Under her pen name, JD Robb, Nora Roberts' "Survivor In Death," is a murder mystery page-turner keeper. This novel is one of the futuristic, suspense novels from the "In Death" series. It takes place in New York City, 2059. Lieutenant Eve Dallas, the protagonist of this novel, faces one of her toughest murder cases yet.
Eve Dallas, a Lieutenant in the NYPD for many years, never shied away from a challenging case. However, no amount of experience prepared her for this homicide mystery and the fact that it became somewhat personal. The Swisher family were all murdered with the exception of their nine-year old daughter, Nixie. Not only Eve would have to track down the culprit, she would have to find a way to console, take care of, and find a permanent home for young Nixie. Eve and her husband, Roarke, were both really hard workers and very little time and/or experience with small children. Although Nixie did not live with them permanently, she gave Eve a taste of motherhood for a short period of time.
Trough interviews with the landlord, friends and Nixie herself, the crime was unraveled with the knowledge that the murder suspects were male, possibly French , and was performed by two individuals. CSI results from bloody bed sheets also provided DNA evidence. The suspects came from behind and killed their victims from behind as they cowardly always stabbed them from the back. Although Eve had collected powerful evidence from this case, it was not until her partner Detective Peabody, pieced together this evidence with an on going case she was working on and positively identified the criminals. This coincidence of two partners working on two separate cases created a nice conclusion for them as well as the reader.
Mrs. Grentz, the landlord of the Swishers' West Side apartment, said," Because they're French. Got their der-re-airs kicked the last time they made trouble, didn't they? And believe me, they've been planning a payback ever since..." (Chapter 7, p. 110) You cannot assume that a murderer is of one group, one race and one nationality. This form of bias may have caused Eve to look for French murderers, when they were in fact were American! Jan Uger, one of the victim's clients, said, "A quack." She puffed. That's what she was. Said she couldn't help me if I didn't keep the regimen. What am I, in Christing boot camp?"(Chapter 7, p. 117) Although the Swishers were loved and known, there are some people who do not like those people and are jealous. I was surprised to see that some people do not like those type of people. After meeting Ms. Uger, Eve stood outside the building and said, "Do you think I should've been insulted?" she wondered. "The 'how much did it cost you' crack?" (Chapter 7, p. 119) Since Eve was the best cop in the NYPD, I was shocked that the best cop would be insulted by one person. I thought that Eve would freak out and get angry about the comment, but managed to handle and ignore the negativity.
"Survivor In Death," is a very good crime fiction novel to read. For fans of Nora Roberts and the "In Death" series, this is a good novel to read. I definitely cannot wait to read another part of this series.
