Bump in the Night [Mass Market Paperback]

I automatically buy all of J.D. Robb's books so this was a no-brainer purchase for me. Robb kickstarts this anthology with "Haunted in Death", another detective story involving Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her husband Roarke. The year is 2060 and Eve is investigating the murder of Radcliff C. Hopkins III at Number Twelve, a building that that reportedly been haunted since the disappearance of Bobbie Bray 85 years ago. Bobbie's skeleton is found near Radcliff's body and the murder weapon, a gun (considered unusual in 2060), is the same for both murders. Eve is very pragmatic and doesn't believe in ghosts despite the cold chill and mysterious voices she hears in Number Twelve. The ending is a bit unusual for a J.D. Robb story but I was not disappointed.

In "Poppy's Coin" by Mary Blayney, a young girl is told a story of a magic coin and true love occurring in 1817. David Lindsay has returned from the war with honor but no money and two children to raise (only one of whom may be his child). His daughter gives him a magic coin and he wishes for prosperous employment. Shortly afterwards, a wealthy widow, Lady Grace Anderson, hires him to be her escort at all the Society events as she doesn't want the hassle of men courting her. The story is a sweet romance with only a tinge of the paranormal.

Ruth Ryan Langan's "The Passenger" explores the mystery behind Spirit Lake with its history of boats and planes disappearing and lights of unknown origin appearing. Grace Marin is a photojournalist who is at Spirit Lake to document the happenings there. Josh Cramer is an adventure junkie whose next journey is a trek through the wilderness, starting at Spirit Lake. While flying to his starting point, he notices a stowaway passenger just before his plane crashes. Grace sees the crash and rescues him. Together, they find true love while experiencing the mysteries at Spirit Lake.

"Mellow Lemon Yellow" by Mary Kay McComas is one of the more unique stories I have read. Charlotte is the stereotypical accountant until her childhood imaginary friend, Mel, resurfaces at her father's viewing. Mel teaches Charlotte how to break out of her monotony and find that spark within her that wants to go scuba diving, wear stylish clothes, and find true love. She finally meets Sam and it's a sweet ending to a story about a woman's personal growth.

Overall, this was a good anthology and definitely worth reading. I'm not sure the title fit the type of stories in the book but all four stories were very enjoyable. Definitely a recommended read!

I'm a HUGE Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb fan. I've read all of Robb's In Death books and always look forward to the latest release. Haunted in Death was enjoyable, but left a lot to be desired... where was Summerset and McNab and Feeney? She has built so much character into these characters that a person misses them when they're not there!

The two middle stories were ok but not memorable.

The fourth story - Mellow Lemon Yellow - was the worst story I've ever read. In my opinion, the book is very elementary. Did anyone notice Mary Kay McComas' incorrect use of the word "then"? I counted at least 3 times where she used "then" when she should've used "than". Doesn't anyone check grammar anymore? You'd think a prominent writer would be grammatically correct.

As a huge fan of J.D. Robb, I knew I would buy this book for her story alone. While it was an okay short story, it's not great. In my opinion, both of the other short stories that Robb has done in other anthologies adds something to the overall "mystique" of the In Death series.

I couldn't read the second story (Poppy's Coin). No interest.

Both The Passenger and Mellow Lemon Yellow were interesting reads. Of course, throughout the entire reading of Mellow Lemon Yellow, I kept thinking about the movie "Drop Dead Fred" which explores a similar premise.

Overall, enjoyable and easy reading.