Survivor in Death

J.D. Robb
aka Nora Roberts

2/19/2005

Nixie Swisher sneaks out of bed to get a soda. She knows it's forbidden, but she really wants one. Her best friend is staying the night, but Linnie isn't thirsty, so Linnie stays in bed. While Nixie is downstairs in the kitchen, she sees a shadow slip into the housekeeper's room. She decides to spy in the housekeeper and her visitor. Instead, the shadow slips out again. She sees the housekeeper covered in blood with a sliced neck. The shadow goes upstairs. Nixie grabs the telephone and calls 911, then sneaks upstairs. She sees the shadow join another and are in and out of her parents', brother's, and her own room. The shadows go downstairs and leave as quietly as they had entered. She stumbles in to get comfort from her parents. They also have been murdered, along with her brother and Linnie.

The emergency call is answered immediately. Eve Dallas responds as the prime homicide detective. She finds Nixie shivering in the shower. The scared little girl brings memories to Eve. From now on, she is personally involved in the case. Dallas overrules the social worker and takes Nixie away to her own home. She believes the Swisher family was a personal target, and that Nixie is still in danger. Summerset, Roarke, and herself will be able to keep Nixie safe in their secure home.

Now Dallas has to discover who killed the Swisher family and why. They seemed to have been a happy, productive family. Mr. Swisher was a family lawyer. Mrs. Swisher was a nutritionist. Everybody who knew them loved them. They had a wonderful life with few shadows and no enemies. There is no reason someone should want to kill them. But someone did. Eve is going to find that someone. The "shadows" left no clues, no DNA, no tracks. But somewhere she knows she'll find the right clues to bring her to the killers.

Nixie's presence changes the Roarke/Dallas home. Both Roarke and Eve are reminded of their childhood that was so different from the life Nixie had with her parents. Summerset is able to take a child back under her wing. Nixie charms Peabody, Trueheart, Baxter, McNab, and every other person who get to know her. When she has nightmares, everyone responds.

Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb has brought another winner into her Eve Dallas' In Death series. The mystery is excellent and stands alone. The personal side is better if you've read the books through the series, but enough is explained of past history that a new reader will not feel lost. Only a detective as persistant as Eve would keep dogging, keeping the promise she made to Nixie to catch the murderers and lock them up in a cage for the rest of their lives.

You can find more about this book at .

Notice: Sexual situations

Naked in Death
Glory in Death
Immortal in Death
Rapture in Death
Ceremony in Death
Vengeance in Death
Holiday in Death
"Midnight in Death" Silent Night
Conspiracy in Death
Loyalty in Death
Witness in Death
Judgment in Death
Betrayal in Death
Seduction in Death
"Interlude in Death" Out of This World
Reunion in Death
Purity in Death
Portrait in Death
Imitation in Death
Remember When (written w/ Nora Roberts)
Divided in Death
Visions in Death
Survivor in Death
Origin in Death
Memory in Death
Born in Death
Innocent in Death
"Haunted in Death" in Bump in the Night
Creation in Death
Strangers in Death