Naked in Death (In Death, #1)

by J.D. Robb

chapter one

More than two and a half decades in, I'm still challenged and entertained every time I close myself into the In Death world to write a story. I’d rather look forward, but a milestone like Golden in Death, the fiftieth book in the In Death series, deserves a moment to look back over the long run. Then it’s time for me to challenge Eve and the gang with another murder. While Laura Reeth’s worked with me since 2005, she’s been a reader since 1983. She conducts discussions with readers about my books on Facebook and has a strong sense of what readers appreciate most in the In Death series. Below she shares her thoughts on and background experience with some of her favorite quotes from the series. You can find out more about Golden in Death on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45046771-golden-in-death?ref=jdnotes

She was young for her rank, barely thirty, with wide brown eyes that had never had a chance to be naive. Her doe-brown hair was cropped short, for convenience rather than style, but suited her triangular face with its razor-edge cheekbones and slight dent in the chin. She was tall, rangy, with a tendency to look thin, but Feeney knew there were solid muscles beneath the leather jacket. More, there was a brain, and a heart.

I didn’t work with Nora when Naked in Death came out in 1995, but Eve Dallas reeled me in from the first page. I’ve waited for every book since with impatient, baited breath. Nora tells the how story of a dark, difficult female homicide cop showed up in her head one day, completely out of the blue. Stymied, she flopped on her bed and said, “You’re interesting, but what am I going to do with you?” About four years later, she agreed to take on the JD Robb pseudonym only if she could write something different and bring that dark, difficult Eve Dallas to readers. I love this early description Eve. And the hints to the heart she tried so hard to hide.

“Roarke, what’s going on here?” “Lieutenant.” He leaned forward, touched his lips to hers. “Indications are we’re having a romance.”

Eve’s relied on her instincts for more than a decade on the job, all of which warned her away from Roarke. The connection between them ended up irresistible, even as he was a suspect in her case. I love this exchange. Roarke, for his modern, sophisticated take on life, is a romantic in so many ways. His use of the old-fashioned “romance” is perfect. Sweet, yet terrifying to Eve all the same.