Portrait in Death

J. D. Robb & Nora Roberts

Book 16 of In Death

Language: English

Publisher: Berkley

Published: Feb 25, 2003

Description:

After a tip from a reporter, Eve Dallas finds the body of a young woman in a Delancey street dumpster. Just hours before, the news station had mysteriously received a portfolio of professional portraits of the woman. The photos seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary for any pretty young woman starting a modeling career. Except that she wasn't a model. And that these photos were taken after she had been murdered.

Now Dallas is on the trail of a killer who's a perfectionist and an artist. He carefully observes and records his victim's every move. And he has a mission: to own every beautiful young woman's innocence, to capture her youth and vitality—in one fateful shot... 

From Publishers Weekly

Lieutenant Eve Dallas may live in 2059, but she's still a recognizable Manhattan police officer: mouthy, courageous, skeptical and impatient. In Roberts's latest In Death novel (after Purity in Death), she's charged with finding a killer who murders young people full of innocence and promise, photographs them after death, then taunts both a top reporter and Dallas herself with notes about his handiwork. Just as her investigation of Manhattan's clubs and colleges nears its peak, Eve's husband, the wealthy entrepreneur Roarke, discovers that his mother is not the cold abandoner he remembers, but a tender young Irishwoman whom his father brutally murdered. While he struggles to understand his heritage, the couple must navigate stormy marital waters. Though the mystery's denouement doesn't live up to its promise, the book ably delivers on other fronts. Intensely female yet unfeminine in any traditional sense, Dallas has a complex edge that transcends genre stereotypes and gives the book's romantic interludes a real charge. As always in Roberts's work, appealing secondary characters add genuine warmth and humor. And while this futuristic vision of New York may not be totally accurate (it's unlikely, for example, that Dallas's oft-used "bite me" will still be in vogue 50 years from now), it's perfectly calibrated to intrigue.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Portrait In Death will take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. You will go from wanting to laugh to wanting to reach for the box of tissues.” —Barb Hicks, ParaNormal Romance Reviews

“When you want a book that will excite, thrill and transport you, pick up something by J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts). The futuristic Eve Dallas and Rourke suspense stories are without peer!” —Jill M. Smith, Romantic Times

“Purity In Death is a tour-de-force, perfectly displaying Ms. Robb's considerable writing skill, while at the same time illustrating exactly why this series continues to be an auto-buy for her fans… Purity In Death is a winner.” —Mellanie Crowther, The Romance Readers Connection

“Thank you J.D. for another surprise, more laughs, and another look into the, hopefully, never ending life that Dallas and Roarke.” —Michele Patrykus, The Best Reviews