JD Robb is the pseudonym for Nora Roberts. This is a
detective / murder mystery series set in the late 2050s – early 2060s. I found
it by chance in the local library. I was browsing for authors and books in the
same genre. I had not heard of this series and the synopsis looked good so I
borrowed the book. It was a while back and so I cannot remember that first one
I read. I started buying the books as I saw them in the book shops. More
recently I found the whole series as e-books and so I have actually read then
right from the first one all over again in the correct sequence. You will
wonder why I say that but this is a series which shows a progression in the
lives of the characters of the book. I also chose to review the series; there
are 44 books now; instead of book at a time for this reason.
First aspect that is worth looking at is the futuristic view
of the world. There are fancy cars that fly. There is a mention and often
referred to something called the Urban Wars which seems some kind of revolution
to overthrow the oppressing inequality in the society. Most of the early books
have some reference to it and some information about it with how it affected
the lives of various characters. There seems to be a fairly divided society
with the haves and the have-nots. There seems a lot of emphasis on body beautiful
and many ways to ensure it and live longer with more ways to entertain and
please self. There is the usual balance of the good and bad seen in any
society.
The lead figure of this story is LT. Eve Dallas who leads
the team of detectives investigating murders in New York City. We start the
series with the murder of the granddaughter of a prominent figure in politics.
This appears to be her first lead in a major crime investigation where she must
be diplomatic with all the highly placed persons. The investigation brings her
in contact with Roarke who is her chief suspect. He is an extremely rich
business man who ‘owns half the known universe’. And so starts a romance and
love story that sees their relationship developing throughout the series. Both
characters are a foil for each other, with tragic pasts and reaching their present
status through hard work and ingenuity, with parts being revealed and personalities
explored as we read through the series.
Then, of course, we have the detective’s side kick / partner
Delia Peabody, who she finds as a uniform at the crime scene, sees her potential
and gets her transferred to her division. She hero worships Dallas and again
her character develops both as a person and as a police detective. She is a
mixture of her Free- Age upbringing and a city dweller with law enforcement.
Now this being the future the technology is much more sophisticated and so of
course there is an electronic division to help with the forensics. The head of
it, Captain Feeney, is the old partner, mentor and father figure, of Dallas. As
the life of the character gets woven Peabody’s love life brings in the smart
and expert IT guy Detective Ian MacNab.
There are a team of good detectives we get to know well over
the series, Commander Jack Whitney her immediate superior, a police psychologist
and profiler Dr Mira (we also know her family eventually), the Medical Examiner
Morris, APA Reo are the characters regularly seen.
The other players of the story are Lawrence Summerset who
manages Roarke’s home, Mavis a friend of Dallas who she has stopped from
carrying on a life of crime and who has a talent for singing which eventually
gets to shine and she becomes a big star, and families of the main characters
come and go as the story demands. It is not easy to try and encapsulate a
series but I am attempting to do so in the hope that I can express the essence
of continuity of the lives of people involved. The central theme is usually the
murder, uncovering of conspiracy, serial killers in varying scenarios and yes
it can get to feel well known after a while but the continuity of characters
and their lives and the social structure formed by all these lives interweaving
is fascinating. The quick reminder of past aspects maybe even from way back in
the earlier books is vital in helping the reader to see it all as one big story
and each book more or less chapter of that mega story.
Some things can be seen
as clichés for example many of the stories are woven around one or other of the
‘good’ guys being under suspicion of the
murder and Dallas has to work hard and by the book to ensure that the real criminal
is found and her ‘friends’ kept safe. Again this does not detract from the pleasure
of reading as when there is such a focus on one of the characters the author
takes the time to explore this character and his / her relationships with
others in the story. The basis of any good story - the triumph of good over
evil and the victory of justice to keep the public safe is the same cliché that
works well in this genre. Yes the individual stories can be read a stand-alone
and one-off reads but as I found the pleasure was in reading the series and in
the order of the publications as this is what keeps me reading and waiting for
the next book. The characters become familiar like friends with their predictable
quirks, shortcomings and passions. So anyone wanting the familiar murder
mystery in a police detective variety will find the reading of this series with
that little twist an enjoyable expericne.
