Why would you want to read the IN DEATH series by J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts), especially when it is a hugely long series that might require quite the time investment? Because this is a very unusual and creative series with a little something for everyone. Though it feels mostly like a police procedural to me, it experiments wonderfully with the genres of Romance, Science Fiction, and Mystery, mixing them into an escapist offering unlike anything else you might run across.

Heroine Eve Dallas is hard-edged and her backstory is grim, but this is balanced out by the passion between her and love interest Roarke, a handsome Irish billionaire (picture a young Pierce Brosnan from his early James Bond days). Plus the supporting characters are vivid from Peabody (“I was born looking stern”), the female patrol officer who assists Eve in solving crimes, to Roark’s cranky butler Summerset who shares a mutual antipathy with Eve, to Ian McNab, the flashy computer nerd who lusts after Peabody. The character interactions are often hilarious and the dialog is always snappy.

The IN DEATH series is set in a mid-twenty-first-century version of New York City. So the technology is futuristic, which gives the series its science-fiction touch, but the setting is recognizably our own. Think of it as straddling the line between a contemporary romance and a futuristic story. Eve Dallas is a beautiful, super-competent homicide detective with a tragic past of sexual abuse that makes her wary of men. But when she runs across Roarke on a case in the first book, their mutual attraction is intense, and he moves heaven and earth to court her. He is similar to her in that he comes from poor beginnings and is a self-made success.

The romance part of the series could be considered romantic suspense. Each book concerns a gruesome homicide that Eve must solve, often with the help of Roarke who is a highly skilled computer hacker. There are so many books in the series because each book covers a only a handful of days as Eve cracks each case, and Eve keeps working these cases, like, maybe one per month. So the entire series only covers a few years. Each book is a complete mystery that Eve solves. Yet the books fit together in a series arc that nudges along the characters’ ongoing relationships, life experiences, and evolving personalities. It’s a treat to read and here is the complete series list.

1. Naked in Death (1995)
2. Glory in Death (1995)
3. Immortal in Death (1996)
4. Rapture in Death (1996)
5. Ceremony In Death (1997)
6. Vengeance in Death (1997)
7. Holiday in Death (1998)
8. Conspiracy in Death (1999)
9. Loyalty in Death (1999)
10. Witness in Death (2000)
11. Judgment in Death (2000)
12. Betrayal in Death (2001)
13. Seduction in Death (2001)
14. Reunion In Death (2002)
15. Purity in Death (2002)
16. Portrait in Death (2003)
17. Imitation in Death (2003)
18. Divided in Death (2004)
19. Visions in Death (2004)
20. Survivor in Death (2005)
21. Origin in Death (2005)
22. Memory in Death (2006)
23. Born in Death (2006)
24. Innocent in Death (2007)
25. Creation in Death (2007)
26. Strangers in Death (2008)
27. Salvation In Death (2008)
28. Promises in Death (2009)
29. Kindred in Death (2009)
30. Fantasy in Death (2009)
31. Indulgence in Death (2010)
32. Treachery in Death (2011)
33. New York to Dallas (2011)
34. Celebrity in Death (2012)
35. Delusion in Death (2012)
36. Calculated in Death (2013)
37. Thankless in Death (2013)
38. Concealed in Death (2014)
39. Festive in Death (2014)
40. Obsession in Death (2015)

Get started by looking on Amazon.com for Naked in Death