A stronger contribution in the series. If one is new to the series, DO NOT START HERE. The best part of these books is the strong writing of the characters. No one writes friendship like Nora. The mystery is a bit predictable,but that is not why I read these books. It is holiday season, and Eve is planning a party. Actually planning. And gift shopping. Most of our friends from the past make an appearance. Great fun, all round. Stunningly disappointing.On a whim, I picked this book off the "new releases" table at my local library. The book jacket indicated that J.D. Robb was the pseudonym of a NYT bestselling female author. I just wanted a little light reading for an extended weekend, and the book sounded like fun. Only when I griped to a friend a couple of nights later that I was reading what had to be the most boring suspense novel I'd read in...well, maybe ever...did I learn the truth. I may be the last person on earth for whom this came as a surprise, but I didn't know that J.D. Robb is one of romance novelist Nora Roberts' pseudonyms. And this is where it all started making sense to me.Let me just say it aloud: I loathe romance novels. I find the characters and their relationships so ridiculously unlikely, the way they relate to one another so forced and artificial - and don't get me started on the dialogue! The "In Death" series protag Eve Dallas and her gorgeous, wealthiest-man-on-the-planet-and-beyond husband seem to want nothing more fervently than to drop the pretense and just go back to the romance novel from which they were ripped. Actually, scratch that. The sex scenes in this book are so boring that I think even they have forgotten whatever passion might have existed between them when the series began (I'm assuming there was some). Maybe they just want to retire to separate sofas in separate living rooms in separate wings of their 50,000 (?) square foot mansion, which has rooms Eve has never even been in. (Yes, I get it. The house is huge. Can we stop talking about it in every third chapter?)While I realize I dropped into the series several dozen books in, without knowing the backstories of any of the main characters, I have to say that what I learned about them in this one book has killed any curiosity I might have had when I embarked on this grueling journey of roughly 400 pages. I'm fairly certain there is nothing I could learn about their pasts that would cause me to care about them. Although I guess I would like to know why the wife of the wealthiest man in the known universe would still be working as a police detective.Also...why set the series in 2060? It adds nothing to the storyline. The offhand references to somewhat futuristic kitchen appliances (the AutoChef) and other devices (glides, links) seem to have no purpose other than to sound like you're...somewhere in the very near and not-so-different future. Yawn.I admit I kept reading as a matter of principle: I was determined to understand what made people continue buying the books in this series. Well, that and the fact that I kept thinking, "This woman is a NYT bestseller. It's GOT to improve soon...doesn't it??" It did not.If proof is needed that there are some authors who have achieved a certain status that allows them to just churn out "whatever" and get it published on name alone, this certainly must be that proof.
What do You think about Festive In Death (2014)?
I do enjoy this series! Murder, mayhem, sex, love, romance ... what more can a girl ask for!?
—branandfox
Not her best, but still enjoyable. These are always an entertaining, quick read.
—cbrando4
Not my favorite story line, but it was good.
—charlie
