Good writers often specialize in one genre and make a name off of that single genre. It could be horror, fantasy, historical fiction, romance, or any other genre.
Then we have versatile, god-level writers who can create anything they want to. Norah Roberts is one of them, a brilliant writer who created a pen name just to create masterpieces in a whole different genre than the one she was known for.
Norah, who had mainly been publishing romance novels, became J.D. Robb when she decided to publish futuristic science fiction books.
Since then she has published 55 books in the In Death series. In this article, I have listed all the J.D. Robb Books in order and thrown in brief reviews of the best 5 In Death books.
Let’s get started.
Top 3 J.D. Robb Books
Who is J.D. Robb?
J.D. Robb is a pseudonym used by American writer, Norah Roberts. She began using the pen name when she started publishing the In Death series in 1995.
Nora Roberts was born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10, 1950, in Silver Spring, Maryland. She met Ronald Aufdem-Brinke in high school and the two married right after Norah graduated. They had two sons, Jason and Dan, before their divorce in 1983. 2 years later, she met her second husband, Bruce Wilder, who she had hired to make her bookshelves, and they are still together.
During a blizzard in February 1979, Norah was in her house with Jason and Dan, unable to go out, bored, and with nothing else to do, she started writing down story ideas. She never looked back and—in a short time—she wrote six manuscripts. She had been repeatedly snubbed (and plagiarized) by Harlequin before being taken on board by Silhouette books. She wrote dozens of novels for Silhouette moving to Bantam in 1987, then Putnam.
Roberts revealed that she was J.D. Robb after publishing the twelfth book of the In Death series in 2001. She’s still publishing the In Death books using J.D Robb (although it’s no longer a secret that it is Robert’s who’s writing them) in the series and it has 55 books.
Robert’s, whose other pseudonyms are Jill March and Sarah Hardesty. In recognition of her works, Norah Roberts became the first ever Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame inductee.
All J.D. Robb Books in Order
- Naked in Death (1995)
- Glory in Death (1995)
- Immortal in Death (1996)
- Rapture in Death (1996)
- Ceremony in Death (1997)
- Vengeance in Death (1997)
- Holiday in Death (1998)
- Conspiracy in Death (1999)
- Loyalty in Death (1999)
- Witness in Death (2000)
- Judgment in Death (2000)
- Betrayal in Death (2001)
- Seduction in Death (2001)
- Reunion in Death (2002)
- Purity in Death (2002)
- Portrait in Death (2003)
- Imitation in Death (2003)
- Divided in Death (2004)
- Visions in Death (2004)
- Survivor In Death (2005)
- Origin in Death (2005)
- Memory in Death (2006)
- Born in Death (2006)
- Innocent in Death (2007)
- Creation in Death (2007)
- Strangers in Death (2008)
- Salvation in Death (2008)
- Promises in Death (2009)
- Kindred in Death (2009)
- Fantasy in Death (2010)
- Indulgence in Death (2010)
- Treachery in Death (2011)
- New York to Dallas (2011)
- Celebrity in Death (2012)
- Delusion in Death (2012)
- Calculated in Death (2013)
- Thankless in Death (2013)
- Concealed in Death (2014)
- Festive in Death (2014)
- Obsession in Death (2015)
- Devoted in Death (2015)
- Brotherhood in Death (2016)
- Apprentice in Death (2016)
- Echoes in Death (2017)
- Secrets in Death (2017)
- Dark in Death (2018)
- Leverage in Death (2018)
- Connections in Death (2019)
- Vendetta in Death (2019)
- Golden in Death (2020)
- Shadows in Death (2020)
- Faithless in Death (2021)
- Forgotten in Death (2021)
- Abandoned in Death (2022)
- Desperation in Death (2022)
- Encore in Death (2023)
In Death Short Stories and Novellas
- Midnight in Death (1998)
- Interlude in Death (2001)
- Haunted in Death (2006)
- Eternity in Death (2007)
- Ritual In Death (2008)
- Missing in Death (2009)
- Big Jack (2010)
- Possession in Death (2010)
- Chaos in Death (2011)
- Taken in Death (2013)
- Wonderment Death (2015)
The Best 5 J.D. Robb Books
1. Naked in Death (In Death, #1)
Naked in Death was originally released in 1995 and released in 2004. The story is good but—if you’ve read a lot of nonfiction pieces—the plot is familiar.
An experienced New York police lieutenant, Eve Dallas, gets romantically involved with Roarke, the suspect in her murder investigation. He could be a ruthless killer but passion and temptation are overpowering her instincts, making her forget all things she’s learned during her time in the force.
This series is crosscutting, it is a murder mystery with crime-solving, there’s the romance between Eve and Roarke, and is futuristic sci-fi. A lot of ‘planned’ series start slow but this one was pacy. This fast pacing means the book doesn’t get boring and that, on its own, is an incentive for people late to the In Death party and have over 50 books to read.
2. Obsession in Death (In Death #)
This is the fortieth In Death book and by now, Eve is a famous detective. Not only do the readers know her well but is also famous in her world.
Among the people who know Eve is a psychotic killer who is obsessed with her. This murderous psycho reads Eve’s every move and kills anyone “who has wronged Eve.” The psychological pattern is also too familiar; the secret admirer might get disappointed by their idol and decide to stop killing for them, and kill them instead.
In this book series, Norah Roberts has, again and again, built her pacy stories on perfect plots, squeezed in puzzles, and dropped countless twists and turns.
3. Portrait in Death (In Death #16)
Again, the plot is a familiar one. There’s a serial killer who is taking professional portraits of his victims, all of whom are beautiful young women.
In his mind, the demented killer thinks he is an artist, on a mission to preserve his victim’s youth and beauty.
Eve Dallas and her partner, Peabody, have to find out who the killer is and why he/she taking photos of his victims after murdering them. The killer leaves little to no clues but Eve initially has some suspicions about her friend, Nadine Furst, because the murderer seems to brag about the murders to her.
The hunt for the serial hunt does not take up all of the stories. Norah Roberts showed the readers why they love Eve and Roarke. Even with Roarke having to deal with some personal issues (which make him a bit distant), their love story is a wonderful thing to read about.
4. New York to Dallas (In Death #33)
There’s a psycho on the loose, and he is thirsting for blood, including Eve’s. A deranged murderer and pedophile, Isaac McQueen, has escaped from Rikers and wants to get back to his old evil ways. He used to abduct and torture young victims before Eve Dallas took him down and that is why he is also coming after her.
He has special plans for Eve: he has done his research and knows exactly what he has to do to hurt Eve the most. He wants to lay a trap for her by kidnapping one of his previous victims.
McQueen is going to take Eve to a place that will trigger so many nightmarish memories, and it’ll be hell for her. But. Luckily for her, she has Roarke and her friends to help her survive it. New York to Dallas, uncharacteristically, doesn’t lack intensity and it’s an unputdownable read.
5. Calculated in Death (In Death, #36)
When an accountant is found dead with all her valuables stolen, Eve and Peabody have a new murder case to crack.
It could be petty thieves whose nerves got the best of them and they killed the accountant, who is also a wife and mother. But when Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her partner find traces of blood in the building, they realize that the case involves a hired killer, albeit not competent enough.
This also means that someone ordered a hit on the seemingly ordinary woman and Eve’s search for the perpetrators takes her deep into Roarke’s big business world. She will have everything at her disposal to catch the killer, including risking her own life.
D.J. Rob FAQs
What is the latest JD Robb In Death series?
The latest novel in the In Death series is book 55, Desperation In Death. Book 56, Encore in Death, will be released in February 2023.
How many JD Robb books are in the In Death series?
There are 55 novels but the 56th is coming in 2023. There are 11 In Death short stories/novellas.
Are there any movies based on JD Robb’s In Death series?
Although there are more than 10 of Norah’s books that have made it onto the screen, we’re yet to see a movie based on the In Death series. Her website also says that “There are no current plans to translate the In Deaths or any of Nora’s trilogies to film.”
Does Eve Dallas ever get pregnant?
Roberts said that the In Death series will not feature Eve and Roarke’s children, but at the end of the series, Eve will be pregnant.
Conclusion
Whether publishing as J.D. Robb, Sarah Hardesty, or Jill March, Norah Roberts is an excellent writer. Even with over 200 books to her name, readers still yearn for more of her stories.
As of now, J.D. Robb’s In Death series has 55 books but we expect more books starting from February 2023. The first book is good but the series gets better and better as you read more novels. Eve Dallas meets Roarke and after that, their circle just keeps growing and the stories become more engrossing.
