Celebrity in Death, by JD Robb

TITLE: Celebrity in Death
AUTHOR: JD Robb

COPYRIGHT: 2012
PAGES: 400
PUBLISHER: Putnam

SETTING: 2060s New York
TYPE: Romantic Suspense
SERIES: 35th full-length title in the In Death series

Lieutenant Eve Dallas is no party girl, but she's managing to have a reasonably good time at the celebrity-packed bash celebrating The Icove Agenda, a film based on one of her famous cases. It's a little spooky seeing the actress playing her, who looks almost like her long-lost twin. Not as unsettling, though, as seeing the actress who plays Peabody drowned in the lap pool on the roof of the director's luxury building. Now she's at the center of a crime scene-and Eve is more than ready to get out of her high heels and strap on her holster and step into the role she was born to play: cop.

I quite like a change of pace with the In Death books. After the adrenalin-fest that was New York to Dallas, including massive emotional trauma for Eve, Robb gives our nerves a bit of a rest with this one. It reminded me a bit of an earlier book in the series, Witness in Death, the Agatha Christie homage. Eve actually sleeps and eats properly during this book, it probably means she's going to go through the wringer in the next one!

Long-time readers of the series will know that Nadine has written a book about one of Eve's earlier cases. Well, now it's being made into a film. As a favour to Nadine (and Peabody), Eve is forced to hobnob with the celebs. On a visit to the set they discover that the actress playing Peabody is a massive bitch (Peabody is crushed), so it's almost not a surprise when she's murdered during a party at the director's home that night.

Eve and the gang are actually at the party, and immediately take over the investigation. Surely it should be easy enough to root out the culprit, when the lead detective was actually there on the scene when the murder was committed? Not so easy, especially when the victim was so horrendous that pretty much everyone had a reason to kill her.

I really, really enjoyed this. The personal stuff is pretty low-key in this one, all about Roarke still feeling a bit careful of Eve, after the traumatic last book, and them having to deal with that. It was sweet, and didn't take up all that much space, which I actually didn't have a problem with.

Because the case was really great. The characters are excellently drawn, every single one of them. Even the horrible victim, who was horrible in an understandable way. Robb is the only writer I can think of who, when her detectives are about to interview someone new has me rubbing my hands in glee at meeting another character.

The investigation here focuses on motivations and personalities, and it's shot through with humour. Eve and Peabody's working relationship continues to develop, and I love seeing them work together. Things get a bit grimmer near the end, with a resolution I really didn't see coming, but in a good way.

A solid, enjoyable entry in the series.

MY GRADE: A B+.