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Encore in Death
by
JD Robb
police procedural in a Kindle edition that was published by St. Martin's Press on February 7, 2023 and has 375 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Connections in Death, Faithless in Death, Payback in Death
Fifty-sixth in the In Death police procedural series and revolving around Lieutenant Eve Dallas, a homicide cop in a future New York City. The focus is on a famous acting couple, Eliza Lane and Brant Fitzhugh.
My Take
Dang, that start was confusing. I couldn’t tell who was the star or who played what. Later, who Rose Bernstein’s parents were was also confusing. First Robb appears to indicate one person and later says another woman is the parent.
The play does sound interesting, about a stage mother who is too ambitious. A play that mimics real life.
I cried with that first death — a man who was so loved and so decent. He helped everyone.
Robb uses third-person global subjective point-of-view from several perspectives with Dallas’ as the primary one. There are plenty of colorful and supportive, as well as horrible, characters in this. They’re family and they’ll be torn apart.
Oh, boy, that stalker really had some issues. Vera does too. You don’t end things with her! Lol, Dory, at the bank, is obsessed about clones. As for Debra, oy. That woman is a menace and toxic! That sweet Gary recognized the signs Leah was showing.
Yep, the candy thief is still striking, lol. I do want to know who it is!! Lolol, Eve makes a promise about kissing Summerset, ROFL.
Whoa! Roarke gifts magic vests to Eve’s department as an anniversary gift to Eve. Lol, Jenkinson has a very original thank-you!
It’s a twisty tale that takes in a distant death in the past. A truly evil, narcissistic event.
The Story
Eliza Lane has her eye on her fifth Tony award, playing the mother in the revival of Upstage.
If only Brant could be with her . . .
The Characters
Lieutenant Eve Dallas is in charge of the Homicide Department at NYPSD at Cop Central. Roarke is her gorgeous, very supportive husband, a.k.a. the emperor of the business universe. Roarke Industries is his company. Summerset is their majordomo. Galahad is their pudge of a cat. Ivanna is a former Russian spy dating Summerset.
Their friends include . . .
. . . Mavis Freestone, an internationally famous singer, who is married to Leonardo, a famous fashion designer. Bella is their young daughter; August is Bella’s protective nanny. Nadine Furst is the ace on-air reporter for Channel 75 who wrote The Icove Agenda. Trina is the stylist Dallas fears.
The New York City Police and Security Department (NYPSD)
Detective Delia “Dee” Peabody is Dallas’ partner; her significant other is Detective Ian McNab with the Electronic Detectives Division which is led by Captain Ryan Feeney, Dallas’ former mentor and still her father figure. Commander Jack Whitney is Dallas’ direct supervisor. Dallas’ detectives include Baxter and his partner, Trueheart; Jenkinson and Reineke; and, Carmichael and Santiago.
Dr Li Morris is the chief medical examiner.. Dr Charlotte “Charlie” Mira is the top profiler in the city. Kyung is the department media person whom Dallas doesn’t particularly dislike. Cher Reo is the assistant prosecuting attorney. Dick Berenski is the chief lab tech. Harvo is the Queen of Hair and Fiber. Officers include Rickie, Rye, Manning, Fenton, Carmichael, and Shelby. Detectives Stringer and Nalley are with Fraud. Tibble is the chief of police.
Carlton J Greene is the diamond standard of criminal defense attorneys. Judge “Punt’em” Pointer is too easy.
Cabot and Lowe’s Upstage is . . .
. . . the revival play in which the protagonists are Lily Bright played by the star, Eliza Lane, and Marcie Bright played by Samantha Keene, Eliza’s on-stage daughter; Roland Adderson is the assistant director; Minerva “Minx” Novak is the choreographer; Malcomb Furrier, a composer, is her husband. Their two-year-old daughter is Ari. (Roger Novak and Alyson Crupke were Minx’s parents. Roger’s second wife was Heaven Colby, whom Robb claims is Minx’s mother. Alyson’s next husband had been Lloyd Bernstein, then Benson Pickett, and the next was Edwin White-Mitchell.) Angie, Marcie Bright’s best friend, is played by Carla. Tessa Long is the director; and, Mai Li is Tessa’s wife and they have two children.
Brant Fitzhugh, a golden god of stage and screen, is Eliza’s beloved husband. Linwood “Lin” Jacoby, a former trainer, is Brant’s personal assistant; Marta is Lin’s assistant. Brant formed a production company.
Dolby Kessler is Lane’s personal assistant (he’d been a low rung wardrobe assistant on Lane’s All’s Fair. Cela Ricardo handles the professional end for Lane.
Guests at the party include . . .
. . . Marjorie and Pilar; Sylvie Bowen, a longtime friend (the Russian Mikhail is Sylvie’s ex; Clara is her granddaughter); Dr James Cyril — he was Roland Adderson’s plus one; the bitter Vera Harrow (an actress with whom Brant had been involved) and her plus one, Rico Estaban, a.k.a. the Holiday Hunk, is an actor who does one-offs (James is Vera’s butler); Dirk Russellis a director; Cosmo Wise, an actor; and, Grant Pfiffer is the pianist.
Wayne and Cara Rowan are Lane and Brant’s cook and housekeeper. Henry is the doorman. Robert is on the desk. Tyler Vance is Cara’s nephew, a metal artist.
Natalie will be the leading lady in the movie in which Brant will be starring in New Zealand. Carmandy Proust was Brant’s first wife. Home Front is an organization providing safe, affordable housing that was supported by Brant. Georgia is the owner of All Elegance, a catering company which employs Monika Kajinski; she doubles as a bartender at Du Vin, a bar that Roarke owns. Jed is one of the servers. In Bloom does floral displays. Suzannah Clarkson is Lane’s former assistant. Franco is Dolby’s ex. The issue-ridden Ethan Crommel is Lane’s stalker who served time at the Gordon Institute. Dr Ivan Horowitz had been Ethan’s therapist. Bristol is a director Lane has come into conflict with at different times.
Maeve Spindal had played the original Lily. I think Arlo is Maeve’s current personal assistant. Eliza Lane had been the understudy to Leah Rose, the original Marcie, and was born Rose Bernstein. Debra Rose, Rose’s mother, a.k.a. Debbie Starr, owned StarLight Traveling Players. As Delilah Rose, she had operated Madam Rose’s Dance School, which shut down after five years; then she’d run Bernstein’s Talent Agency; and then was listed as agent/manager for Rose. A grifter. Gary Proctor had played Charlie, “Marcie’s love interest as well as Rose’s real-life love interest, a good influence. Corrine is Proctor’s current-day wife; There’s a son, Travis, who dislikes his two sisters, Corrine and Flora. Detectives Wimbly and Holister had investigated the overdose case back then. Fred Aaron had been Rose’s theatrical agent at TOD. (He’s scathing about Debra. Said she was the worst.) Shelly, an actor in the play, had lived in the same building as Leah. Elliot had been Gary’s roommate (and is now the director of Gary’s current play).
Marlo Durn and Julian starred in The Icove Agenda, a story about a couple of “mad” scientists (Origin in Death, 21). The Red Horse, another bestselling story from Nadine (Delusion in Death, 35), is a sequel. The Great House Project is all about the house Mavis and Leonardo bought and are sharing with Dee and McNab. Casto had been a detective in Immortal in Death, 3.
Gregg Ortz is a reporter with GNN. Abbie Korick is with Entertainment Daily. Lowell Tucker is with Blogasphere. Kurtis Walter is with Stage and Screen.
The jerk Teegan Stone (has an I-Bang-and-Discard Women policy) has a bar with an apartment above and is Mary Kate Covino’s ex (Abandoned in Death, 54.). Roarke arranges for Eve to “buy it”. Dawber had been a forensic chemist in Abandoned in Death.
Ernestine had a recent weight loss. Carmine is the manager at the Mini-Super. Ms Mussy is a shopper. Linny is another actress. Dru appears to be a personal assistant. Footlights is a café off Broadway. Winnie is the woman whose purse was stolen. Craig is the manager at Debra Starr’s current flop. Luce is the sister of the building’s clerk, Adele. Chance, Bower, and Clark seem to be other clerks. I think Nessa Bowie was another renter. Mr Jabbot, Mike, Dory, and Jerry work at a bank. Steven K Lewis, a high roller in Vegas, and David Quaid, a character actor, wired cash to a bank account. Aileen Gretzky works for the cleaning service. JZ “Stud” Kramer had been a reference for “Lovie”. Joe E Clark, a night man at a hotel, reports a DB.
The Cover and Title
The cover is primarily yellow and black with the top two-thirds an orange background with a collage of yellow objects, most of which represent events within the story. Below it is a view down down Broadway with its glittering lights. At the very top is an info blurb with the author’s name below it in black. At the bottom is the title in white.
The title is too appropriate with actors who take an Encore in Death.
