Ceremony in Death

in Death: 5

ISBN: 0-425-15518-8 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com

A tense police thriller with an appealing, intelligent heroine, good on human emotion and interaction, but set in a fake-seeming world and with a rather overpowering romantic interest.

Reviewed by David on June 05, 1999

Genre: Mystery (Near Future, Romance, Police Procedural)

Synopsis: Sixty years in the future, many drugs have been legalized, prostitution has become a licensed profession, and androids help guard buildings and tend bars. Nevertheless, poverty, greed and jealousy remain. After ten years on the force, Lieutenant Eve Dalls has become one of the most effective homocide investigators in the New York police. Her combination of intelligence and compassion, dedication and passion for justice drive her to treat each case as the most important thing in her life.

A veteran policeman dies of a heart failure. Amid the grief of the family and the many friends and former students in the police department, the widely respected veteran died with traces of illegal and toxic drugs in his body. Did he finally go crooked and involve himself in the drug trade, or was he poisoned? The suspicion mounts, as Eve is asked to investigate without involving the Internal Affairs Department or any of the victims' friends. There is evidence of satanic cults nearby, and rumors of human sacrifice and drugs. As the body count mounts, Eve hersolf becomes the target of evil: it may be supernatural or criminal, but it is definitely deadly.

Full Review: Eve is, as always, in a race again murderer or murderers. People are dying, killed brutally and ritualistically right under her nose. Two religious communities are under suspicion, Wiccans and Satanists, and both have secrets to hide.

The villains turn out a bit too psychopathic: why is it that every murderer is compelled to attack the police? Would it not just call more attention to the investigation?

Eve's husband Roarke, as in the past novels, is a bit too much to be plausible. Eve's stormy and passionate interactions with him should appeal to the romance aficionados, but are overdone enough to occasionally interfere with the fast plot.

Nora Roberts, a well-known romance writer, has written this series of near-future police procedurals with a romantic bent. Her protagonist, Eve Dallas, has the combination of courage, intelligence and humor that make for a very appealing hero. A small set of supporting characters that make their continuous appearance in the books of this series flesh out her life and investigations.

The world of the near future is rather flawed for a science fiction reader. The tropes: annoying androids, space flight, cranky computers, are full of inconsistencies and seem to be more appropriate to sitcoms than to fiction. For instance, there is some confusion between orbital and interstellar flight, AI and glorified PCs. In general, the setting is used to add artificial glitter and remove the grit and constraints of a real city police investigation rather than to add narrative value.

This setting, artificial as it is, does allow for a more streamlined plot.

In summary, this is a fast-moving, entertaining novel with an appealing hero, offering a good emotional ride but little food for thought. The fans of Eve Dallas may also like Hamilton's Anita Blake.

Overall: 6; Plot: 4.5; Characters: 6; Style: 5.5; World-building: 5; Originality: 6;

ISBN: 0-425-15518-8 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com