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In Death #29.5
Missing in Death
Investigating a woman's disappearance on a New York City ferry, Detective Eve Dallas wonders…if she didn't jump, and she's not on board, then where in the world is she?
#1 New York Times Bestselling Author Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb
Audiobook
First published November 1, 2009
112 people are currently reading
6326 people want to read
About the author
J.D. Robb
180 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 397 reviews
December 11, 2018
The first time I read the In Death series I left out all of the novellas so it is fun this time through to read books that are quite new to me. As it turns out J.D. Robb's novellas are quite lengthy and certainly written every bit as well as her full length novels.
Missing in Death is a complete and very satisfactory book. It may be short but we still get to meet most of the main characters even including Galahad the cat. There is a great story with a twist and a nasty homicide. Rourke and Eve nearly fall out but manage a compromise and Peabody is flattered by some unexpected male attention. All good fun.
I love that I can always depend on this author to give me a really great read - everytime!
Missing in Death is a complete and very satisfactory book. It may be short but we still get to meet most of the main characters even including Galahad the cat. There is a great story with a twist and a nasty homicide. Rourke and Eve nearly fall out but manage a compromise and Peabody is flattered by some unexpected male attention. All good fun.
I love that I can always depend on this author to give me a really great read - everytime!
December 13, 2018
Eve helps me every single time to break out of a reading slump.
Every freaking single time!!!
You may love or hate her.
But she is without any doubt a very strong and badass woman.
I looooooooove her!!! 💝
Every freaking single time!!!
You may love or hate her.
But she is without any doubt a very strong and badass woman.
I looooooooove her!!! 💝
June 2, 2022
A grisly murder occurs on the Staten Island ferry, and a woman—a mother who had just taken her young son to the restroom and gone into the women’s restroom alone—goes missing. Detective Eve Dallas has to figure out what happened and if the second victim could still be alive while the clock ticks down. This was one of my favorite of the novellas because it had some unusual twists.
August 22, 2020
3.75 stars**
June 18, 2019
4 1/2 to 5 stars
This was a fascinating novella that was more complex than I'd expected for some reason.
(Silly me.)
"[...] A killer with a heart?"
She tossed back the rest of her wine. "It's more that a lot of people with a heart kill."
"My cynical darling."
She rolled her eyes.
I think having the background of the previous twenty-nine novels and a deeper understanding of both Eve and Roarke's past and personal history (and the various ways that impacts how they connect and communicate within their marriage, as well as their growth as individuals) also brings something far greater to this particular table.
"It's harder when the victim is abhorrent to you."
Eve shook her head. "I'm not allowed to decide if a murder victim is worth standing for. I stand for them."
He rose, went to her. "But it's harder when that victim has so many victims.
"It's harder," she admitted. "It can't always be an easy choice. It's just the only choice."
"For you." He kissed her brow, then cupped her face, lifted it and laid his lips gently, softly, over hers.
There was a whole lot of story jampacked into this short, futuristic tale. I'm quite sure it could have been made into a longer novel with all its twists and turns, and the questions it raised about good and evil, right and wrong, and the concept of justice both within the framework of the law and outside of it.
He shook his head, then framed her face and kissed her. "It takes more than skill and duty to make a good cop, to my way of thinking. It takes an unfailing sense of right and wrong."
"It's a hell of a lot easier when they don't overlap."
I found myself asking what I would do (which is usually a sign that I'm right into it) and wanting to know how Eve and Roarke would handle the conflict that arose between them as a result of the circumstances.
What Eve would ultimately decide...
So, with that being said, I think my rating makes it pretty clear this novella worked for me.
This was a fascinating novella that was more complex than I'd expected for some reason.
(Silly me.)
"[...] A killer with a heart?"
She tossed back the rest of her wine. "It's more that a lot of people with a heart kill."
"My cynical darling."
She rolled her eyes.
I think having the background of the previous twenty-nine novels and a deeper understanding of both Eve and Roarke's past and personal history (and the various ways that impacts how they connect and communicate within their marriage, as well as their growth as individuals) also brings something far greater to this particular table.
"It's harder when the victim is abhorrent to you."
Eve shook her head. "I'm not allowed to decide if a murder victim is worth standing for. I stand for them."
He rose, went to her. "But it's harder when that victim has so many victims.
"It's harder," she admitted. "It can't always be an easy choice. It's just the only choice."
"For you." He kissed her brow, then cupped her face, lifted it and laid his lips gently, softly, over hers.
There was a whole lot of story jampacked into this short, futuristic tale. I'm quite sure it could have been made into a longer novel with all its twists and turns, and the questions it raised about good and evil, right and wrong, and the concept of justice both within the framework of the law and outside of it.
He shook his head, then framed her face and kissed her. "It takes more than skill and duty to make a good cop, to my way of thinking. It takes an unfailing sense of right and wrong."
"It's a hell of a lot easier when they don't overlap."
I found myself asking what I would do (which is usually a sign that I'm right into it) and wanting to know how Eve and Roarke would handle the conflict that arose between them as a result of the circumstances.
What Eve would ultimately decide...
So, with that being said, I think my rating makes it pretty clear this novella worked for me.
December 6, 2022
I had forgotten how much early Roarke could sometimes SERIOUSLY piss me off, to the point where I nearly shit-canned the series after one of the earlier books.
Well, he's early Roarke in this book (and in the short I read just before this - "Ritual in Death"), and he was a dickhead. He can just get a wild hair up his ass and become adamant that his viewpoint is the only relevant one. It happens on a dime, like a knee-jerk reaction to something, and he becomes a total asshole about it. He inserts himself into Eve's job - does she ever do that to him? Why no, no she doesn't, because apparently it's just men who know all things and can do everyone's job better than the silly woman can - and is a pigheaded shit about it. He makes it all about him, this whole Homeland thing (a thing that pissed me off in the earlier book in the series where Homeland's involvement with her father and childhood were the big reveal, and even though IT IS NOT ABOUT HIM, the entire book was all this drama over his reaction to the reveal and what he needs to build a bridge and get the fuck over it), and frankly, it is bullshit. It is, again, not about him. It isn't his past, his trauma, his baggage. His role here is to SUPPORT Eve, because it is HER past, her trauma, her baggage, her life. Just like she supports him when it is his past popping up in one of these books.
So yeah, it was damn tedious that in this case, which has not a goddamn thing to do with him and what he needs, he is again leaping in to pick a fight with Eve about how she does her job, and making it all about him.
I liked the story, the espionage, the people. But man, I did not like revisiting early Roarke.
**2.5**
Well, he's early Roarke in this book (and in the short I read just before this - "Ritual in Death"), and he was a dickhead. He can just get a wild hair up his ass and become adamant that his viewpoint is the only relevant one. It happens on a dime, like a knee-jerk reaction to something, and he becomes a total asshole about it. He inserts himself into Eve's job - does she ever do that to him? Why no, no she doesn't, because apparently it's just men who know all things and can do everyone's job better than the silly woman can - and is a pigheaded shit about it. He makes it all about him, this whole Homeland thing (a thing that pissed me off in the earlier book in the series where Homeland's involvement with her father and childhood were the big reveal, and even though IT IS NOT ABOUT HIM, the entire book was all this drama over his reaction to the reveal and what he needs to build a bridge and get the fuck over it), and frankly, it is bullshit. It is, again, not about him. It isn't his past, his trauma, his baggage. His role here is to SUPPORT Eve, because it is HER past, her trauma, her baggage, her life. Just like she supports him when it is his past popping up in one of these books.
So yeah, it was damn tedious that in this case, which has not a goddamn thing to do with him and what he needs, he is again leaping in to pick a fight with Eve about how she does her job, and making it all about him.
I liked the story, the espionage, the people. But man, I did not like revisiting early Roarke.
**2.5**
June 26, 2025
While on a family outing on the Staten Island Ferry, Carolee Grogan walks into the Ladies restroom and disappears. Lt. Eve Dallas can't figure out why the Homicide Division would be called to the scene of a missing person’s incident. But when she sees the huge amount of blood in the Ladies room, Eve knows someone died in there. What happened to Carolee Grogan? Is that her blood or did she witness a murder? Where is the killer? These are the questions Eve and her team must answer.
This is one of my favorite novellas of the series since there is a lot of depth to the story. My rating: 5 Stars.
This is one of my favorite novellas of the series since there is a lot of depth to the story. My rating: 5 Stars.
March 13, 2025
Part of the anthology Time of Death.
While on a trip on the Staten Island ferry a mom comes across a gruesome scene and disappears only to show up an hour later minus her memory. Eve and Peabody are called when copious amounts of blood are found in a women's restroom. This case was baffling from the beginning as Eve was unable to find neither the victim or the doer and the witness had no memory of what happened.
The investigation leads Eve to reconsider her moral stand on right vs. wrong; good vs. evil and to make a moral judgement call.
While on a trip on the Staten Island ferry a mom comes across a gruesome scene and disappears only to show up an hour later minus her memory. Eve and Peabody are called when copious amounts of blood are found in a women's restroom. This case was baffling from the beginning as Eve was unable to find neither the victim or the doer and the witness had no memory of what happened.
The investigation leads Eve to reconsider her moral stand on right vs. wrong; good vs. evil and to make a moral judgement call.
October 13, 2017
"It takes more than skill and duty to make a good cop, to my way of thinking. It takes an unfailing sense of right and wrong." That's Eve in a nutshell :)
August 4, 2024
3.5 Stars
Dark Erotica Special Buddy Read
August 2024
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
For a short story this was pretty good. A bit sluggish in some areas but decent read.
No real romance and things happen pretty quickly.
And honestly a bit 'Conveniently'
I was surprised by Eve. She's such a 'Stickler' for her laws etc.
So how she ended up dealing with the situation surprised me.
I really think the price of this is completely out of whack. 5$ for a story that's under 100 pages and not delved into much... That seems greedy to me.
As for the story, I liked it but wasn't all that impressed with it.
Too much is glossed over
Dark Erotica Special Buddy Read
August 2024
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
For a short story this was pretty good. A bit sluggish in some areas but decent read.
No real romance and things happen pretty quickly.
And honestly a bit 'Conveniently'
I was surprised by Eve. She's such a 'Stickler' for her laws etc.
So how she ended up dealing with the situation surprised me.
I really think the price of this is completely out of whack. 5$ for a story that's under 100 pages and not delved into much... That seems greedy to me.
As for the story, I liked it but wasn't all that impressed with it.
Too much is glossed over
March 22, 2018
Missing in Death by J.D.Robb is novella 29.5 in the In Death series. A woman goes missing while holidaying on the Straten Island ferry and a bathroom covered in blood is discovered, so Lieutenant Eve Dallas is called in to investigate. A nice short mystery with all the elements of the larger novels. Fabulous as always.
February 27, 2025
"These people shaped our lives, pieces of our lives without giving us a choice."
October 22, 2018
Bilim kurguyu bir tık daha zorladığı bir kısa hikayeydi. Aynı zamanda adalet bakımından gri alandaki hikayelerinden biri oldu.
June 23, 2013
Roarke ~ "It takes more than skill and duty to make a good cop.....it takes an unfailing sense of right and wrong"
Eve ~ "Yea, but it's a hell of a lot easier when they don't overlap."
I can't remember ever saying this before but, the plot of Missing in Death was too big for a novella. Fleshed out properly it had the potential of being a stellar full length novel. With spies, government agencies, high tech weaponry, missing people, and murder - it was an In Death home run just waiting to happen!! Add in the most fascinating dynamic and underlying conflict of the entire series - Eve and Roarke at odds (again) over the grey areas between right and wrong - and this could have ended up on my fave shelf. Unfortunately there was just too much story and too little time.
February 19, 2017
With the Staten Island ferry meandering its way across the harbour, and over 3000 passengers on board, Eve Dallas couldn’t work out what had happened, and why she’d been called to the scene. She was on a launch with Peabody, heading to the ferry which was stopped halfway across, because a woman was missing. When she was taken to the crime scene, and saw the amount of blood which was present, she had no hesitation in pronouncing the person dead. But the problem was, there was no body…the missing person wasn’t on board, and she didn’t jump!
Eve, along with Peabody, Roarke, and the rest of her team, stepped up the pace to find the body and the killer. She also needed to discover the weird ways and means of how it all occurred. Eve was at her kick-ass best as she set about closing the case.
Another great In Death read, a quick fun novella, with plenty of action.
Eve, along with Peabody, Roarke, and the rest of her team, stepped up the pace to find the body and the killer. She also needed to discover the weird ways and means of how it all occurred. Eve was at her kick-ass best as she set about closing the case.
Another great In Death read, a quick fun novella, with plenty of action.
December 29, 2019
3.5 Stars-- The front half of this was much stronger than the back half, IMO, but I did appreciate some of the character moments that came in the ending pages
July 2, 2011
I think this may be the only In Death book I've ever not enjoyed. This is the second one of the novellas that I've listened to in audio and I didn't like the narrator the first time around and I still don't like her with this book. I can't stand the voice she uses for Peabody, which makes her sound like a stupid hick, and the narrator mispronounced words like "secret" (she instead pronounced it as "secrete". So someone was going to "secrete" the body. No no no) and "macabre". I know macabre isn't an easy word, but I expect narrators to look up things like this. All in all, her mispronunciations, horrible Peabody voice and my overall dislike of her narration make this a two-star for me. I can't figure out if I actually didn't like the story (I found it interesting at first but then lost more and more interest as it went on) or if the narration simply tainted the experience that much for me.
Anyone who's looked at my Goodreads account at all will know this is a tremendously low rating for me to give an In Death book. Perhaps I'll try again at some point with reading it.
Anyone who's looked at my Goodreads account at all will know this is a tremendously low rating for me to give an In Death book. Perhaps I'll try again at some point with reading it.
December 27, 2018
Missing in Death
4 Stars
Eve and Peabody are called in when a tourist goes missing on the Staten Island Ferry and their investigation reveals that the blood in the restroom is not a DNA match. Where is the woman? Whose blood is in the bathroom, and how is this connected to Eve's past?
While this is a relatively short story, it certainly packs a wallop. The locked room type mystery is intriguing up until the explanation, which is a bit too deus ex machina for my tastes ().
There is also some compelling character development as Eve ultimately comes to understand and accept that justice is not necessarily black and white.
One minor issue that actually concerns the series as a whole is the lack of detail concerning the circumstances surrounding the Urban Wars. There is a dire need for more information on this significant historical even in the In Death world.
Overall, another solid entry and I am enjoying my ongoing series buddy read with the J. D. Robb group.
4 Stars
Eve and Peabody are called in when a tourist goes missing on the Staten Island Ferry and their investigation reveals that the blood in the restroom is not a DNA match. Where is the woman? Whose blood is in the bathroom, and how is this connected to Eve's past?
While this is a relatively short story, it certainly packs a wallop. The locked room type mystery is intriguing up until the explanation, which is a bit too deus ex machina for my tastes ().
There is also some compelling character development as Eve ultimately comes to understand and accept that justice is not necessarily black and white.
One minor issue that actually concerns the series as a whole is the lack of detail concerning the circumstances surrounding the Urban Wars. There is a dire need for more information on this significant historical even in the In Death world.
Overall, another solid entry and I am enjoying my ongoing series buddy read with the J. D. Robb group.
June 2, 2018
3.5
A puddle of blood and lots of it on the walls of the WC of a ferry, and a passenger who disappeared is the start of a new investigation for lieutenant Eve Dallas. A case who's more and more complex the more they uncover clues.
You know the saying about when you fall off a bike (or it could be a horse, choose what you prefer I'm not picky ;p) you have to get back on it right away. It's slightly the feeling I had after reading the previous novella who was so excruciating to read that I wanted to be done with this series, despite my strong attachment for the characters. Thank God it wasn't as horrific or I'm sure it would have been the last straw. While the concept of the plot was a really good idea, I agree with people who wrote that it was too big for just a novella. In a regular book, it would have work so much better.
A puddle of blood and lots of it on the walls of the WC of a ferry, and a passenger who disappeared is the start of a new investigation for lieutenant Eve Dallas. A case who's more and more complex the more they uncover clues.
You know the saying about when you fall off a bike (or it could be a horse, choose what you prefer I'm not picky ;p) you have to get back on it right away. It's slightly the feeling I had after reading the previous novella who was so excruciating to read that I wanted to be done with this series, despite my strong attachment for the characters. Thank God it wasn't as horrific or I'm sure it would have been the last straw. While the concept of the plot was a really good idea, I agree with people who wrote that it was too big for just a novella. In a regular book, it would have work so much better.
December 8, 2018
Dec. 2018 - Rereading for group buddy read - Upon finishing this In Death novella, I'm upping my previous rating of 3 to 4 stars. While short on pages, this story has depth in both the case and character relationship development. It's an intriguing, emotional read that I greatly enjoyed! A Must Read!
2015 rating - 3.5 stars
2015 rating - 3.5 stars
May 7, 2020
Lieutenant Eve Dallas would never let a murder go unanswered... but when dealing with the slithering characters of Homeland she just might have to bend her rules.
August 3, 2020
Well, I personally think the first half was super interesting (because locked door murder (?) mystery case) and the other half was good. It was a solid case for me, with someone that I hope could potentionally be a helpful ally for Eve.
August 28, 2016
1st read 14-15 October 2013
2nd read August 2016
2nd read August 2016
April 2, 2019
2 Sad Stars
A woman on holiday with her husband and sons, goes missing while on the Straten Island ferry, as the alarm goes up for the missing woman, there is concern about what the bathroom covered in blood means. As Dallas and her team investigate and the case gets underway things get more and more complex.
This little novella is a nicely self-contained read, it started well for me but then things slumped and my interest waned big time just after the half way mark. Some skim reading did occur towards the end, something I don’t do with this series!
I do wish this novella had been longer, so things could have been more fleshed out and layered.
Now on to the next book.
A woman on holiday with her husband and sons, goes missing while on the Straten Island ferry, as the alarm goes up for the missing woman, there is concern about what the bathroom covered in blood means. As Dallas and her team investigate and the case gets underway things get more and more complex.
This little novella is a nicely self-contained read, it started well for me but then things slumped and my interest waned big time just after the half way mark. Some skim reading did occur towards the end, something I don’t do with this series!
I do wish this novella had been longer, so things could have been more fleshed out and layered.
Now on to the next book.
May 18, 2019
The novella runs fast - this could have been a full story and given us a better insight into Somerset's life before Eve. But it's typical Robb - a good story well told.
July 5, 2020
I really enjoyed this novella (#29.5) in J. D. Robb's "In Death" series!
June 7, 2020
A short story where Eve has to solve a possible murder on a ferry with the body missing.
An interesting case involving .
Next in the series comes Fantasy in Death.
Previous book reviews:
✦ Kindred in Death (In Death #29) ~ ★★★★ (01/12/2014)
✦ Promises in Death (In Death #28) ~ ★★★★ (27/10/2014)
✦ Ritual in Death (In Death #27.5) ~ ★★★★ (12/10/2014)
✦ Salvation in Death (In Death #27) ~ ★★★★ (12/10/2014)
✦ Strangers in Death (In Death #26) ~ ★★★★ (28/09/2014)
An interesting case involving .
Next in the series comes Fantasy in Death.
Previous book reviews:
✦ Kindred in Death (In Death #29) ~ ★★★★ (01/12/2014)
✦ Promises in Death (In Death #28) ~ ★★★★ (27/10/2014)
✦ Ritual in Death (In Death #27.5) ~ ★★★★ (12/10/2014)
✦ Salvation in Death (In Death #27) ~ ★★★★ (12/10/2014)
✦ Strangers in Death (In Death #26) ~ ★★★★ (28/09/2014)
October 2, 2024
A novella - quick listen. It was good.
Eve did what she had to do ...
Eve did what she had to do ...
October 18, 2011
This story originally appears in the anthology The Lost but in all honesty, I didn’t read the other stories. I usually don’t read anthologies because the stories are too short for my liking and don’t seem to satisfy. Also, they are usually part of a bigger series and they don’t seem to flow with the rest of the series they are a part of. But when it comes to Lieutenant Eve Dallas, Roarke, Peabody and the gang, a little bit of a story is better than nothing. I love this series so much and am so anal about reading the series in numerical order that I will overlook my rule about anthologies just so I can read these smaller stories.
Missing In Death provides a fast paced read with Dallas and Peabody investigating a disappearance of a tourist on the Staten Island Ferry. They, along with her family, fear the worst because the bathroom she was last seen going into is covered in blood and she’s vanished without a trace. Just as suddenly as she disappeared, she returns, with a bump on her head and no memory of what happened to her or where she has been. This is where the real mystery begins. Dallas and Peabody are diligently following the clues to find out whose blood is all over the bathroom and locate the body and track down the killer.
This was definitely not the best Eve Dallas installment for obvious reasons but I did enjoy the unexpected twist Eve confronts while she is on the killer’s trail. When the killer’s identity is established, Eve faces a moral and ethical dilemma that would be hard for anyone to deal with, but she does and quite effectively. Had this been a full length novel, I am positive it would have received a higher rating but at least I got my Roarke fix until I dive into the next one.
Missing In Death provides a fast paced read with Dallas and Peabody investigating a disappearance of a tourist on the Staten Island Ferry. They, along with her family, fear the worst because the bathroom she was last seen going into is covered in blood and she’s vanished without a trace. Just as suddenly as she disappeared, she returns, with a bump on her head and no memory of what happened to her or where she has been. This is where the real mystery begins. Dallas and Peabody are diligently following the clues to find out whose blood is all over the bathroom and locate the body and track down the killer.
This was definitely not the best Eve Dallas installment for obvious reasons but I did enjoy the unexpected twist Eve confronts while she is on the killer’s trail. When the killer’s identity is established, Eve faces a moral and ethical dilemma that would be hard for anyone to deal with, but she does and quite effectively. Had this been a full length novel, I am positive it would have received a higher rating but at least I got my Roarke fix until I dive into the next one.
March 23, 2023
Missing In Death is a novella available either as an individual ebook, or, as a bind up in print or ebook, that also includes the novella Ritual in Death. I read it as part of the bind up but I'm reviewing both stories separately as I'm reading the whole In Death series in order and read these stories weeks apart.
It's not often that Eve finds herself called on to investigate a missing tourist on the Staten Island Ferry but that's exactly what happens in this novella. She has a missing tourist plus a large amount of blood but no body and no clue who the potential murderer might be.
This was another great story in the In Death series, even with her novellas J.D. Robb manages to give us a good mystery and this one really tests Eve's sense of right and wrong. Perhaps justice isn't always covered by the laws she so fervently believes in. As with most of the novellas we don't see the whole series cast in this story but we do still have plenty of Eve and Roarke time, Peabody is on top form and even Somerset holds out an olive branch (or chocolate chip cookie in this case!).
1st read - October 2019
2nd read - November 2021
3rd read - February 2023
It's not often that Eve finds herself called on to investigate a missing tourist on the Staten Island Ferry but that's exactly what happens in this novella. She has a missing tourist plus a large amount of blood but no body and no clue who the potential murderer might be.
This was another great story in the In Death series, even with her novellas J.D. Robb manages to give us a good mystery and this one really tests Eve's sense of right and wrong. Perhaps justice isn't always covered by the laws she so fervently believes in. As with most of the novellas we don't see the whole series cast in this story but we do still have plenty of Eve and Roarke time, Peabody is on top form and even Somerset holds out an olive branch (or chocolate chip cookie in this case!).
1st read - October 2019
2nd read - November 2021
3rd read - February 2023
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