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In Death #29.5
The Lost
J.D. Robb’s Missing in Death investigates a female tourist’s disappearance during a ferry ride. Detective Eve Dallas wonders…if she didn’t jump, and she’s not on board, then where in the world is she?
In Patricia Gaffney’s The Dog Days of Laurie Summer, a woman awakens to a familiar yet unsettling world.
In Mary Blayney’s Lost in Paradise, a man locked in an island fortress finds hope for freedom in an enigmatic nurse.
And Ruth Ryan Langan’s Legacy belongs to a young woman who unearths a family secret buried on the grounds of a magnificent but imposing Irish castle.
In Patricia Gaffney’s The Dog Days of Laurie Summer, a woman awakens to a familiar yet unsettling world.
In Mary Blayney’s Lost in Paradise, a man locked in an island fortress finds hope for freedom in an enigmatic nurse.
And Ruth Ryan Langan’s Legacy belongs to a young woman who unearths a family secret buried on the grounds of a magnificent but imposing Irish castle.
373 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
669 people are currently reading
3030 people want to read
About the author
J.D. Robb
177 books35.3k followersJ.D. Robb is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling In Death series and the pseudonym for #1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts. The futuristic suspense series stars Eve Dallas, a New York City police lieutenant with a dark past. Initially conceived as a trilogy, readers clamored for more of Eve and the mysterious Roarke. Stolen in Death (St. Martin's Press, February 2026) will be the 62nd entry in the series.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews
August 9, 2016
This is a collection of short stories that all deal with something or someone being lost. I chose to read this book because it had one of the In Death series novellas in it. A woman goes missing on a ferry and when found is covered in blood with no recollection of what happened. While I love the In Death series, this novella was not a favorite of mine. I could have lived without reading it, but it was entertaining so not a total loss. The second story in the book is the reason to pick the book up and read it. It's called The Dog Days of Laurie Summer and it was a very good read. A young wife & mother is in a coma and grits the opportunity to see what she had so blatantly not seen while amoungst her loved ones. This story was very well written and the plot was intriguing. The others stories in the book were also entertaining, but seriously you should get the book in order to read the Dog Days story!
June 16, 2012
I'm not really sure what I was expecting from a collection of novellas, but whatever it was, I was underwhelmed.
MISSING IN DEATH - Murder mysteries aren't really my thing to begin with, but to appreciate this story, you have to be familiar with the character Eve Dallas and the IN DEATH series--which I'm not. Because it's part of a greater series, the characters aren't given much backstory, so I ended up feeling very detached.
THE DOG DAYS OF LAURIE SUMMER - This was my favorite of the four stories. It seemed a little too absurd at first, but once I warmed up to the premise, I found that I liked the writing style, and more importantly, the characters were fleshed-out and likable (a quality which was noticeably lacking from the other stories). If you read only one of the stories in this book, make it this one.
LOST IN PARADISE - It made me cringe. Which upset me, because I liked the premise. Cursed to stay on an island forever? Kind of cool. But I wasn't a fan of the writing style, and the characters fell flat. Very flat, so that I often caught myself rolling my eyes. My least favorite of the collection.
LEGACY - Pretty good...until the romance took over. Then I was rolling my eyes again.
MISSING IN DEATH - Murder mysteries aren't really my thing to begin with, but to appreciate this story, you have to be familiar with the character Eve Dallas and the IN DEATH series--which I'm not. Because it's part of a greater series, the characters aren't given much backstory, so I ended up feeling very detached.
THE DOG DAYS OF LAURIE SUMMER - This was my favorite of the four stories. It seemed a little too absurd at first, but once I warmed up to the premise, I found that I liked the writing style, and more importantly, the characters were fleshed-out and likable (a quality which was noticeably lacking from the other stories). If you read only one of the stories in this book, make it this one.
LOST IN PARADISE - It made me cringe. Which upset me, because I liked the premise. Cursed to stay on an island forever? Kind of cool. But I wasn't a fan of the writing style, and the characters fell flat. Very flat, so that I often caught myself rolling my eyes. My least favorite of the collection.
LEGACY - Pretty good...until the romance took over. Then I was rolling my eyes again.
June 22, 2013
Great collection of four short stories all well written and amusing!
May 30, 2017
I only read Missing in Death. Poor Eve. These grey areas are so hard for her. One of the better anthologies of the series.
March 5, 2010
This review is only on the J.D. Robb short story "Missing in Death."
Wow, for a short story this was wonderful. Now, I have to say in the middle of this story I was going to give this one a 3 star (it was a brief thought but about 3 pages later I changed my mind) but by the end it got shot right up to 5 stars.
This book touches back on Divided in Death so if someone is reading out of order the J.D. Robb books, make sure you read Divided in Death before reading this one. I suggest reading them in order anyway. Their just better that way.
The banter between Eve and Peabody was there and of course, made me laugh. I love when Peabody grosses out Eve with her sex talk. :) The scenes between Eve and Roarke were instense as always.
This is a good fast read and the ending was very satisfying.
I look forward to reading Fantasy in Death soon.
Wow, for a short story this was wonderful. Now, I have to say in the middle of this story I was going to give this one a 3 star (it was a brief thought but about 3 pages later I changed my mind) but by the end it got shot right up to 5 stars.
This book touches back on Divided in Death so if someone is reading out of order the J.D. Robb books, make sure you read Divided in Death before reading this one. I suggest reading them in order anyway. Their just better that way.
The banter between Eve and Peabody was there and of course, made me laugh. I love when Peabody grosses out Eve with her sex talk. :) The scenes between Eve and Roarke were instense as always.
This is a good fast read and the ending was very satisfying.
I look forward to reading Fantasy in Death soon.
June 29, 2015
The Dog Days of Laurie Summer by Patricia Gaffney - Laurie drowns and is in a coma, but somehow her soul is inside a dog her husband and son rescue. She discovers that all the things she thought were important don't hold a candle to spending time with her husband and son. An unselfish act puts her soul back in her body and she comes out of her coma. But who will believe that she lived a year with her family as a dog?
Lost in Paradise by Mary Blayney - Isabelle's innocence is the only hope Father Joubay and Sebastian have of breaking a 200 year old curse.
Missing in Death by J.D. Robb (already read)
Lost in Paradise by Mary Blayney - Isabelle's innocence is the only hope Father Joubay and Sebastian have of breaking a 200 year old curse.
Missing in Death by J.D. Robb (already read)
December 5, 2016
It's hard to rate a book of short stories by different authors. These 4 have written together before.
Of course, Robb's Eve Dallas story is why I got the book. Loved it as usual.
Laurie Summer's Dog Days was just strange,with no perceptible rhyme or reason to the plot. Pretty awful. The book as a whole would have gotten a 3 if it wasn't for this story.
Mary Blayney's Paradise was good enough - not much logic there either when it came to the characters as I thought they were made to behave in ways contrary to how they'd been portrayed. Good enough romance otherwise.
Ruth Langan's Legacy was also more of a romance, but very well done. Interesting story and good characters.
Of course, Robb's Eve Dallas story is why I got the book. Loved it as usual.
Laurie Summer's Dog Days was just strange,with no perceptible rhyme or reason to the plot. Pretty awful. The book as a whole would have gotten a 3 if it wasn't for this story.
Mary Blayney's Paradise was good enough - not much logic there either when it came to the characters as I thought they were made to behave in ways contrary to how they'd been portrayed. Good enough romance otherwise.
Ruth Langan's Legacy was also more of a romance, but very well done. Interesting story and good characters.
December 12, 2009
Heh. I have to admit I barely even looked at the stories except for Robb's. And I didn't read any of them.
I enjoyed the Eve Dallas story. Actually it was more of a novella. (I wouldn't recommend it for newcomers to the series. They'll miss most of the flavor of the character interactions, especially the climatic scene.) The story was the perfect length. It didn't feel rushed or drawn out. I would recommend it to every Eve Dallas fan.
I enjoyed the Eve Dallas story. Actually it was more of a novella. (I wouldn't recommend it for newcomers to the series. They'll miss most of the flavor of the character interactions, especially the climatic scene.) The story was the perfect length. It didn't feel rushed or drawn out. I would recommend it to every Eve Dallas fan.
March 30, 2010
I only read the JD Robb story. It was a great filler, and as always it just made me wish that I had another full length In death book to read. But still, this was an intriguing story. Not only for the mystery of how a body mysteriously disappears off a boat without anyone noticing, but also because of the moral dilemma that Eve ends up facing.
November 28, 2009
I really liked the premise of this book. I thought it would have made a great plot for a longer novel. I like it when Summerset gets some "screen time" and I find myself wanting to know more of his background, and why he is now content to serve as a butler.
December 16, 2009
This was a good collection of stories. I started it for the In Death, but ended up enjoying all 4 novellas.
April 26, 2011
I read only the J.D. Robb portion of the book and found it average for her Eve Dallas stories. In an anthology there's just not enough pages to get to the core of the characters.
October 16, 2017
All four stories in this book were great. I always love JD Robb's In Death additions, and I would have bought this book just for that, but I do feel that I got three bonus stories that were hard to put down. The last story, Legacy, by Ruth Ryan Langan may have been a little too sappy at the end for my taste, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. The Dog Days of Laurie Summer was hilarious and will appeal to any dog lover out there. Since I'm a type A personality, I considered it a heads-up warning that will hopefully have me reevaluate the way I do things. It certainly had me thinking. Mary Blayney's Lost in Paradise was a bit of a stretch for me and actually horrified me in some ways. I kept shuddering at Isabelle's naive approach to life, and Sebastian did a 180 a little too fast for me, but it was an interesting plot. Mostly I loved Missing in Death and the interactions between Eve and Roark and Peabody and Summerset, which never fail to entertain.
March 8, 2018
A few years ago, while in search of one of the "In Death" novellas, I ended up stumbling upon an anthology instead of an individually published story. The book included stories by four separate authors, all loosely touching the same theme. I enjoyed Mary Blayney's story about a magic coin so much that I decided go back and read all the anthologies so that I could read the earlier stories in the "Poppy's Coin" series.
The "In Death" story was a solid piece of writing that held up to rereading. And the second story was absolutely charming. But the Blamey story was a disappointment. Instead of a charming Regency romance with a bit of magic, the story was a romance sprinkled with a little magic and a lot of religious faith. It was a well crafted story, but instead of misunderstandings between mature adults, there was the question of if the love of a young innocent could break the curse on the worldly gentleman. The last story was too trite for words.
The "In Death" story was a solid piece of writing that held up to rereading. And the second story was absolutely charming. But the Blamey story was a disappointment. Instead of a charming Regency romance with a bit of magic, the story was a romance sprinkled with a little magic and a lot of religious faith. It was a well crafted story, but instead of misunderstandings between mature adults, there was the question of if the love of a young innocent could break the curse on the worldly gentleman. The last story was too trite for words.
July 25, 2020
Excellent collection of four novellas by NY bestselling authors.
Missing in Death, by JD Robb, has Eve Dallas looking for the missing body of a woman that another woman may have seen murdered but can't remember as an hour of her memory has been erased.
The Dog Days of Laurie Summer, by Patricia Gaffney, has Laurie Summers finding her consciousness in a dog who's come to live with her husband and son after she's nearly drowned and slipped into a coma for a year. It's a story she will probably never be able to tell anyone. Except the reader.
Lost in Paradise, by Mary Blayney, has Isabelle Reynaud arriving on an island, ostensibly to be the nurse for the island but really to help Sebastian Dushayne find love again to end a curse that began in 1810.
Legacy, by Ruth Ryan Langan has Aidan O'Mara traveling to Ireland at the request of Cullen Glin who thinks he may be his long lost granddaughter. The old man is a bit of a matchmaker, too. Lovely.
Missing in Death, by JD Robb, has Eve Dallas looking for the missing body of a woman that another woman may have seen murdered but can't remember as an hour of her memory has been erased.
The Dog Days of Laurie Summer, by Patricia Gaffney, has Laurie Summers finding her consciousness in a dog who's come to live with her husband and son after she's nearly drowned and slipped into a coma for a year. It's a story she will probably never be able to tell anyone. Except the reader.
Lost in Paradise, by Mary Blayney, has Isabelle Reynaud arriving on an island, ostensibly to be the nurse for the island but really to help Sebastian Dushayne find love again to end a curse that began in 1810.
Legacy, by Ruth Ryan Langan has Aidan O'Mara traveling to Ireland at the request of Cullen Glin who thinks he may be his long lost granddaughter. The old man is a bit of a matchmaker, too. Lovely.
March 17, 2017
I only bought this book because I wanted to read the In Death short story that it contained. I read the rest of it just because I finish all of my books.
The In Death short story was great and definitely worth getting the book for, but the rest of the short stories were forgettable and not worth the effort of reading.
So get/read this if you want to read everything in the In Death series, otherwise don't bother.
The In Death short story was great and definitely worth getting the book for, but the rest of the short stories were forgettable and not worth the effort of reading.
So get/read this if you want to read everything in the In Death series, otherwise don't bother.
November 14, 2018
Sometimes bad stories happen to good writers - for 3 of the four featured writers in this book, that's what happened. I'll let you decide which story was passable and which ones stank. What I think "The Lost" refers to (because there really is no prompt thread in the stories) is that these stories were lost on their computers and then they were asked to come up with something for this compilation book so they pulled these out of the garbage file.
June 1, 2025
4 novellas by different writers
Missing in Death - 3 stars - not enough background on the main characters, not enough detail on the events
Dog Days of Laurie Summer - 4 stars - cool twist on learning about yourself in death, loved the dog!
Lost in Paradise - 3 stars - my least favorite, I just couldn't get into the nurse/nun and her motivations concerning the master
Legacy - 3 stars - cheesy romcom suitable for the Hallmark Channel
Missing in Death - 3 stars - not enough background on the main characters, not enough detail on the events
Dog Days of Laurie Summer - 4 stars - cool twist on learning about yourself in death, loved the dog!
Lost in Paradise - 3 stars - my least favorite, I just couldn't get into the nurse/nun and her motivations concerning the master
Legacy - 3 stars - cheesy romcom suitable for the Hallmark Channel
December 14, 2017
Missing In Death is the short story that follows the In Death storyline in the this compilation of 4 stories. It's an interesting storyline and fun to see how Eve and Roarke walk thru the process. I don't think it "adds" considerably to the overall storyline of the series, but it's a fun short read.
February 4, 2019
yet again, a WONDERFUL episode in the Death series, the other three stories were intertwined and entertaining. the fourth story had shades of Robb and Rourke, but no spoiler here. I read this book contained within a collection, on library download - which makes you forced to binge. I'm not complaining, just a bit sleepless ;-)
May 28, 2023
Picked this up because I'm a big JD Robb fan and the novella did not disappoint. Obviously a very quick mystery but still had all the fun elements I'm come to expect from Eve and Roarke. Plus this collections gave me a chance to try a few new authors. Enjoyed some stories more than others, same complaint that I have for all novellas that they are not long enough. But overall a fun collection.
April 1, 2025
Four different novellas written by four different authors.
Missing in Death by J.D. Robb has already been reviewed separately as will each of the others. All are very different, but each has a plot about being lost.
The three other novellas are titled The Dog Days of Laurie Summer by Patricia Gaffney,
Lost in Paradise by Mary Blayney, and Legacy by Rut Ryan Langan.
Missing in Death by J.D. Robb has already been reviewed separately as will each of the others. All are very different, but each has a plot about being lost.
The three other novellas are titled The Dog Days of Laurie Summer by Patricia Gaffney,
Lost in Paradise by Mary Blayney, and Legacy by Rut Ryan Langan.
October 6, 2017
4 stars - Romantic Suspense/Futuristic/Mystery/Crime Novella
Rating/review for J.D. Robb's Missing in Death, only.
Rating/review for J.D. Robb's Missing in Death, only.
February 28, 2020
Four stories and I didn't like any. The first seemed like I was watching the middle of a movie and didn't really know the characters. The second was about a woman who became a dog while she was in a coma, yeah it was weird. The next 2 were similar to fairy tales.
August 6, 2020
4 novelettes. The first 2 were fine- Missing in Death by J.D.Robb and The Dog Days of Laurie Summer by Gaffney. The last 2 were, in my opinion, just Harlequin romances and rather hokey too boot ! They were Lost in Paradise by Mary Blayney and Legacy by Ruth Ryan Langan.
February 17, 2022
Missing in Death - 4 stars
The Dog Days of Laurie Summer - 3.5 stars
Lost in Paradise - DNF once 9/11, the Holocaust, Columbine, and abortion were all equaled
(among others), really clumsily.
Legacy - 3 stars
The Dog Days of Laurie Summer - 3.5 stars
Lost in Paradise - DNF once 9/11, the Holocaust, Columbine, and abortion were all equaled
(among others), really clumsily.
Legacy - 3 stars
May 1, 2022
I picked up this book specifically because of the connection to J D. Robb's in death series. Her story was my favorite. The others were both interesting and entertaining but foe me, nothing special.
September 24, 2025
Search turned Inheritance
This was really a good "feel good" story of searching for truth in the past, and acceptance of newfound love and trust of that truth satisfying those whose lives intertwined from generations past.
Thoroughly enjoyed it.
This was really a good "feel good" story of searching for truth in the past, and acceptance of newfound love and trust of that truth satisfying those whose lives intertwined from generations past.
Thoroughly enjoyed it.
May 24, 2017
This book had 4 short stories in it, and I enjoyed all of them. I did buy it years ago, but never read the whole book. I'm glad I did .
August 2, 2018
Nice
The stories were good. The last story was a fairy tale of a romance. I will not continue reading this series.
The stories were good. The last story was a fairy tale of a romance. I will not continue reading this series.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews