Festive In Death – J.D. Robb
Pros: some fun holiday-themed stuff
Cons: lame investigation
Festive In Death is the 39th book in J.D. Robb’s In Death series. Like the rest of the series, it takes place in the year 2060, and features New York Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas as she solves homicides.
In this case, it’s a few days before Christmas and much of the world is already in its festive, holiday mindset. But not Eve. Because a man has been killed and it’s her job to figure out who did it. Even though the man was a very bad man. Even though there are many who are pretty happy that he’s dead. Eve still has a job to do. This means pounding the pavement with some good old fashioned detective work, despite the calendar creeping ever closer to the holidays.
This series is endearing. Not always because of the investigations. Some of them are good, some are dull. But we always have fun with Eve and her crew of friends and co-workers. In this case, the upcoming holidays have everyone in a tizzy. Well, everyone except Eve, of course. If you’re at all familiar with the series, you know that Eve doesn’t do “tizzy”. She’s above the frenetic holiday traditions. As far as she’s concerned, the entire month of December could be wiped out and she’d be just fine. Shopping for presents? Dressing up for holiday parties? Worse, agreeing to actually host the party at her house? All of these things fall under the category of “silly nonsense” as far as Eve is concerned. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t eventually do them. With her usual grumpy attitude. And, in this case, with a lot of humor and charm for the readers who revel in her discomfort.
So, when it comes to all the “other stuff” that this series is known for, Festive has it, in spades.
But when it comes to the actual homicide investigation, this one was as lame as they come. A zillion suspects and yet I could barely dredge up an ounce of concern. I simply didn’t care. Frankly, I’d like to shake the hand of the person responsible, given the victim’s disgusting behavior.
Worse, there wasn’t anything clever about the eventual solve. Mostly a bunch of people sat around saying “maybe it was this person”, “maybe it was that person”. But nobody really devised a way to figure out exactly who did it. Not until someone eventually mentions a detail that wasn’t mentioned before. Then, like magic, it all falls into place. So the case was basically solved by someone outside of law enforcement mentioning an important detail.
Like I said, the investigation was lame. Yes, the Christmas-related stuff was fun, but I hope the next book in the series gives us a better case to solve.
Other books in the In Death series
Betrayal In Death
Born In Death
Born In Death
Ceremony In Death
Concealed In Death
Devoted In Death
Divided In Death
Glory In Death
Haunted In Death
Immortal In Death
Indulgence In Death
Innocent In Death
Interlude In Death
Judgment In Death
Midnight In Death
Missing In Death
Naked In Death
Naked In Death
Obsession In Death
Origin In Death
Rapture In Death
Reunion In Death
Salvation In Death
Strangers In Death
Survivor In Death
Treachery In Death
Vengeance In Death
Visions In Death