J.D. Robb discussion

There are a wide variety of support characters in the In Death series. To say the least, a few of those characters are very "colorful and flamboyant" in either dress or personality or in both. Why do you think Robb chose to include these colorful type/style characters in this often dark series? What role do they play in relationship to the main characters and story line? Choose one character you feel is presented in an exaggerated manner and tell us why you feel that person is portrayed as they are and what bearing they have on other characters in this series. Build Your Case!

Mavis Freestone: I think she colorful in clothes and personality. She also adds a little comic relief to a dark story. Before Roarke, Mavis was the only person Eve associate other than cops.She brings love and family into Eve’s live

Sandra wrote: "Why do you think Robb chose to include these colorful type/style characters in this often dark series?"

Any dark and gritty work needs some humor to create catharsis. Otherwise, readers become overwhelmed by the darker and more emotionally charged scenes and atmosphere. It is why the ancient Greeks had both comedies and satyr plays in between the tragedies.

I am personally not a fan of Mavis. She irritates me.

My favorite colorful characters are Trina as I enjoy her snark and intelligence. I also really like Crack - his interactions with Eve always make me smile.

Mavis is a character from Naked in Death. I believe she was created because she is the exact opposite of Eve. Mavis is comic relief, but she is a good friend to Eve. Eve gets a bad rap, especially in the early books; Mavis shows Eve's human and loving side. Also, both women had horrible childhoods. These characters show the many paths one might take to overcome horrid pasts.

I'm a big Mavis fan. I love when she makes an appearance. Summerset loves her too. In the beginning, I believe he thought Mavis was a better partner for Roarke than Eve. It says a lot that Eve was never jealous of Mavis.

I love that Robb creates characters from all walks of life.

Crack is out there. In the beginning, he is this big, bad a$$, owner of a dive bar with a lot of questionable patrons. Crack isn't who or what he appears. It doesn't take long before Eve uses his bar for meets where fellow cops won't see her. He opens his bar during off-hours for Eve. His pain when he sees his sister in the morgue stays with me. His new love is so unexpected.

I believe Robb created Crack to drive home that you can't judge a book by its cover, so to speak. Crack is so much more than his first appearance indicated.

I will be back to discuss Baxter, Leonardo, and Trina.

These are all great examples! My point was that there are a multitude of colorful characters in these books. Even McNab. And the guy with the colorful eye-blinding ties in Eve's precinct office. Both major support characters and minor role characters. I agree that it off sets some of the darkness of this series. But I was struck when realizing how many flamboyant characters there are.

Even Peabody can be quite colorful! lol

Sandra wrote: "These are all great examples! My point was that there are a multitude of colorful characters in these books. Even McNab. And the guy with the colorful eye-blinding ties in Eve's precinct office. Bo..."

I understand what you're asking, but don't you think the flamboyant characters are a part of the diverse community that we all experience every day?

I worked with a Jenkinson. In the old days of IT, we were in the basement. We dressed casually and were not who most considered a normal "business" person.

When PCs became required work tools, we had to come out of the basement to support our end user. It meant everyone was required to wear business attire.

As a protest, one of our programmers looked for the ugliest ties he could find. We helped him by searching flea markets and consignment stores for ties that would fit his "ugly" requirement.

I believe that Jenkinson is protesting the unexplainable. The horror of murder that he deals with daily. The ties, and his colleagues' reactions to his ties, helps with the protest.

Sharon wrote: "I believe that Jenkinson is protesting the unexplainable. The horror of murder that he deals with daily. The ties, and his colleagues' reactions to his ties, helps with the protest"

This is a wonderful and insightful analysis of his ugly ties. It makes a great deal of sense.

Sharon wrote: "Sandra wrote: "These are all great examples! My point was that there are a multitude of colorful characters in these books. Even McNab. And the guy with the colorful eye-blinding ties in Eve's prec..."

Love this! Yes! I do believe it's a form of protest. I enjoy his appearances in the series and Eve's reaction to his latest tie of choice.