History Literature / InDeath

* [[LikeASonToMe Like A Daughter To Me]]: In ''Conspiracy in Death'' Mira compares her feelings to Eve to the ones she has for her children.

* AssholeVictim - There are a lot of these. Eve starts out essentially forcing herself to sympathize with them and feel for them. ''Witness In Death'' has her openly admit that she couldn't feel sorry for the victim, nor truly condemn his murderer. Her previous attitude is lighter to absent later on, when confronted with such victims.

** It goes either and both ways, with Eve's men taking it [[ItsPersonal personally]] when someone threatens their Lieutenant. We see this in 'Treachery In Death' after someone has just attacked Eve from the back, in front of other detectives.

-->'''Jacobson''': Fucker. On your fucking face, you fucking shit coward. Stream my Leutenant in the fucking back? Fuck you!

* ClingyJealousGirl - An interesting and sympathetic example with Eve. Roarke can be very affectionate and flirty with female friends, but Eve's very good at distinguishing when she has a reason to be jealous (Maggie, the OldFlame shows up) and when she doesn't (Roarke gives Nadine a good luck kiss or strokes Peabody's hair after a trauma).

* CoolCar - In ''Promises In Death'', Roarke gives Dallas an incredibly cool car custom-designed for her, packed to the gills with awesome features...and painted like a junker, so it won't draw attention on the street. Eve was grateful, since she'd had to use NYPSD-issued [[TheAllegedCar clunkers]] until "Promises".

* DemonicPossession: In [[MeaningfulTitle Possession In Death]] Eve gets possessed by a dead gypsy who wants Eve to find her lost granddaughter.

* EvilCounterpart - Renee Oberman in ''Treachery In Death'' is basically the opposite of Eve in every way but gender. Also Bix to Peabody. He's an attack dog subordinate with no independent thought, she's a true partner who complements Eve as part of a team.
* {{Expy}} - Eve and Roarke bear a very strong resemblance to Mel Sutherland and Sebastian Donovan from Roberts' 1992 novella ''Entranced''.

* GoodCannotComprehendEvil: Dr. Mira in ''Midnight In Death'' is unable to understand David Palmer's villainy. Eve Dallas is similarly unable to understand her own mother in ''New York To Dallas''.

** Eve and Roarke, after a whirlwind courtship. Also, the Miras, the Feeneys, Mavis and Leonardo, and the Whitneys. Despite the books' subject matter, it's actually rather common among the first- and second-tier characters. More than, say, any of the ''LawAndOrder'' series.

** There is Morris and Coltraine, who were developing a relationship across several books ...[[spoiler: until Coltraine was murdered in ''Promises In Death'']].

** Generally portrayed more positively than is usual for crime and punishment fiction, but Eve (and everyone else) still has the usual prejudice against them.

* ItsPersonal - Much of ''Treachery In Death''. The {{Corrupt Cop}}s, particularly their ringleader Renee Oberman, were one for Eve, as she defines so much of herself by the work. However, she wouldn't have known about that if [[spoiler: Peabody hadn't accidentally witnessed a conversation about their crimes.]] Scaring [[spoiler: Peabody]] half to death made it even more personal. By the end, she's basically trying to dig the deepest possible hole and toss Oberman into it.

* JerkassFacade: In Dallas' case more like Jerkass Wall Of China.

* NotSoFakePropWeapon - in ''Witness In Death''. [[spoiler:Subverted; the person who switched the prop out for a real knife was the actress who used it to stab the victim during the play, and knew all along what she was doing.]]

* PowersViaPossession: [[spoiler: In Possession In Death, Eve get possessed by an old gyspy's ghost and seems to gain a few powers, of sorts. She can read Russian and Romanian, and [[ISeeDeadPeople see dead people.]] When the spirit leaves her, she offer to give Eve her gift of seeing the dead, but she declines.]]

** Oh...let's be honest. This trope has been present since the very first book of this series. For Eve, Roarke is this trope. ''Vengeance In Death'' had Eve finding out about some very serious crimes, however justified, committed by her husband. She had to choose between the law or her husband. Take a wild guess on which one she picked. Then there was ''Creation In Death'', which had Eve finding out from the killer that he prepared documents a long time ago that will legally allow him to commit suicide. [[spoiler: She has Roarke erase the documents, and states quite clearly to him that she is crossing the line]]. Of course, the book demonstrated that the killer was a Complete Monster, so Eve's actions could be considered a Crowning Moment Of Awesome and not a Moral Event Horizon. If it is any consolation, Eve discusses her actions with Roarke in ''Salvation In Death''.
* PsychicPowers - Some have been proven scientifically by the time of the series, and possessors thereof are registered with the state. Peabody's brother Zeke has them, and they form a part of ''Visions In Death'''s plot.

** Eve's ongoing feud with all sorts of mechanical and/or electronic systems. For example, the drink machine at Eve's precinct which seems to hate her as much she hates it. It's practically [[OnceAnEpisode Once A Novel]] that she orders someone else to get her a tube of Pepsi from the thing.

* SympatheticMurderBackstory: Both Eve and Roarke turn out to have murder in their backstories. As a child, Eve [[spoiler:stabbed her father to death in self-defense when he raped and beat her]]. Roarke, meanwhile, turns out in ''Vengeance In Death'' to have [[spoiler:gone on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge and killed several men involved in the rape, torture, and death of Summerset's daughter Marlena]].

* {{Tomboy And Girly Girl}}:

** Maybe Eve does not want to look like she is sympathizing with Interal Affairs Bureau to the other cops.

** Both shrink as to nothing compared to her fear and loathing of anything even vaguely resembling a hospital. In fact, no matter how injured or fatigued she is the only way to get her to submit to treatment is if she's unconcious and/or physically restrained. It verges on the masochistic.

* ClingyJealousGirl - An interesting, complex, and sympathetic variant in Eve. Roarke has female friends, some of which he shares with Eve, and can be very close and friendly with them. Notably, in ''Treachery in Death'', he massages Peabody's shoulders, strokes her hair, hugs her, and kisses her repeatedly--all in one scene. Yet despite the fact Peabody is open about finding Roarke attractive, Eve displays zero jealousy or negative emotions of any sort. She recognizes the incident for what it was, a man kindly comforting a friend (who had just been terrified witless), and is actually grateful that Roarke helped Peabody. Whereas when Maggie, Roarke's old flame, shows up, Roarke keeps a polite distance but Eve can tell that his emotional connection is still there and becomes very jealous.

** Sure, the characters think it's okay, and there's all sorts of space travel and VR and autochefs yay. But then you actually start gathering stuff together. Like the fact that someone's taken white-out to the Bill of Rights. That real meat, coffee, tobacco, and other such things are so rare and expensive that some people go years without ever tasting them. That the environmental movement has grown so powerful that there are Green Cops who come around to hassle you if you're not being environmentally conscious enough. '''All''' your activities online are monitored at all times by the forces of [=CompuGuard=]. If Eve didn't rattle on about warrants and the "revised" Miranda (and get around the first half the time), you'd immediately start wondering if her world wasn't a low-level fascist state.

* MyNameIsNotDurwood: That's Lieutenant Eve Dallas to you, ''not'' "Mrs. Roarke".

* CloningBlues: '''Origin in Death'''; and you thought SpiderMan had it bad...

* JekyllAndHyde: Played straight in '''Chaos in Death''', and good for a serious OhCrap moment.

* CloningBlues: '''Origin in Death'''.

A series of books by Creator/NoraRoberts (writing as J.D. Robb), featuring police detective Eve Dallas in [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2058 New York City]]. The series has been described as ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' [-[[InSpace IN THE FUTURE]]!-] She meets, and later marries, the multi-billionaire [[OnlyOneName Roarke]]. The series concerns Eve and Roarke, and their efforts to catch various killers, psychos, and the occasional case of science gone bad.

** Oh, and don't call Eve "Mrs. Roarke", unless you want her to...er...''forcefully'' remind you of her name and rank.
** And don't insult the NYPSD to Eve's face.

* CoolCar - In ''Promises In Death'', Roarke gives Dallas an incredibly cool car custom-designed for her, packed to the gills with awesome features...and painted like a junker, so it won't draw attention on the street.

* NiceCharacterMeanActor: In ''Celebrity in Death'', the actress who plays Peabody in the Icove movie turns out to be a vindictive, obsessively jealous harriden who tries to intimidate, blackmail, and/or stalk various coworkers and associates.

** And don't insult the NYPSD.

* ItsPersonal - Much of ''Treachery In Death''. The {{Corrupt Cop}}s, particularly their ringleader Renee Oberman, were one for Eve, as she defines so much of herself by the work. However, she wouldn't have known about that if [[spoiler: Peabody hadn't accidentally witnessed a conversation about their crimes.]] Scaring [[spoiler: Peabody]] half to death made it even more personal. By the end, she's basically trying to did the deepest possible hole and toss Oberman into it.

A series of books by NoraRoberts (writing as J.D. Robb), featuring police detective Eve Dallas in [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2058 New York City]]. The series has been described as ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' [-[[InSpace IN THE FUTURE]]!-] She meets, and later marries, the multi-billionaire [[OnlyOneName Roarke]]. The series concerns Eve and Roarke, and their efforts to catch various killers, psychos, and the occasional case of science gone bad.

* OnlyOneName - Roarke. NoraRoberts has stated that she will not reveal his given name.

* AbsentAliens - There is space travel in Robb's 21st century, but it's mostly background, and there's no mention of non-human life. (Aside from the {{complete monster}}s Eve chases)

* ParagmaticHero: Eve Dallas

* AFatherToHisMen: Dallas is a GenderFlippedExample; although she's a JerkAss and rarely emotional, or maternal, she does feel protective about them. It's reciprocated in kind.

** Harm a child? Not on Eve's watch! See AbusiveParents above.

* BigBrotherInstinct - Roarke tends to harbor protective instincts toward Eve's female colleagues, though they're not particularly weak. This is probably due to DeadLittleSister, below.

* DeadLittleSister:
** Summerset's daughter, Marlena, fills this role for Roarke.
** [[spoiler: Crack]]'s sister dies in a later novel, giving [[spoiler: him]] a huge HeroicBSOD.

* AntiHero: [[SlidingScaleOfAntiHeroes Eve is Type III, Roarke Type IV]]

* AbusiveParents - Both main characters.

* BerserkButton - Harm Eve and after the NYPSD makes your life a living hell, Roarke will show you new types of pain. The same applies for harming Roarke where Eve is concerned.

* BlandNameProduct - For various things, and averted on so few occasions that you might start wondering about ProductPlacement (or at least AuthorAppeal), since Pepsi seems to be one of the only, if not ''the'' only, major brand to survive the Urban Wars.

* ByTheBookCop[=/=]CowboyCop: Eve somehow manages to be '''both'''! Peabody is a straighter example of ByTheBookCop but not entirely.

* DeadLittleSister - Summerset's daughter, Marlena, fills this role for Roarke.

* DeathGlare - Most of the older characters have one, but the prize has to go to Roarke, as seeing it was described as "[looking] into the face of murder."

* {{Fiction 500}} - Roarke. Eve frequently snarks about him buying whole countries; the reader may be forgiven for getting the impression that this is only ''kind'' of an exaggeration, given that any business or building Eve's investigations lead her to runs approximately a fifty-fifty chance of being owned by Roarke's company.

*** With one noted exception. [[spoiler: The Statue of Liberty. Roarke simply states, "Nobody owns her."]]

* HairTriggerTemper - Eve is pretty much an irritable dick to everyone around her. All the time. Even when she's in a ''good'' mood.

* HappilyMarried - Eve and Roarke, after a whirlwind courtship. Also, the Miras, the Feeneys, Mavis and Leonardo, and the Whitneys. Despite the books' subject matter, it's actually rather common among the first- and second-tier characters. More than, say, any of the ''LawAndOrder'' series.
** Roberts/Robb [[SignatureStyle likes this trope]]. A lot. Especially paired with whirlwind romances. To the point that it counts as a subversion with Peabody and [=McNabb=] when their relationship takes a while to build up and isn't smooth sailing in the least.

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming - All the titles follow the style ''<Word> in Death''.

* IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim - Played with. [[spoiler: The killer in one novel murdered a foster mother who abused both her and Eve, and told Eve that they were similar enough to have done the same. Eve says no, she wouldn't.]]

*** Actually it's more often her stopping him from doing something ''she'll'' regret. Roarke, to judge by past example, seems like he'd be perfectly fine with it, but he respects that there are lines it would make Eve unhappy for him to cross.
* InternalAffairs - Generally portrayed more positively than is usual for crime and punishment fiction, but Eve (and everyone else) still has the usual prejudice against them.

* MoralityChain - Eve to Roarke, stopping him killing quite a few people and the reason he gave up the criminal side of his enterprises. God only knows what would happen if she ever died.

* RunningGag - The candy thief, who is probably just waiting to become a ChekhovsGunman.

* SlapSlapKiss - Peabody and [=McNab=].

* [[{{TakingTheBullet}} Taking the Nerve Disruptor]] - Eve does this for Summerset, her continuing low-level antagonist.

* {{Tomboy And Girly Girl}} - Dallas and Peabody. One's the hard-charging {{badass}} cop, the other ''tries'' to be. But their reactions to Trina the stylist (Dallas: ''Dear God no!'', Peabody: ''Let me at it!'') really bring it home.

*** Most of the ''men'' are girly compared to Eve, sometimes Roarke will know more about feminine matters than Eve herself. Which isn't hard, to tell the truth.

* TriangRelations - Type Four. Webster is in love with Eve who is married to Roarke. Roarke is aware of Webster's infatuations, resulting in the two men fighting each other briefly. Afterwards, they come to an understanding: Webster is in love with Eve, and Roarke doesn't mind as long as Webster doesn't try anything on her, and remembers she is his wife.

* WhatTheHellHero - "Isn't it funny how no one likes a dirty cop, but nobody wants to hang out with the guys that catch them?" Eve [[IgnoredEpiphany promptly ignores]] this utterly apt and pointed observation from her former friend and continues to refer to Internal Affairs as the "rat squad".

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes - Eve has a severe fear of heights. Only her iron discipline keeps her from externalizing her strong internal reaction. She also has a fear of [[spoiler:cows,]] but it's not as violent. Both of these are symptomatic of a general case of semi-agoraphobia, derived from living in large cities her entire (remembered) life.

A series of books by Nora Roberts (writing as J.D. Robb), featuring police detective Eve Dallas in [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture 2058 New York City]]. The series has been described as ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' [-[[InSpace IN THE FUTURE]]!-] She meets, and later marries, the multi-billionaire [[OnlyOneName Roarke]]. The series concerns Eve and Roarke, and their efforts to catch various killers, psychos, and the occasional case of science gone bad.