Death, romance and identity theft

Nora Roberts is a publishing legend. Her romance novels (and her crime novels written as JD Robb – see my review here) are guaranteed best sellers and she writes several each year (there are rumours of ghost writers which I couldn’t comment on and which she denies). She writes a number of series of novels which connect the same family/friend group and have an overarching arc (see my review here of four books about a wedding planning business) and stand-alone novels which usually have a suspense element. Her books are well constructed but they are light and easy to read and she is good at providing a happy ending for her characters. I find the books variable but some of them really appeal to me, especially when I want a predictable and comforting read.

Identity is one of the stand-alone novels. Morgan is living happily and working as a bartender with a view that one day she will start her own business (women in Nora Roberts’ books like to have their own business; it is a recurring theme). One day she returns home and finds her housemate dead. Then she finds out that her identity has been stolen, debts run up in her name and her savings are gone. It soon becomes clear who has committed the crime but the FBI cannot find him and Morgan has to live with the consequences of his actions. The criminal is annoyed that he has killed the wrong housemate and, feeling that he has not erased his tracks sufficiently, he is now prepared to stalk and kill Morgan.

Fortunately, Morgan has a good family and she returns to the small town where she grew up and where her family have a small business to start again. The author is good at showing Morgan’s grief at the death of her friend, her feelings of responsibility for her housemate’s death and the ongoing consequences of the identity theft. The author also intersperses the chapters about Morgan with those of the criminal who continues to steal identities and who is beginning to get closer to Morgan. Morgan finds a new role as a bar manager in a local, family owned, resort and begins to live her life again and to find new love. Her family, new love and an interesting new job help her to heal from what has happened (almost certainly too easily and quickly compared with how it would be in real life).

If you are looking for a fast paced crime novel then that is not this story. This is a story about a woman finding herself, evaluating her life, working out what is important to her, and eventually facing her problems and overcoming them. The suspense element the of story affects what Morgan does and how she feels but it isn’t the focus of the book. This is really a story about one woman and how she finds love and starts again. As it is a Nora Roberts title you know that everything will end satisfactorily.

I couldn’t survive on a reading diet of romance and feel good stories but I do like them and I do read quite a few. Nora Roberts writes excellent stories and while you read them you become invested in the lives of the characters. This one was very enjoyable.