Look, I'm going to be upfront about something: I came to the In Death series embarrassingly late. Like, 47 books late. My podcast listeners have been screaming at me for years to cover J.D. Robb's futuristic procedurals, and I kept putting it off because—honestly? I was intimidated by the sheer volume. But then I needed something for a long road trip, and here we are.
Leverage in Death opens with a gut-punch. A man walks into a conference room strapped with explosives. He's not a terrorist. He's a marketing VP whose family is being held hostage. And then he detonates. That's not a spoiler—it's the first chapter. The horror isn't in the explosion itself. It's in the coercion. The slow realization of what Paul Rogan was forced to do to save his wife and daughter. Robb understands that horror isn't about gore—it's about dread.
Susan Ericksen Is Why This Series Works
I'd heard the name Susan Ericksen thrown around in audiobook circles, but I wasn't prepared for how completely she inhabits these characters. Three-time Audie winner. Multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards. And you can hear exactly why within the first twenty minutes.
Her Eve Dallas is sharp, impatient, brilliant—the kind of detective who makes you believe she could actually solve these cases. But it's Roarke that sealed it for me. That Irish accent? Spot on. Rich without being cartoonish, warm without being saccharine. When Roarke and Eve banter—and they banter a lot—Ericksen makes you believe in their relationship. The chemistry comes through in her voice work alone.
Now, here's where I have to be honest. Some listeners apparently find her Peabody voice off-putting. I can see it. Peabody's got this earnest, slightly over-eager quality that Ericksen leans into hard. For me, it worked—it made Peabody distinct from the dozens of other characters. But if you're sensitive to exaggerated character voices, you might find it grating. Fair warning.
(Also, minor confession: there were a few moments where the narration felt slightly mechanical. Not enough to pull me out, but enough that I noticed. And apparently some listeners have reported audio skipping issues. I didn't experience that, but worth knowing.)
The Mystery That Actually Kept Me Guessing
Here's my problem with most procedurals: I figure out the killer by chapter five. It's not a flex—it's a curse. I've consumed so much mystery content that the patterns are burned into my brain.
Leverage in Death got me. Not completely—I had suspicions—but the motive was more twisted than I expected. Because here's the thing: blowing up one meeting doesn't stop a corporate merger. So why do it? That question drives the whole investigation, and Robb (who is, of course, Nora Roberts writing under a pseudonym) understands that the best mysteries are about the why, not the who.
The pacing is excellent. At 14 hours, this could have dragged. It doesn't. Eve's investigation moves forward with purpose, each interview and clue building on the last. The futuristic setting—it's 2061, if you're new to the series—adds just enough sci-fi flavor without overwhelming the procedural bones.
Where It Might Lose You
Let's be real for a second. This is book 47 in a series. Forty-seven. If you're jumping in cold like I did, you're missing a lot of relationship history between Eve, Roarke, and the supporting cast. I caught up fast enough, but there were definitely moments where I felt like I was watching a reunion episode of a show I'd never seen.
Content warning time: there's violence here. Graphic murder scenes. Language. Sexual content between Eve and Roarke. This isn't cozy mystery territory. If you need your procedurals bloodless and PG, skip this one. If psychological horror and dark crime thrillers are your thing, you're in the right place.
The balance of dark themes with humor is genuinely impressive, though. Eve's dry wit cuts through the grimness. Roarke's billionaire charm provides levity. It never feels tonally jarring, which is harder to pull off than it sounds.
Already Planning the Deep Dive
My podcast listeners are going to love this. I'm already planning a series breakdown for The Witching Hour—the horror elements in Robb's work are underrated, honestly. The psychological terror of coercion, the body horror of the aftermath, the existential dread of a future where crime has evolved but human cruelty hasn't. That exploration of institutional violence hits differently in Terminal List, where the conspiracy goes even deeper and the betrayal cuts closer to home.
Susan Ericksen makes this a must-listen rather than a must-read. Her character work elevates what could be a straightforward procedural into something more immersive. She brings that same commitment to Abandoned in Death, another entry in this series where her Eve Dallas feels lived-in and real. I listened during a solo drive through the Oregon coast, fog rolling in, and the atmosphere was perfect.
Will I go back and start from book one? Probably not—I don't have that kind of time. But will I keep going forward? Absolutely. Sometimes you don't need to understand every inside joke to appreciate a good story. And this? This is a good story, told by a narrator who fully commits. That's rare.
