Reviewed by Kim

Lila has two interesting occupations. She’s a housesitter and a writer of a YA werewolf series. She also enjoys observing the people around her and one night while perusing the occupants of the building across from her current job, think “Rear Window”, to her horror she sees a woman pushed out a window by the man she lives with and plummet to her death. The next day, unable to banish what she saw from her thoughts she goes to the police station to see if they’ve wrapped up the case. She meets the suspect’s (who was also found dead), brother Ash who wants to know more about what she saw. Of course things are not as they seem, and it turns out that both of the deceased were victims of murder. The rest of the book is about the who, what, and why. As with the majority of Nora Robert’s/JD Robb ‘s books, while her plotlines are always strong, her novels are incredibly character driven. Not only are the backstories of Lila and Ash fascinating, but so are those of the secondary characters, even the villains. There’s even a Teacup Poodle named Earl Grey who turns out to be a hero! My only criticism of The Collector is it was a little too long. At just under 500 pages it could have been edited down about 80 pages or so. While the descriptive phrasing in the book was beautiful, at times it also made the story drag in a few spots and I found myself skimming which I usually don’t do. Still, I found it overall an entertaining read and found myself reluctant to say goodbye to the characters. I think Nora Robert fans will be very pleased with her latest effort.