J.D. Robb discussion

No matter where you are in the series, judge from where you are. Don't forget to use spoiler codes for intimate story details.

Oh GOSH. This is hard! I mean, "toughest" how? Tough to solve the case or just plain emotionally difficult?

There are a ton (after all, an EASY case doesn't make for good fiction, does it?), but I think I'm going to go with:

Emotionally tough: Conspiracy in Death or New York to Dallas or Innocent in Death?
Solving the case: Origin in Death or Portrait in Death or Conspiracy in Death...

So overall, I'm going to go with Conspiracy in Death. (view spoiler)[She gets onto the right track, only to have the "bad guys" get her kicked off the force, which just BREAKS Eve. Then she has to try to solve the case without a lot of the resources she'd have otherwise (sorta). And it's NOT an easy case, either. She very nearly dies at the end! (hide spoiler)]

Sara, I like how you make a distinction between emotionally tough and difficulty in solving. I TOTALLY agree with your selections in the emotional category. All three are different emotional conflicts for Eve. When I read Innocent in Death, my heart broke for her and I cried each time I read it (3 times). (view spoiler)[I hated the idea that Roarke had eyes for ANYbody else. I was so worried for Eve. (hide spoiler)]

It totally makes me cry, too! Either two or three times.... (view spoiler)[The Magdalena stuff, but also, the way she is trying to figure out if she was like Rayleen or not, you know? And you just want to grab Eve and be like, "NO!!! You are NOTHING LIKE THAT!!! Your situation was COMPLETELY different!!!" Especially since Roarke isn't the super-supportive-ist in that book... (hide spoiler)]

I'd forgotten about that second point. So true.

For me it was Survivor in Death. To have a kid witness her families death, all because Mr.Swisher did his job and won a case.

I'm not sure it's the toughest CASE, but the hardest time she's ever had I'm sure is when she got her badge taken away. That was horrible.

I agree when Eve's badge was taken away that the first 24 hours were really rough. The reason I don't think it was the worst was there were so many people jumping to her side. Including Mira, who gave Roarke some good advice that pulled her out of the pity party she was having. She also found out just how many friends she did have. Having gone through something similar I know how valuable friends are and how they do help to reduce the pain.
I still think Survivor in Death was the worst. Knowing that Nixie walked through her parents blood, had to have brought back memories of when she was 8 and had her fathers blood all over her.

That's a good point, Dee! (Careful with the spoilers though!)

Sorry

That is a good point!

I think her toughest cases were Vengeance in Death, New York to Dallas, Portrait in Death, Conspiracy in Death, Innocent in Death, Visions in death, and Fantasy in Death.

You make a strong case, Michael.

Sbyrd64 wrote: "I think her toughest cases were Vengeance in Death, New York to Dallas, Portrait in Death, Conspiracy in Death, Innocent in Death, Visions in death, and Fantasy in Death."

Songbyrd, I will always rank Vengeance and Conspiracy because they were so personal.

I agree with Vengeance and Conspiracy.

Michael wrote: "I'd say Eve's toughest case was the first one, Naked in Death. Here's why:she's alone and has only one friend to speak of, Mavis. She still suffers severe psychological trauma from killing dad, and..."

Now that is how you rest your case!!! LOL, I can't disagree. But I still stand by my defense lol.

Lol! It is well presented:)

Well I think Vengeance because it was emotional and she couldn't reveal all she knew. Conspiracy because of her losing her badge. New York to Dallas because of how she was dealing with not only a past case that bought back her own memories that she had been suppressing but also taking it back to where her life on record began. Portrait and Innocent was a shake up in her marriage with Roarke both times. Portrait because he was depressed and didn't know how to deal and it affected her too. Innocent because of the distraction of Magdalena. Visions was due to having to deal with a psychic which she doesn't believe in. Confiding in Peabody about her past then to stay by and deal with all Peabody's injuries. Fantasy because of how close her and Roarke came to death together and because they had to believe the unbelievable.

I would say toughest -- from a case solving perspective -- was Survivor in Death. The one with Nixie. For a good first half of the book Eve had nothing to go on. Every avenue she pursued was a total dead end. She could grasp at nothing. She couldn't even figure out why Nixie's family was targeted.

And for once, even the reader was not clued in on who did it. We were just as in the dark as Eve. Usually Eve's intuits something fairly quickly, but this one had her stumped for more than a minute.

Great point, Tina. I do remember being completely stumped until the final chapters.

That is true Tina.

Personally, no case ate me up like Conspiracy and losing her badge, but my vote (excluding Obsession which is still in spoiler mode) is Treachery because she has to take down so many bad cops. I don't think much of anything would eat her more alive than bad cops.

Conspiracy is the first that comes to mind but I'd also say Naked because so much is coming to the surface during the case/book/beginning relationship with Roarke.

Michael wrote: "Sbyrd64, the advantage to just talking about favorite cases instead of being in court where a judge decides is that everybody's opinion is just as good as anybody elses.

I gotta admit I loved Ven..."

I agree. I really enjoyed the latest book Obsession.

You know I didn't think of this but two I would add to them being really difficult would be Glory and Immortal.

Glory was bad because of her trying to solve a case for her boss as well as come to terms with being in love with Roarke. She never wanted to love or be loved because she thought it made her weak so this was a huge change. Then trying to solve the case for her boss who was friends with the victim and her family was a lot to take on.

Immortal was bad because she finally remembered and she kept wanting to not get married. She kept fighting that commitment and even tried to use her memory as an excuse not to. Until she finally comes to terms with what marriage really means to her. On top of this she was dealing with the case where her aid is involved with another cop and then they discover what he was up to.

Conspiracy - no book that I've read sent me into instant depression like this one when Eve lost her badge. Runner-up - Treachery because of the tightwire she had to walk to take down a peer and her subordinates (the mano e mano - womano e womano? fight scene and its immediate aftermath - at the end is my favorite single scene)

I think New York to Dallas, dealing with her mother, wow!

Great examples, Courtney and Maggie.

Yes New York to Dallas Dallas is about Eve going up against her mother. Eve is on the hunt for a old enemy and he is working with her mother. A very dark and sad storyline

Spoiler

The one with her Mom!

Spoiler

New York to Dallas. The case was difficult as she tried to save the captives, in addition she had so much personal reveals to work through.

Sharon wrote: "New York to Dallas. The case was difficult as she tried to save the captives, in addition she had so much personal reveals to work through."

Agreed!

It pushed the envelope on her healing with Mira. Painful, yet redeeming for Eve. Case wise specifically - maybe the novella

Taken In Death (in Mirror, Mirror)

I think the cases where she strongly empathizes with the suspects are the harder ones, especially where there are elements of rape. Like Origins, Brotherhood, etc. she has to solve the case but doesn’t want them in prison.

Haven't visited this thread in a while so now I have to add these: Brotherhood, Echoes, Shadows and Faithless.

I really felt for her in Brotherhood in having to deal with so much of her own feelings in that one but loved the parts with her and Mr. Mira. It was also great to get a little more Mr. Mira time.

Shadows in having to deal with someone coming after Roarke.

Faithless was the control and wiping out of someone like how she came out of. The trafficking and things like that.

Echoes was disturbing to me too but she seemed to really connect with the first victim.

I have read all the in-deaths cases and all in some way hard after all she is dealing with murder.

This is tough. I think I have to choose Vengeance, Conspiracy and NY2D.