The 61st book in the ‘Death’ series by JD Robb – Framed in Death–has just come out, and shot right into the bestseller charts. The protagonist of these futuristic novels is Eve Dallas, a New York cop, who is among the top female characters in crime fiction, who have lasted the longest– 30 years.
JB Robb is the pseudonym of popular author, Nora Roberts, and she launched Eve Dallas in 1995, with the book Naked In Death. Eve is a tough police officer, with a strong sense of justice and unshakeable self respect. Though she is married to Roarke, one of the richest men in mid 21st century New York, and lives in his palatial house, she never takes money from him, and if she needs to borrow some, she makes it a point to return it. He does, however, fill her closet with great clothes, and takes pride in making sure she goes out well-dressed. Both Eve and Roarke have survived rough, troubled childhoods, and their relationship is marked with deep love and mutual respect. A tech wizard, he often helps Eve with her cases, as a civilian consultant to the New York police department, while also making sure she eats properly, because in the throes of solving a case, Eve tends to survive on coffee.
Eve’s backstory is traumatic, and the abuse she faced in childhood, made her strong and determined to always seek justice for victims of crime. According to the Dallas fan wiki page, she was born in 2028 and spent the first eight years of her life physically, mentally, and sexually abused by her father. At a hotel in Dallas, Eve stopped the abuse by killing her father. She wandered out of the hotel for three miles before passing out. A police officer found her and took her to a hospital. With no records of her birth and her father’s death unknown, she became a ward of the state. They named her Eve Dallas, because she could not even remember her name—her parents never bothered to give her one and did not even register her birth. She did not exist in any records before she was eight years old. She spent the next ten years in the foster home system, before leaving at 18.
She immediately travelled to New York to become a police officer. She graduated from the police academy at the top of her class. The next few years were spent in uniform, when Lieutenant Ryan Feeney took notice of her and brought her into the Homicide Division. Eventually, Eve was promoted to Detective and then to Lieutenant, in charge of a Homicide squad at NYPSD’s Cop Central.
In the first novel, Eve is assigned to investigate the murder of a high profile senator’s granddaughter. Roarke is a suspect, and the usually self-controlled Eve has to struggle to curb her attraction toward the handsome Irishman. At the end of the investigation, when he is cleared, they form a relationship that only grows stronger over time. The victim’s cat Galahad becomes their pampered pet. By the end of the third book, Immortal in Death, they are married and the fourth, Rapture in Death, begins with their honeymoon. Somerset, the man whom Roarke treats as a surrogate father, since his own was violent and neglectful, looks after their household.
Roarke is a perfect foil for Eve—while Eve is inflexible and almost spartan in her lifestyle, Roarke indulges her. He also respects her boundaries, and gives her the stability she needs, without acknowledging even to herself that she can be vulnerable.
Eve is reserved by nature, but treats her team—particularly her partner Delia Peabody—with affection. Because she works so hard and does not care about her own safety in the pursuit of criminals, her team is fiercely loyal and her bosses are appreciative of her commitment to her work. She is warm and protective towards the few friends she has, and nurtures those bonds, though Roarke is more outgoing and helpful. She hates feminine fripperies and is sure she does not want children. Roarke and she do support a home for troubled kids, called An Didean. (Roarke also supports a shelter for abused women and children called Dochas).
Over 61 books, and the popularity of Eve Dallas had not faded. Robb/Roberts comes up with exciting plots—in the latest Framed In Death, Eve goes after a serial killer, who dresses his murder victims like famous paintings and leaves the corpses at the doors of the homes or workplaces of art gallery owners.
What has undoubtedly contributed to the popularity of the books is the portrayal of Eve Dallas—she is fearless and blunt, but also complex and compassionate towards victims of crime. Often, the perpetrators leave no trace, but Dallas pulls at the tiniest of threads and persists till the case is solved. Like investigating fabric samples and paints and in the new book with its art backdrop.
Readers have followed 61 books, because the harsh police procedural is softened by a wonderful romance and enhanced by sci-fi details like flying cars and auto chefs. If there is cruelty and murder, there is also love, friendship and the certainty of justice always delivered. Because Eve Dallas makes sure that no killer escapes the law.
(This piece first appeared in The Free Press Journal, dated September 27, 2025)
