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Ceremony in Death (In Death #5)

4.21 of 5 stars 4.21 · rating details · 13,955 ratings · 400 reviews

Even in an age of cutting-edge technology, old beliefs die hard...

Conducting a top secret investigation into the death of a fellow police officer has Lieutenant Eve Dallas treading on dangerous ground. She must put professional ethics personal loyalties. But when a dead body is placed outside her home, Eve takes the warning personally. With her husband, Roarke, watching he...more

Paperback, 327 pages

Published December 18th 2003 by Piatkus Books (first published May 1997)

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Mar 19, 2012 Susan (susayq) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012books, contemporary-romance, ebooks, mystery, romantic-suspense, older-hero

Hmmm. I'm just not sure what to say about this one. I was equal parts disturbed and delighted while reading this. There seemed to be whole lot of blood and gore in this. Of course it did involve Satanic rituals and murder. Eve disappointed me. Greatly. She knew who the murderer was, yet mid-investigation she changed focus and started hounding someone else. Her reasoning for believing he was capable was that his father was a killer. Really, Eve? Does that mean Eve is capable of what her father di...more

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Jan 31, 2013 Kristen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourite-series, strong-female-characters, favorites

Loved this edition of Eve Dallas, future-world homicide detective! This one involved Wicca and Satanism for an interesting back-drop to murder and it's investigation.

As usual, Eve gets herself more involved than is wise while trying to find the murderer which makes for some great moments and exciting events - especially at the end.

Because there's a cop involved in the first two deaths, Dallas is ordered by the Commissioner not to discuss her investigation with anyone, which causes some friction...more

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May 27, 2011 Sara ♥ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ripped, 2011, audiobook, mystery, romance, suspense, futuristic

3.5 stars... Call me crazy, but I'm not the biggest fan of Satanism... But this book was still very enjoyable... I did listen to all 10 hours in a 24-hour period that included quite a bit of sleep!

In this book, we pretty much know who's killing people from the get-go, but the issue is WHERE'S THE EVIDENCE??? And the ending was emotionally traumatic, but wasn't as HOLY-FREAKING-COW, EVE-IS-GOING-TO-DIE-ANY-SECOND, COME-ON-ROARKE-DRIVE-FASTER as in previous books. For me, the mystery in this book...more

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Feb 10, 2013 Sarah Weymes rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: nobody

Shelves: books-that-shouldn-t-exist

When I read the first In Death book, I was optimistic, and thought that Nora Roberts could potentially turn it into a pretty good series. After five books I realize that I was wrong. Eve Dallas, Roarke, Summerset, Mavis and literally every other character in this series is a straight up cliché, with Eve and Roarke's dark and tormented pasts being so overdone in fiction that it almost makes my teeth hurt. As do the numerous stereotypes pertaining to Roarke's Irish background. As somebody who was...more

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Oct 13, 2012 Smcleish rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned

Originally published on my blog here in January 2001.

In this Eve Dallas novel, her investigation in the New York of the future involves her in the murky world of Satanic ritual murder. Most of the interest in the crime part of the novel lies in the confusion between one group and another, particularly between completely legitimate Wiccans and black groups masquerading as Wiccans. Without witness evidence, it is virtually impossible to tell the difference between pretence and reality, particularl...more

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Sep 29, 2012 OpenBookSociety.com rated it 2 of 5 stars

Review brought to you by OBS staff member Heidi

Ceremony in Death is the fifth book in Nora Robert’s popular In Death series that’s written under her pseudo name, J.D. Robb. The series centers around police lieutenant Eve Dallas and all the people in her life, including her co-workers, best friend and rich husband.

Death is always all around Dallas and this book is no different. Ceremony in Death starts out with Eve at a funeral for a fellow police officer, Frank, who appears to have died from nat...more Review brought to you by OBS staff member Heidi

Ceremony in Death is the fifth book in Nora Robert’s popular In Death series that’s written under her pseudo name, J.D. Robb. The series centers around police lieutenant Eve Dallas and all the people in her life, including her co-workers, best friend and rich husband.

Death is always all around Dallas and this book is no different. Ceremony in Death starts out with Eve at a funeral for a fellow police officer, Frank, who appears to have died from natural causes. Everything seems fine—or at least as fine as they can be for a funeral—until Frank’s granddaughter, Alice, secretly passes Eve a note that asks her to meet her…oh yeah and that Eve’s life is in danger now.

Eve does go to meet Alice at the specified place and time, where Alice confides in Eve that Frank was murdered. Alice tells her that she dabbled into Satanism in a local cult led by Selina Cross and decided to leave the cult after walking in on a ritual killing of a child. She lived in fear after that until she finally told her grandfather everything. He was checking into Selina when he mysteriously died.

Later that night, Alice runs out in the middle of the road and is hit by a taxi that couldn’t swerve in time.

Every time Eve thinks she has the answers in this case and the proof she needs to put Cross away, the person that has given the answers or is about to come forward with information dies brutally. The victims are being carved up with an athame (ceremonial knife) that is left at the scene. One of the deceased was even left right outside the wall of Eve’s home and even Roarke is on edge worrying for Eve’s safety.

I thought this was a decent book, it wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t the worst either. It kept you interested even if you did feel you knew who the killer was. In fact, I thought it was strange that it was made so obvious. But even being a bit predictable, it was still good.

And boy oh boy Roarke was a horny little guy in this installment!! It seemed like every scene with him in it he was trying and succeeding to initiate sex with Eve. Oh honey you look exhausted I think you need to have some sex to make you feel better. I normally don’t mind, it just didn’t feel that Roarke had much other purpose in this novel and I felt he could have brought so much more to the story then what he did.

This book touches a lot on Wicca and Satanism and the differences between the two and the ceremonies that each has. I’m not sure how the descriptions and rituals in this book stack up to the occult in real life as I have no experience with them although I think every place I’ve read or watched on Wicca has had them saying “blessed be” a lot as they do in this book as well.

This book was a bit different from the others and it wasn’t as exciting as some, but it was still a solid read and worth the time. And I’m sure the subsequent books will build off of things that have happened in this installment of the series.

http://openbooksociety.com/article/ce...(less)

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Jul 19, 2012 Sabine rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Eve Dallas ermittelt wieder, dieses Mal in den eigenen Reihen als ein Kollege stirbt. Ihr Chef beauftragt sie alleine und im Geheimen zu ermitteln, da Frank Wojinski beim Kauf von Drogen beobachtet worden war. Bei seiner Totenwache lernt sie seine Familie kennen, unter anderem auch seine Enkelin Alice, die Eve um ein Gespräch unter vier Augen bittet. Dabei erzählt sie Eve, dass ihr Großvater ermordet worden wäre und auch sie selbst Angst hätte. Sie war vor kurzem einem Club Satanisten beigetrete...more Eve Dallas ermittelt wieder, dieses Mal in den eigenen Reihen als ein Kollege stirbt. Ihr Chef beauftragt sie alleine und im Geheimen zu ermitteln, da Frank Wojinski beim Kauf von Drogen beobachtet worden war. Bei seiner Totenwache lernt sie seine Familie kennen, unter anderem auch seine Enkelin Alice, die Eve um ein Gespräch unter vier Augen bittet. Dabei erzählt sie Eve, dass ihr Großvater ermordet worden wäre und auch sie selbst Angst hätte. Sie war vor kurzem einem Club Satanisten beigetreten und bei der Einführung unter Drogen gesetzt und von allen Anwesenden vergewaltigt worden. Außerdem hätte sie gesehen, wie dort Kinder geopfert wurden.

Als Alice kurz danach stirbt, wird die Situation immer verworrener. Eve und Peabody ermitteln noch immer verdeckt und lernen dabei die selbsternannte Hexe Selina Cross kennen, die dem Satanszirkel vorsteht. Als Eve sie mit ihrer Ungläubigkeit beim Verhör verärgert, findet kurz darauf ein weiteres Zirkelmitglied den Tod - und wird direkt vor Eves und Roarkes Haus abgelegt. Eve muss herausfinden, was es mit den Hexen und Satanisten auf sich hat und mit ihrer nüchternen Denkweise macht sie sich dabei noch mehr Feinde..

Ich habe mich irrsinnig schwer getan in dieses Buch reinzukommen. Mehrfach habe ich es weggelegt und dafür lieber ein anderes Buch gelesen. Die Thematik um Satanismus, weißer und schwarzer Magie und dem Okkultismus war einfach nicht so mein Ding. Dennoch konnte ich das Buch aber auch nicht aufgeben weil die Welt von Eve Dallas und ihrem Roarke einfach zu faszinierend ist. Ab Mitte des Buches habe ich mich dann mit der Thematik etwas angefreundet und danach ließ sich das Buch schnell weglesen.

Dennoch muss ich gestehen, dass mich dieser Fall nicht so in den Bann gezogen hat, wie die vier Vorgängerbücher und dafür gibt es auch den Punkteabzug. Ansonsten war es wieder einmal ein Fest, bei Eve und Roarke über die Schulter sehen zu dürfen. Wie gewohnt hat JDR wieder den Sprachwitz einfließen lassen und die Dialoge zwischen Eve und Peabody haben mich so manches mal laut loslachen lassen.

Eine tolle Buchreihe und ich bin gespannt, mit wem und/oder was es Eve im sechsten Band zutun bekommt.

Fazit: Trotz eines kleinen Durchhängers in Sachen Thematik Daumen hoch für die futuristische Reihe um Eve Dallas.(less)

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Jun 24, 2012 Nina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cops-and-robbers, epic-couples, futuristic, fake-boyfriend-parade, murder-she-wrote, romantic-suspense, series, swoon, i-spy-a-mystery

Here again was a murder mystery that wasn't my favorite. There was no mystery. The murderer is clearly defined, and we even get glimpses into their head without Eve standing between us. The rituals and heebie jeebies was...okay. It was different and sort of throwing the brakes in this world of the future. I loved the glimpses it gave us of Peabody. I absolutely adore Officer Peabody and am so grateful that she's taken the place of Mavis. But I found myself getting pretty frustrated with Eve for...more

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Apr 27, 2012 signorina Vei rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Eve kehilangan seorang rekan kerja yang sangat dihormati rekan lainnya, sekaligus sahabat Feeney, orang yang membentuknya. Lebih menambah ironi, kematian sang rekan ternyata tidak sesederhana yang terlihat. Sang rekan terlibat dalam penyelidikan pribadi yang melibatkan sekte-sekte tertentu. Untuk menemukan kebenarannya, letnan harus berada ditengah-tengah sekte itu, beserta seluruh ritualnya.

Seperti yang sudah dapat ditebak, letnan Eve, dengan sikap sangat logisnya, berkali-kali mendecakkan lida...more

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May 28, 2010 Malin rated it 3 of 5 stars

When one of her fellow cops dies of seemingly natural causes, Lt. Eve Dallas, is surprised that his granddaughter insists on meeting with her, claiming that her grandfather did not die of a heart attack, but was killed by occult means by an evil cult of Satan worshippers intent on getting back on Alice (the granddaughter). Eve is deeply pragmatic and does not believe in anything spiritual or occult. She believes Alice was drugged and manipulated, and sexually abused by said cultists, but refuses...more When one of her fellow cops dies of seemingly natural causes, Lt. Eve Dallas, is surprised that his granddaughter insists on meeting with her, claiming that her grandfather did not die of a heart attack, but was killed by occult means by an evil cult of Satan worshippers intent on getting back on Alice (the granddaughter). Eve is deeply pragmatic and does not believe in anything spiritual or occult. She believes Alice was drugged and manipulated, and sexually abused by said cultists, but refuses to contemplate anything supernatural. Shortly after, Alice turns up dead, and Officer Peabody, who'd been set to tail the girl, says that she ran into oncoming traffic after seeing a black cat.

Eve asked by her superior officer to investigate whether Frank had been involved in illegal drug trafficking, after it becomes clear that he had been witnessed purchasing something from Selina, the leader of the Satanist coven in a seedy club. Neither her superior, nor Eve, believe Frank was a dirty cop, but Eve is forbidden to tell anyone about her investigation, especially not Feeney, the cop who trained her, and who was Frank's old partner. During her investigation, Eve has to interview the self-styled sorceress Selina, who becomes very upset with her treatment, and Eve's obvious disdain for her. Soon after having questioned Selina, a corpse is left on the pavement outside her and Roarke's mansion, and the case takes on a much more personal note.

Ceremony in Death is different from several of the other Robb books in that the reader fairly early on is given an idea of who the murderer is. Eve is pretty sure she knows who the killer is, the problem is that she has to prove it. She also has to come to choose between her job and her friend, and deal with the ugly aftermath of Feeney discovering that she's been set to investigate his friend. While she completely disregards any belief in the occult or supernatural, she comes into contact with several witches, of both the dark and white persuasion, and discovers that while she is pragmatic and disbelieving, Roarke may have more spiritual beliefs. (less)

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Apr 07, 2010 Amanda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: guilty-pleasures, other-fiction

Book #35 of 2010

My thought process went a bit like this:

"Hmm, satanism. I read another book recently with satanism in it. Actually, it reads very familar, almost the exact same words. That's so weird, I wonder why ..." Here I trail off when it occurs to me that the "other" book was also written by Nora Roberts. Fail.

But once I realized the connection, it kind of annoyed me. I mean, we're talking nearly verbatim chants and the nearly the exact same ceremony, human altar, cup of blood between the...more

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Jul 28, 2009 melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

This one is not a mystery. Robb tells us who the bad guy is from the beginning. Did this take any of the enjoyment away for me? Not at all. In fact, it was kind of interesting to see it from the other side, and see how she works through it to catch the right bad guy. And there was enough of the suspense that I didn’t miss it as much as I thought I might.

I like the futuristic setting. It amuses me when we come across things like hover cars, food that cooks itself, or robotic animals. Maybe I have...more

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Mar 29, 2013 rameau rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: series-warning, futuristic, whodunit, read-in-2013, suckity-suck, witches, finnish-translation

Earlier I remarked that in the previous book—Kuoleman hurmio or Rapture in Death—Doctor Mira seemed out of character. Well, in this one, it’s Eve Dallas herself that steps out of character. Or that’s how I felt.

From the start of the In Death series Eve has always trusted her instincts and her dark, painful past has been a source of compassion that’s allowed her to do her job more effectively than others. Not here. Here, she utterly wrecks a suspect in the interrogation room and others complimen...more Earlier I remarked that in the previous book—Kuoleman hurmio or Rapture in Death—Doctor Mira seemed out of character. Well, in this one, it’s Eve Dallas herself that steps out of character. Or that’s how I felt.

From the start of the In Death series Eve has always trusted her instincts and her dark, painful past has been a source of compassion that’s allowed her to do her job more effectively than others. Not here. Here, she utterly wrecks a suspect in the interrogation room and others compliment her for it. Sure, they note how hard she is—on the junior constable who originally tries to protest but ends up apologising. And Eve’s not even getting results; the suspect doesn’t confess. I didn’t buy Roberts’ reasoning for Eve’s behaviour and I thought it more likely she acted so abnormally for the exact opposite reasons: (view spoiler). It’d been more believable had Roberts claimed that a dark spell affected Eve’s psyche.

Speaking of spells. I didn’t like how Wicca was portrayed here. Sure the book was written in the mid 90’s when I was a fan of Charmed but the times have changed. I’ve read enough to learn to despise how authors use this and other pagan religions for their plots. Even when they try to be fair and courteous they only end up using Wicca for its sensationalism rather than as an aspect of a character’s life that helps to explain who he or she is.

Also, for as long-winded series as this, Roberts isn’t doing much with the long plot. She just keeps throwing Eve’s childhood abuse around and further trivialising it. I was hoping Roarke would continue to examine his own self-doubts after what happened in the previous book, but instead there’s more fade-to-black sex in this book than there’s been in all the other In Death books—so far—combined. Maybe I’m wrong and the issue is addressed later, but the way things are looking now, I’m pretty sure I’ll never find out. (view spoiler)

There’s only one more translated book left, and right now, nothing is enticing me to switch to English to keep reading the series.(less)

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Dec 08, 2012 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ceremony in Death is the fifth in the Eve Dallas "In Death" series by J.D. Robb.
A fellow cop dies suddenly of heart failure. But, later they discover drugs in his system. Whitney calls Eve in to do an investigation into the officer's death. While at the funeral, the officer's granddaughter ask Eve to meet her privately the next day.
Soon after that meeting, the granddaughter is killed in what appears to be an accident.
But, when Eve and Peabody begin probing into the deaths they uncover a Satani...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-library-books, melissa-2012-challenge, part-of-a-series, want-to-buy-copy

Ceremony in Death is not the typical In Death novel since there really isn't a lot of mystery of "who did it". Eve & Roarke along with Peabody and the rest of the crew work together to determine how the deaths occurred and if they were all done by the same person. I love that we see more of Peabody in this book as she is one of my favorite characters in this series, even more so than Eve at times!

This book centers around witchcraft and satanism, the dark and the light. It also explores the "...more

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Dec 03, 2010 Merredith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 4-or-5-stars, crime-mysteries

This is the 5th book in the Dallas/Roarke series. Eve is still dealing with her dad issue, and wrestling over if people can overcome their programming, this is carried over from the last book. This story was building well, but then suddenly i realized the book was nearly over, and i think that Robb did too, because the rest of the story was crammed in, and everything ended too quickly. Rushed. I liked the Jamie character in here, i hope we see more of him. I think she puts in too many sex scenes...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Doris E rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Take a straight-laced, by the book cop and mix in witchcraft and the occult, and you have confusion, well, at least, disbelief. And it all starts so innocently with the seemingly natural death of a highly respected fellow officer.
Suddenly, illegals are found in his system during a routine autopsy that require investigation on a need to know basis, followed by said cop's granddaughter's note to Eve asking for an urgent and secret meet. Intrigued yet? Well, that's only the beginning ...
It feels li...more

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Mar 11, 2013 Amanda Meggs rated it 3 of 5 stars

The violence in Ceremony in Death was graphic and disturbing and I needed to put the book down every now and then to have a break from it.

Eve was a bit slow to work out what had happened after the fourth death when it seemed fairly obvious to me. Otherwise, Peabody was great - her character seems to be well thought out as she has a background that isn't as much of a caricature as the other main characters are. Rourke was Rourke, not much effort went into him and he doesn't change at all from on...more

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Jun 18, 2010 Alejandro Jofre rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Alejandro by: Gabi

Shelves: mys

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. WHAT MADE ME READ IT: Finished Rapture in Death Book 4
50th PAGE EVAL: this time death occurs in the world of wiccans & witches – White vs. Black Magic. We learn that both Roarke and Peabody are much more superstitious than Eve thought
PLOT: Frank, a distinguished policeman, dies, apparently with drugs in its system. His granddaughter, Alice, confides in Eve and blames a group of witches (black magic) run by Selina Cross, and Alban. Alice had been raped by Selina’s cult and she had witnessed t...more

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May 07, 2013 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Ceremony in Death (In Death Book 4) Summary: Conducting a top secret investigation into the death of a fellow police officer has Lieutenant Eve Dallas treading on dangerous ground. She must put profession ethics before personal loyalties. But when a dead body is placed outside her home, Eve takes the warning personally. With her husband, Roarke, watching her every move, Eve is drawn into the most dangerous case of her career. Every steps she takes make her question her own beliefs of right and w...more Ceremony in Death (In Death Book 4) Summary: Conducting a top secret investigation into the death of a fellow police officer has Lieutenant Eve Dallas treading on dangerous ground. She must put profession ethics before personal loyalties. But when a dead body is placed outside her home, Eve takes the warning personally. With her husband, Roarke, watching her every move, Eve is drawn into the most dangerous case of her career. Every steps she takes make her question her own beliefs of right and wrong - and brings her closer to a confrontation with humanity's most seductive form of evil...

MY OPINION

Ceremony in Death is, in my opinion, the weakest of the five books I've read so far in the series. In it, Eve must betray those closest to her when the Commander orders her to investigate an officer who recently died of what appears to be natural causes. There was no one cleaner than Detective Sergeant Frank Wojinski. At least, that's what Eve believed until the Commander told her an undercover Illegals detective same him buying something from a known drug dealer named Selina Cross. Careful of the grieving officer's family, and knowing she must keep her mentor and Frank's former partner, Feeney, out of the loop, Eve investigates with a heavy heart. But when Frank's granddaughter dies in what appears to have been an accident, Eve suspects murder. The girl was being tormented by messages of chanting, and had claimed to have witnessed the ritual murder of a child. As Eve delves deep into the magic of Satanists and Wiccans, Eve finds herself being pulled in different directions as bodies continue to pile up. And in the middle of it all is Wojinski's grandson, Jamie Lingstrom, who refuses to believe that the death of his grandfather and sister were accidents. He's see what Selina's cult have done to his sister, and he vows to make them pay. Having to keep Jamie in line and still investigate, will Dallas manage to find the killer before its too late?

This book, while slow at times, as still solid if not as amusing and entertaining as those before it. The introductions of ritualistic killings made me keep reading, as I wondered was Selina's group behind it or was it Isis's group of seemingly harmless Wiccans? The guilt Eve feels at having to keep Feeney in the dark will get to you, and when he finds out and explodes on her, you will feel bad for her. He's been her father figure for years, and now she may lose him. It really hits her hard. But she must continue on before anymore end up dead.

Quote: "That depends, Lieutenant. Do I get a badge?"(less)

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Apr 06, 2013 Sorcha O'Dowd rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance, crime-thriller

Having devoured the first four books in the '...In Death' series and easily rated them each at five stars, I feel almost sad that I cannot give 'Ceremony in Death' a much higher rating than five stars!

The intrigue that J.D. Robb injects into every one of her 'In Death' novels has always thrilled me, keeping me reading far into the night to work alongside Eve Dallas in her investigations. Whilst the first four books did this perfectly, for me 'Ceremony in Death' takes this a step further, and I i...more Having devoured the first four books in the '...In Death' series and easily rated them each at five stars, I feel almost sad that I cannot give 'Ceremony in Death' a much higher rating than five stars!

The intrigue that J.D. Robb injects into every one of her 'In Death' novels has always thrilled me, keeping me reading far into the night to work alongside Eve Dallas in her investigations. Whilst the first four books did this perfectly, for me 'Ceremony in Death' takes this a step further, and I instantly connected deeply with the storyline of the 'unknown.'

Eve's case in this 'In Death' novel is new territory for her. Having always been a character who views things as either black and white, seeing Eve being thown into the unknown world of the supernatural was fascinating. I loved watching Eve's character develop as she was forced to see things from the perspective of people very different to her. Having seen Eve go from having faith in very few people to her having to understand the mind of somebody who relies on faith as part of their everyday functioning was brilliantly written.

The story of Wiccan's versus Sadists was also very respectfully portrayed. Being Wiccan myself I felt incredibly happy with Robb's strong underlying message that Wicca is a peaceful, loving religion. Although I can see the appeal in giving Witches frightfully impressive powers in fiction, I am thrilled that Robb expresses clearly through many different characters, that Wicca is a way of life and a religion, not a power-hungry cult. This distinction was clearly made by showing contrasts with the worshippers of Satan, a being that Wiccan's do not actually believe in.

Another plotline of this novel which I really enjoyed was the extra time that Eve spent with Roarke. It was wonderful to see Eve beginning to accept Roarke's protectiveness, and I can't wait to see how their relationship progresses further in the rest of the series.

Where in Robb's previous 'In Death' novels, I always had to second guess my first instinct at who the killer was, I liked that Robb gave glaringly obvious hints that Selena was the one in charge of the murders. It gave the reader a reason to justify disagreeing with Eve's judgement in the case, where in the earlier novels we would normally take Eve's word as law until proven otherwise.

However, there is one criticism I would make, which I feel was a problem with all of the books in the series so far, which is that the ending is too abrupt. The final confrontation between the 'goody' and 'baddy' tends to happen in less than five pages, and we don't see the outcome of Eve's relationships with the suspects she felt obliged to question, especially in this book where emotional connections were formed. Nevertheless, this did not in any way ruin the book for me, and if I could give it a higher rating than five I definitely would!

5 stars and a definite recommended read!(less)

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Jun 26, 2012 Lauren Acton rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 17, 2011 Sari Loocev rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: dark-spiritual, romantic-suspend, j-d-robb

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 11, 2011 Jane (PS) rated it 4 of 5 stars

This has been the most emotional book to date IMO - well, it certainly extracted more feeling from me; more than the last 4 books combined. The other books were good reading, but this one pulled tears (not blubbering but a slight sheen in my eyes) and anger from me. And Eve was the subject of all this emotion.

We pretty much know up front who the 'baddie' is - but the journey is a wonderful progression in terms of murder/mystery/deduction. However for the last 20% I was SO frustrated and angry wi...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Teresa rated it 3 of 5 stars

The 5th in the series and the darkest to date. Witchcraft both black and white is at the heart of this story and the attendant gore fills all the ideas you will have about Satanism. I have only given it 3 stars because this felt hurried to me. Although we know early on who the protagonist is, as does Eve, she inexplicably changes tack half way through the investigation because the new suspect has a serial killer father. Whilst this brings up comparisons to Eve's background it just doesn't ring t...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Grace rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library-manhattan, ebook, 2013-all, romance, 2013-new

Up until the 64% mark where I had to put the book aside for a couple of days, this was probably a 2 star read. The combination of NR's prose and descriptions, along with the subject matter of the case/the way that was described, generally had me not enjoying the book, but at least the character interactions between the cops were interesting. But at the point where I had to put the book aside, (view spoiler)...more Up until the 64% mark where I had to put the book aside for a couple of days, this was probably a 2 star read. The combination of NR's prose and descriptions, along with the subject matter of the case/the way that was described, generally had me not enjoying the book, but at least the character interactions between the cops were interesting. But at the point where I had to put the book aside, (view spoiler)[Roarke had just gone to Feeney and given him the details of what happened to Eve when she was a child. And just no. That was not his story to divulge. I don't care that Feeney knew/guessed some of it already. It was not Roarke's story to tell.

Things about this series I like without reservation: Peabody, Eve and Feeney's relationship

Things about this series I like most of the time: Feeney, Peabody and Eve's relationship

Things about this series I want to like and sometimes do: Eve, the setting when we are not referring to street corners that don't exist because they'd be right in the middle of Central Park or fancy Upper East Side addresses that actually put us in Canarsie.

Things about this series I want to like but I need reason to like them: basically everything else

Things about this series I can't talk about rationally right now: Eve and Roarke's relationship (it didn't help that I feel like 75% of their scenes in this one were sex scenes and I hate how Nora Roberts writes sex and at this point I basically never read her sex scenes), but even when it's not sex scenes, I just don't feel it. There's a definite imbalance in the relationship from what I'm seeing and it doesn't work for me.

Sooo yeah. I actually spent a while on Wednesday discussing Nora Roberts' backlist with Karen and I think I'm going to hold off on making my decision about the rest of the series until I have read the next book. Which I won't be doing for at least a month. I don't think any of these are ever going to be my favorites, but I do want to like this series. It may have just been the subject matter of this particular book was one that bothered me for a number of reasons. On top of the gang rape/sexual assault aspects, Nora Roberts' inclusion of supernatural elements - even if in this case they weren't "real" - almost always bugs me. And what really got to me about the gang rape was in the beginning when Alice was describing what had happened to her and then said something along the lines of "but it was so pleasurable!" I am pretty sure that's when I shut down in terms of being able to get any real enjoyment from anything else that was going on. I could have done without Eve's capture and near death at the end, as well.

So anyway, the point in all that is I will make the decision on whether or not I feel like ultimately continuing with the series once I get around to reading the sixth book. (hide spoiler)](less)

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Oct 30, 2012 ஐ Canan ஐ `·.¸¸.·´´¯`··._ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: wid

nora çok iyi işlemiş olayı..bi an cidden büyücü sandım karakterleri :)
ve yine işte katil dediğimiz anda tersyüz etti yazar bizi :)
onu geçtim bu eve'ye sinir olabilirdim neredeyse...
her katili son anda farketmesi bende bi sinir olma durumu yarattı :)
ama Allah için çiftimiz harikaydı :)

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Dec 17, 2012 Ellie Mendez rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the fifth installment of the Eve Dallas series and at least for me it's starting to get tedious. The character of Eve Dallas is the stereotype of the tough-as-nails cop with a very traumatic past, but the relationship with her assistant Peabody and gorgeous Irish hunk of a husband Roarke made the interactions with her fun.

After 5 books, Eve has the same internal issues and seems she's getting worse with her anger and not better. Can she just get over herself and move on?

While the story l...more

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Jul 03, 2011 Amy A rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: in-death-series

For me, this installment in the "In Death" series was far better than teh previous book. I thought the idea of sacrficial cults and religion was an interesting way to go with this murder mystery. We are introduced to the murderer almost right away, and now it's just a matter of Eve gathering enough information to prove it. Along the way we are taken on a few detours, but to me there was no question who was the culprit. I think this was obviously intentional and it was nice to see the story taken...more

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Jan 16, 2011 Sarah (Workaday Reads) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

Ceremony in Death is the 5th book in the In Death series. This volume is centered around the theme of witches, Wiccan and Satanism. It starts with Eve investigating the death of a fellow cop, and escalates to investigating several murders.

The book really develops Peabody's character. She has quite the knowledge of Wicca based on her personal background, and starts to show herself as a real asset to Eve.

A bit more of Roarke's background and personality quirks are also revealed, centering around h...more

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Hidden Riches
by Nora Roberts

About J.D. Robb

aka Nora Roberts

Eleanor Marie Robertson was born on October 10, 1950 in Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A. She was the youngest of the five children, also the only girl, of a marriage with Irish ancestors. Her family were avid readers, so books were always important in her life. She attended a Catholic school and credits the nuns with instilling in her a sense of discipline. During her sophomore year...more aka Nora Roberts

Eleanor Marie Robertson was born on October 10, 1950 in Silver Spring, Maryland, U.S.A. She was the youngest of the five children, also the only girl, of a marriage with Irish ancestors. Her family were avid readers, so books were always important in her life. She attended a Catholic school and credits the nuns with instilling in her a sense of discipline. During her sophomore year in high school, she transferred to a local public school, where she met Ronald Aufdem-Brinke, her future first husband.

In Augusy 17, 1968, as soon as she had graduated from High School, Eleanor married, against her parents' wishes. The marriage settled in Keedysville, Maryland. Her husband worked at his father's sheet-metal business before joining her parents in their lighting company. While, she worked briefly as a legal secretary. "I could type fast but couldn't spell, I was the worst legal secretary ever," she says now. After their sons, Dan and Jason, were born she stayed home. Calling this her "Earth Mother" years, she spent much of her time doing crafts, including ceramics and sewing her children's clothes. The marriage ended separating, and they obtained the divorce in January 1985.

In February 1979, a blizzard in forced her hand to try another creative outlet. She was snowed in with a three and six year old with no kindergarten respite in sight and a dwindling supply of chocolate. During the now famous blizzard, she pulled out a pencil and notebook and began to write down one of those stories. It was there that a career was born. Several manuscripts and rejections later, her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published by Silhouette in 1981 as Nora Roberts, a shortened form of her birth name Eleanor Marie Robertson, because she assumed that all authors had pen names.

Eleanor wrote under the pseudonym Jill March a story for a magazine titled "Melodies of Love".

Eleanor met her second husband, Bruce Wilder, when she hired him to build bookshelves. They were married in July 1985. Her husband owns and operates a bookstore in Boonsboro, Maryland called "Turn the Page Books". Since that time, they've expanded their home, traveled the world.

In 1992, she decided adopted other pseudonym so to publish a futuristic-suspense novels, she first decided to use the pseudonym D.J. MacGregor, but she discovered that this pseudonym was used by another author. In 1995, her first "In Death" serial novel was published under the pseudonym J.D. Robb, the initials "J.D." were taken from her sons, Jason and Dan, while "Robb" is a shortened form of Roberts.

Eleanor has also been known as Sara Hardesty, because when the "Born In" series was released in U.K. it carried that name instead of Nora Roberts. She has since changed publishers.

Eleanor has been plagiarized by another best-selling romance writer, Janet Dailey. The practice came to light after a reader read Nora Roberts' "Sweet Revenge" and Janet Dailey's "Notorious" back-to-back; she noticed several similarities and posted the comparable passages on the Internet. Calling the plagiarism "mind rape," Eleanor sued Janet Daily. In 1997, Janet, admitted to repeatedly plagiarizing from Nora Roberts' work, and that both "Aspen Gold" and "Notorious" lifted heavily from Nora Roberts's work. Both of those novels were pulled from print after Janet's admission. She acknowledged the plagiarism and blamed it on a psychological disorder. In a settlement, Janet paid Eleanor an undisclosed sum, which Eleanor donated to the Literacy Volunteers of America.

A founding member of the Romance Writers of America (R.W.A.), she was the first inductee in the organization's Hall of Fame. She also is a member of several writers groups and has won countless awards from her colleagues and the publishing industry. (less)

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Quotes from Ceremony in Death

“For once, he slept first. She lay in the dark, listening to him breathe, stealing a little of his warmth as her own body cooled. Since he was asleep, she stroked his hair.

"I love you," she murmured. "I love you so much, I'm stupid about it."

With a sigh, she settled down, closed her eyes, and willed her mind to empty.
Beside her, Roarke smiled into the dark.

He never slept first.” — 276 people liked it

“Eve: "Was that like a cookie?"

Roarke: "Hmmm?"

Eve: "You know, have a cookie. You'll feel better. Were you making me feel better?"

Roarke: "I certainly hope so, it worked for me. I wanted you. I always do."

Eve: "It's funny how men can wake up with their brains in their cocks."

Roarke: "It makes us what we are. Let's take a shower. I'll give you another cookie.” — 75 people liked it

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Ceremony in Death (In Death #5)

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