Calculated In Death / Thankless In Death
In Death #36-37 • Book 37
by J.D. Robb, Susan Ericksen
Why You'll Love This
Two back-to-back Eve Dallas cases means double the procedural satisfaction — and neither killer is as clever as they think.
- Great if you want: police procedurals with sharp detectives and corporate crime undercurrents
- The experience: brisk, confident pacing — each case locks in fast and rarely lets go
- The writing: Robb balances forensic detail with dry wit and lived-in character chemistry
- Skip if: you haven't started the series — context and character depth matter here
About This Book
In the world J.D. Robb has built across her long-running In Death series, New York City circa 2060 is a place where human nature hasn't changed much—greed still kills, desperation still corrupts, and justice still demands a relentless champion. These two novels, Calculated in Death and Thankless in Death, deliver exactly the kind of layered, character-driven crime fiction the series does best: cases that begin with a single body and unravel into something far darker, driven by motives that feel uncomfortably familiar. Lieutenant Eve Dallas remains one of crime fiction's most compelling protagonists—tough, fiercely moral, and complicated enough to keep readers genuinely invested across dozens of installments.
What makes this particular volume rewarding is the pairing itself. Two standalone mysteries back-to-back offer a chance to see Robb's craft in full rhythm—her economy with clues, her ear for sharp, often sardonic dialogue, and the way she deepens her ensemble without ever letting the procedural momentum stall. The prose is clean and propulsive, the pacing confident, and the emotional stakes grounded in character relationships readers have had time to genuinely care about. These aren't novels that coast on familiarity; they earn it.
