Title: Full On Artistry of Words Body: From the moment you step into the future alley you are met with a word mural that draws you into the story. Robb writes with an imagination that keeps the reader involved. It is captivating how he paints a picture of art and artist that even the casual art lover would recognize, helping them to see the images that Robb has created. My only objection to the book was the unnecessary vulgarities. I understand he was illustrating rough scenes but I can put that together without F words. Overall a great read and well narrated.

The latest JD Robb book is up to her excellent work. The varied plots that she comes up with keep her stories fresh. This story finds Eve investigating murders of prostitutes in the SoHo area of NYC. The serial killer recreates the bodies into art by copying famous artists’ works. A different twist, it is an interesting change.

ALC:
Solid entry in the series. The plot was engaging, the mystery was a mystery, and we got wonderful vignettes in to the lives of out favorite characters. Can't complain about this one, it was a good mystery read.

Framed in Death is the 61st book in the In Death series by J. D. Robb. This book can be enjoyed as a standalone mystery or as part of the series.

I thought this was a great story. This is set in a future New York, which gives it an interesting dynamic. I enjoyed following the police in solving this crime. This was actually a quick read and very fast paced!

I have come to love the language of the time. Just like today, there is slang, and it took a little while to figure out what some of the words mean. Once you get used to it, it makes perfect sense!

I thought the narration by Susan Ericksen was great! I loved how she brought the story to life! She gave each character their own voice. Overall, this was a great production!

I highly recommend reading Framed in Death!

Framed in Death (In Death #61) by J. D. Robb
Narrated by Susan Ericksen
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Expected Publication Date: September 2, 2025

Framed in Death by J. D. Robb is the 61st book in the In Death series, and I read it as a standalone. I’ve tackled plenty of long-running series out of order, but with this one I found myself pretty lost—especially when it came to the characters and their relationships. On top of that, the futuristic setting (the year 2061) threw me off with references to advanced technology, a past war, and even off-planet living. The description didn’t reference that this was a futuristic crime thriller, so that element caught me by surprise.

That said, I really enjoyed the central mystery: a killer recreating famous paintings with real-life victims was such a chilling and clever premise.

Susan Ericksen’s narration was excellent—her delivery, especially the Irish accent, really brought the story and characters to life.

Thank you to NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for letting me read this ARC.

This installment brings Eve Dallas into another layered case filled with murder, secrets, and personal motives. The story itself is solid, with the usual mix of crime, character interplay, and steady pacing that fans of the series appreciate.
What didn’t work for me was the narration. It felt flat and disconnected me from the tension and twists. I honestly think I would have enjoyed the book more if I had read it instead of listened to the audio.
Overall, newer thriller readers or fans already invested in Eve’s world will likely enjoy it, but experienced thriller readers may find it predictable and less gripping compared to other options in the genre.

The narrator was just ok, I don’t think this was a full cast as sometimes it was hard for me to distinguish between which character it was. It wasn’t bad enough to keep me from reading but not a favorite. The pace was good enough for me.

The storyline itself was good and fast paced but it was lacking something not sure if it was depth or what but it just wasn’t a five star read for me.

Dallas and Peabody are back on another case!

A Licensed Companion is found on the doorstep of an art gallery owner’s home. The body is made-up and displayed like Johannes Vermeer's Girl with the Pearl Earring, including wires and glue to keep the body in place.

Eve and Peabody spend merely one day speaking to witnesses and marking off potential suspects before another body is placed like a painting – this time Thomas Gainsborough's The Blue Boyat the door of an art gallery.

The lieutenant and her trusty aide must now move fast - two bodies in two days probably means a third. The pair are now in a race against the clock - and an intriguing killer.

This was rather clever. Finding people who could represent famous masterpieces, complete with fancy outfits. As is typical with the Eve Dallas tales - and how is this the 61tst?!? - the investigation moves fast with help from Roarke, McNabb, and all the rest. As always, this was a quick, fun read.

I refuse to be sorry…..this series never gets old. I have read/listened to every one and own a copy of them all.
This can be read only but honestly if you want the full Eve/Roarke/Mavis/Peabody/Somerset and all the rest I really recommend starting and the beginning with book 1. Only because the growth in all of the characters and the found family for Eve honestly just makes these books even better.
If you’ve never read this futuristic crime/mystery series with a dash of romance and found family you have to pick this series up!!!
I received an ARC of this title. All opinions are my own.

J.D. Robb holds a certain nostalgia for me, as I read many of her books in high school when I was first getting into mysteries. Eve Dallas is a fantastic character, with wit, charm, and sarcasm. She is that badass FMC we all want to be.

The book itself was good. The author usually keeps her books pretty straight forward, without a lot of bells and whistles. This book was no exception, as it was a quick easy read. The concept of a struggling artist killing to reenact famous artworks was interesting, and something I had not come across before. Overall, the book was a unique concept with a simple, straightforward execution.

What I liked:
Framed in Death has a really intriguing premise. The idea of a serial killer inspired by classic art, who recreates portraits by taking lives, added a unique twist to the familiar detective formula. I enjoyed some of the futuristic elements, like robot droids assisting the NYPSD (New York Police and Security Department), which gave the world a distinct, high-tech feel. Even though this is the sixty-first book in the Eve Dallas series, it can still be read as a standalone story, as the main crime plot is clear and self-contained.

What didn’t work for me:
Since I’m new to the series, I didn’t have a connection to recurring characters like Eve Dallas, Roarke, or Peabody. Their relationships and personalities have been built over decades, so much of the depth of character development was lost on me. The futuristic setting was interesting, but I didn’t feel it added much to the crime-solving aspect. I also wanted more opportunity to puzzle through clues myself, as the investigation felt fairly straightforward. Overall, it was entertaining, but it didn’t fully engage me as a mystery reader.

Thank you:
Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review

This is book 61 in the In Death series, but I have been reading these in a bit of a random order and that works. There are some story lines that slowly progress but for the most part each book is a mystery. In this one Lt. Dallas gets called to the scene of a person left dead and posed like a famous painting. I liked that this one showed us what he killer was early, it wasn’t about who did it, it was about how do they catch him. This killer had an abundance of resources and it was fun seeing how they would catch and make sure he stayed caught. I also liked that we saw a fair bit from the killer’s perspective, it was interesting and bit different. These are so fun to read, I listened to this one and the narration was really good and brought the characters to life.

Such a fun read!! This story devoured me. I couldn’t put it down. The plot twist at the end was crazy! Thank you for the arc!

It’s hard to believe this is the 61st book in the series. And yet these mysteries never get old for me. I still look forward to each one.
I was blessed to receive this a an audio ARC with Susan Ericksen as narrator. She always does an excellent job with these books.
In this installment, Eve is on the hunt for a killer copying the masters, but in a gruesome way. As always, Eve will get her man, with a little help from the civilian consultant.
We also delve more into Peabody and Mavis’s new home when Eve gets a chance to relax a bit.
I love the cast of characters in this series. Poor Eve gets blinded at least once a book by a garish tie. Will the garish ties ever end? Will Eve ever nab the candy thief? Who is the nefarious thief with a sweet tooth? Hopefully, someday we’ll find out.
I received this as a free audiobook ARC and am leaving this review voluntarily.

Another hit. Jonathan is a mamas boy who is beyond delusional. Killing peoples fir his subpar art because he seems them less than because they do sex work. And his mama, phoebe, was an enabler. Rich people think money can buy anything. Well, not in this case.

Roarke and Eve are my favorite fictional couple. I also love all of the people who love Eve: The Mira’s, Whitney’s, Mcnabb and Peabody, and everyone else.

Also, don’t ever change the narrator!! She is phenomenal!

As always, loved the banter between Dallas and Peabody and everyone needs someone to love them like Roarke loves Eve! Interesting premise and I blew through this audiobook. Waiting for the next!

This one starts with Eve attempting to find the good in her life and voluntarily going into her closet to find non black clothes. So some character development right from the start. This is book 61 in the In Death series and readable as a standalone but the different personalities really come out if you read the series.

I usually read the books rather than the audiobooks and it took a while to get used to the narrator. My idea of their voices was different, especially Roarke where I always imagine him like my own family's Irish accents and Mira who sounds much older from the narrator. I think it is just preference and having such a long history with the series rather than an issue with the narrator. The voices are different enough that you know who is talking in the dialogue easily.

For those who like to speed things up, the Netgalley app doesn't have the best controls for speed but it was good at 1.5x and not too pitchy at 1.75x but harder to differentiate between the voices. Above that, gets a little chipmunky.

This one centres on people murdered and posed to look like famous paintings. Like many of the books where strangers are the victims, licensed companions are the target. Not my favourite book from the series, but a good read (listen). I feel like the recreate art aspect has been done before where the kills are usually more unique with this series. But not a bad book at all. Like most of them, heavy on the police procedural aspect but this one had quite a bit of them outside of work with Peabody and Mavis moving into their new homes.

We still don't know the identity of the candy thief. We still get awful ties. But hey, Eve gets a pickpocket stupid enough to try and steal from her so she had a good time too. Probably the only character who can get away with talking about tomatoes and peppers having an orgy and it makes sense. It also had a good amount of the other characters and in the right places. Nadine brings chocolate to the bullpen, Cher bites back at Dallas but they get the job done. Trips to the morgue, mentions of the craziness of the tech EDD, a consult with Mira etc. I like it when they are all included in smaller amounts than the books that were more concentrated on one of them.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the advance copy for review. Framed In Death is available on September 2nd. The book through St Martin's Press and audiobook through Macmillan Audio. JD Robb is a pseudonym for Nora Roberts.

JD Robb is one of my favorite authors! This book did not disappoint. I was hooked from the very beginning!!!!

I enjoyed how at the beginning of this book, I was introduced to the killer; He is a deranged artist whose goal is to be remembered.
I got to know him, and gain insight to who he was as a person. I wish that there could have been more development/ meeting of this character throughout the book.
I have enjoyed all of the books that I have read so far by J.D. Robb, although not many. I just found this book to drag a bit for me. In spite of the latter, I will say that I look forward to reading the other books in the series. Everything is not for everyone; give it a shot you may enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and J.D. Robb for allowing me to be an ARC reader.

Thankfully there’s an immediate “hook” or I would’ve had an extremely difficult time getting past the first chapter. It’s just my personal opinion, but I find Susan Ericksen’s narration rather off-putting. One character often sounds more Transylvanian than Irish… again, a very personal opinion.

However, JD Robb is a solid writer and the tale is written and plotted with her masterful hand. Ensuring that the audio can still be enjoyed. For those of you who don’t know, JD Robb is the pseudonym for #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts. She is the author of over 240 novels, including the futuristic suspense ‘In Death’ series that began in 1999, of which ‘Framed in Death’ is #61 of. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.

The year is 2061, the setting is Manhattan…

The killer, a much needed part of any mystery/thriller is targeting LC’s or Licensed Companions. He seems to have the misguided belief that he is an unrecognized artistic genius. He has begun a very twisted portrait series of death imitating art, beginning with an extremely lurid copy of Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring.”

The demented killer’s series isn’t following just one artist, which makes things a little harder for the police on the case. The unlucky models are posed outside art galleries, creating ‘living’ dead copies of the paintings. Not too mention making a very strong, if mentally misguided, statement.

Lt. Eve Dallas is doing her best with her partner Dt. Delia Peabody to stop this serial killer before it goes any further. Pulling her Irish Billionaire, Roarke, into helping them with his knowledge of art. Two murders in two days is far too fast!

This story rolls along full bore with a short pit stop at Dt. Delia Peabody’s new home that Roarke helped make a reality. It will keep you reading or listening right along to the end, whichever format you happened to choose.

Thanks to St Martin’s Publishing Group, MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for letting me review this ARC in return for an honest review.


#JD Robb
#Macmillan Audio
#Susan Ericksen
#Mystery
#St. Martin's Publishing Group