Review: Naked in Death

Naked in Death by J.D. Robb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finally, I read the first book in what has become a fantastically long series. Set in the near future Eve Dallas is a New York detective called in to a super secret murder investigation. A licensed companion (prostitute) has been murdered with a vintage weapon, she is also the granddaughter of a powerful conservative US Senator.

Eve's murder investigation focuses on the victim's clients but she is also aware that the victim had a very public dinner with what could be the world's wealthiest man, Roarke (no other name like Madonna).

Then two other licensed companions are murdered in near-similar circumstances and Eve has a serial killer on her hands, but the murders bring some personal issues front and centre, just as Eve and Roarke's growing attraction could jeopardise her investigation.

I enjoyed the story and the novelty of setting a gritty suspense novel in the future. I did find Roarke's alpha-male refusal to hear the word 'No' problematic, two or three times Eve said she wanted to leave and Roarke refused to let her go, I know she was running away from her feelings in some cases but what was probably viewed as strong and powerful and romantic in 1995 when the book was first published is now troubling.

2020 sensibilities aside, I did enjoy this foray into a genre that I stopped reading quite a few years ago because I found the stories got more and more gruesome and disturbing as the writers tried to out do each other and their last books. I will certainly read the next one but I'm not sure that I will read the entire series.

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