Futuristic Crime Thriller
JD Robb (In Death) Books in Order
by J.D. Robb
Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb puts hardboiled NYPSD lieutenant Eve Dallas and her impossibly wealthy husband Roarke in a near-future New York — over 60 books and counting, the gold standard of romantic crime fiction.
About the series
J.D. Robb is the pseudonym Nora Roberts uses for her In Death series, set in a near-future New York City (circa 2058–2061) where Lieutenant Eve Dallas of the NYPSD solves homicides with the help of her impossibly wealthy Irish husband, Roarke. The series blends hardboiled police procedural with romantic suspense and a dash of futuristic world-building — hover vehicles, off-planet colonies, and legal drugs called "zoners" exist alongside very human crimes. Roberts has published roughly two In Death novels per year since 1995, making it one of the most prolific series in American popular fiction with over 60 main entries.
Recommended reading order
Start with Naked in Death (1995) — the Eve/Roarke relationship is central to the series and develops continuously across all books, so publication order is strongly recommended. Short stories and novellas (collected in volumes like Three in Death and Time of Death) fill in smaller gaps but are optional. The series is Ongoing with no end in sight.
Reading order
64 books · Ongoing