eve Dallas puts her life on the line to take the case when suspicion falls on her best friend, the other woman in the fatal love triangle. Beneath the facade of glamor, Eve finds that the world of high fashion thrives on an all-consuming obsession with youth and fame-one that leads her from the lights of the runway to the dark underworld of New York City, where drugs can fulfill any desire, for a price.

Review: The third book in this series continues the pattern so far, albeit with a slight deviation. The first murder seems unimportant: one of Eve’s informants, a lowlife drug dealer cum street thug, is found in the river with his face bashed in. Eve takes on the murder since he was hers, but at this point in time she is distracted and worried about her upcoming wedding and how on earth she’s going to cope with that.

With that in mind, Eve’s best friend Mavis drags her over to her new boyfriend Leonardo, an up-and-coming designer who wants to design Eve’s wedding dress. During the fitting they get a visit from Pandora: supermodel, all-round nasty person and Leonardo’s ex, who isn’t prepared to let him go just yet. This seems no more than a nasty spat, but then a few days later Pandora is found dead at Leonardo’s apartment with her face smashed to smithereens and all the evidence points to Mavis as the perpetrator.

For Eve this gives the case extra pressure and significance. She knows Mavis too well to even think for one moment that she did it, but with her best friend’s freedom in the balance it makes it extra difficult for Eve to find the real murderer.

As before, I had absolutely no clue who the culprit was throughout the book, and it was a major revelation when I finally did find out. I do like a murder mystery which actually remains a mystery until the grand reveal at the end. On the relationship side I was amused by Mavis’ tireless attempts to make Eve pay some attention to her appearance, and the chapter where she is tackled by a hairdresser/beautician at the same time as she is hassled by Leonardo and his assistant over her wardrobe was pure Eve. It’s fun to see her gradually change from hard-ass cop to a woman who can let go a little and enjoy what life can give her outside of work.

However, there is a dark side to this too. Eve’s continuing involvement with Roarke, and the fact that she is starting to have a life outside work, finally gives her mind the impetus to start dealing with her traumatic past. This manifests itself in nightmares – flashbacks – which reveal things about her past that she didn’t want to know about, and which she has difficulty reconciling with her job as a homicide detective. This adds another layer of depth to this book – and this series – which makes it better than average.

Roarke remains much as he was. I know many readers of this series find him too perfect, but personally I have no problems with this, and I find him quite an interesting man. Still, there was nothing in this book to really lift it to amazing levels, so I’ll drop it a little in rating to a 4.5.