"Fantasy in Death" by J.D. Robb is Fantastical!

I love this series and think I love it more each time a new book comes out! It's not great literature but the author writes a heck of an entertaining story.   If you are not familiar with the "In Death" series, it is a futuristic mystery series written by the romance author Nora Roberts under the pseudonym J.D. Robb.  Lt. Eve Dallas is a New York homicide cop in the mid/late 21st century.  This is the 30th full novel in the series and there are several novellas published in other collections.

This most recent entry in the Lt. Eve Dallas series is much more concentrated on the crime investigation than the last few. The down side for me is that few of Eve's friends (all of whom I love) make an appearance in this book. But the focus on the criminal investigation means it is a better place for readers new to the series to jump in than some of the more recent ones. I still recommend that you read the first book "Naked in Death" to see how Eve and Roarke meet but if you don't want to wait to read this book, I suggest a new reader find one of the In Death fan wikis to get the background information you will need to understand a lot of the references to the characters' past history. If the author tried to give enough background for new readers, it would take up too much of the book. As a long time reader I appreciate that she doesn't do that.

The victim is a major e-geek game designer and one of the co-founders of a computer and holo-game company. He is found beheaded in a locked holo-room in his home where he was playing his company's latest game under development, Fantastical. Because of the victim's business and the circumstances of the crime, the EDD unit and Rourke are heavily involved in Eve's and Peabody's investigation. I found the mystery in this book very interesting and enjoyed this book a lot.

The victim was friends with the other 3 co-founders of his company since childhood or college. Because of this, Eve does a lot of thinking about the nature of friendship during her investigation. If you have read the whole series (or at least several of the earlier books), you will appreciate how much Eve Dallas has grown emotionally over the length of the series. It is a nice touch and makes the character more interesting. There is a passage near the end where Eve really understands how Roarke must feel about her risking her life for her job that was very tender.

I checked this book out from the library.  Support your local library!