AJ’s flying solo this week (Tara’s off doing theater heroics), but Listener Lisa Davis jumps in for a fun deep-dive that starts as transportation moments in the In Death series… and gleefully turns into a full-on fandom hangout.

We talk all the best cars/jet copters/elevators/glides scenes—the kind where characters are trapped together long enough for feelings, snark, and iconic dialogue to happen. Highlights include those quiet Eve/Roarke “soft moment in transit” scenes, plus elevator energy (because Eve + forced social interaction = comedy).

Then: the important stuff. Like In Death tech we want in real life, especially the legendary drying tube (wet towels? absolutely not). Also: Lisa’s fave books (Treachery in Death gets major love), fave non-Eve/Roarke character picks, and rapid-fire nonsense including Monopoly piece loyalty and the eternal question: is a hot dog a sandwich?

We’re also officially on the road to Episode 300, and AJ wants to do a Transportation Moments Part 2—so send your favorite scenes!

Email: show@podcastindeath.com
Voicemail/Text: (205) 476-2753 (“205-4-ROARKE”)

AJ and Tara do something wildly on-brand: they review the reviews of Connections in Death… and discover the internet has exactly two settings: “ghostwriter conspiracy” and “I am personally offended that other people enjoyed a book.”

If you’ve ever read a one-star rant and thought, “This person needs to log off and drink some water,” congratulations—this episode is your support group.

In this episode:

• The Great “Nora Didn’t Write This” Debate, featuring: people saying it with their whole chest (and zero proof).

• Tara’s escalating rage at reviews that treat opinions like courtroom evidence.

• A first-time reader who jumps into a long-running series and then complains it feels like… a long-running series.

• The “made-up slang” meltdown (go zoner, flop, scratch, link… aka: welcome to the future, bestie).

• AJ pulls out ChatGPT-style analysis to compare writing voice and basically says, “Sit down, Brenda.”

• Geography & realism arguments about NYC that ignore the whole “future + post-war world” part. Minor detail!

• The Exclamation Point Apocalypse: one reviewer burns through a lifetime supply of !!!!!!!

• Extremely specific outrage over a single phrase: “banged Roarke like a hammer” (we are not okay).

• A brief detour into why criminals are… not masterminds (true crime brain rot included).

• Unexpected bonding over "The Cult of Nora": if you must join a cult, at least pick one with cozy bookstores and baked goods.

Vibe check: hilarious, ranty, and deeply cathartic—like reading Goodreads with your funniest friend who will absolutely fight strangers in the comments (respectfully…-ish).

🎧 Listen if you love: bookish chaos, character loyalty, hot takes, and AJ & Tara being your unfiltered inner monologue.

(And yes… AJ did write a review. Can you spot it?)

Episode 296 is our Connections in Death recap, aka: Eve Dallas vs. the legalized torture of socializing… in fancy shoes. We kick off with AJ plotting a future “pre-intro bullshit” montage for episode 300.

Highlights / chaos inventory:

• The cocktail party from hell: Eve is mentally drafting a war-crimes tribunal for whoever invented skinny heels, while Roarke is like, “Darling… breathe.” Also: Nadine’s Oscar = potential blunt-force weapon, and Eve is not wrong.

• The “NYPSD has a band???” revelation: Eve learns her coworkers have hobbies and talents like she’s discovering fire.

• Theme call: Family — the real kind, the found kind, and the “gang keeps insisting it’s family” kind.

• Eve’s rare murder-free day: beach run, dojo, target practice, and… extremely thorough married cardio. Good for her. (Suspiciously good for her.)

• Monday’s “body” that isn’t a body: broken neck + knife = nope, it’s an accident, and Eve solves it with… an apple.

• Roarke hires Rochelle for Anddiden, because he’s basically building a whole rehab empire while Eve’s trying not to stab a stiletto into her own soul.

• Then the book yanks the rug: Rochelle’s brother Lyle is staged to look like an OD… except Eve spots the pressure-syringe mark and it’s game on.

• Banger HQ / Underground grossness: everyone is terrible, the crime is messy, and the criminals remain aggressively stupid.

• Cohen & Eldena: disbarred-lawyer slimeball uses Eldena's name, charges her rent in the building she owns, and we all collectively wish for his downfall.

• Raid time: homemade boomerangs, chaos everywhere, Eve’s magic coat saves her life, Peabody gets dragged by a naked guy mid-sex (because of course), and Roarke regrets only punching one idiot once.

• Wrap: arrests stack like a Jenga tower, Lyle’s redemption matters, and the ending lands on An Dídean and a memorial that finally lifts Eve’s rage-sad a notch.

Also: AJ & Tara are collecting your favorite moments for episode 300 — you have multiple ways to message them, so no excuses.

Episode 295 is another “Review the Reviews” adventure—where AJ and Tara dive into reader reactions to Leverage in Death and discover (again) that some people leave one-star reviews like it’s an extreme sport.

We kick off with a real-world reminder that criminals can be spectacularly dumb (yes, someone basically left a calling card), then jump straight into the Pretentious Reviewer Olympics: the folks who start on Book 48, complain about the existence of coffee and profanity, and seem personally offended that a long-running series… is still itself. We also tackle the discourse around that tasteless joke (you know the one), plus the eternal debate: is the Eve/Roarke fight contrived drama or believable couple nonsense?

Along the way, we celebrate the things that actually make this book fun—character moments, Bella + Eve scenes, Whitney’s best “go home, I’ll handle it” energy, and the Oscar chatter that sends certain reviewers into orbit. Tara also confesses her weakness for terrible short-form drama clips, and yes… Tara says “hot whoopie” out loud, which is now part of the canon.

Listener mail includes an Elevator Encounters callback (the frying-pan-arrest woman is from Framed in Death) and a fantastic suggestion for a future episode: Eve’s legendary rants. Plus, AJ talks transcripts—making the show searchable on the website—because we’re building an In Death internet empire one document at a time.

We’re five episodes away from 300… and plotting accordingly.

AJ and Tara needed a topic right now, so they did what any responsible adults would do: panic-text each other, crowdsource the fandom, and then deep-dive into the most chaotic “In Death” micro-genre of all time—the Elevator Encounter.

Turns out, elevators in New York, 2061 are basically:

1. foreplay chambers

2. think tanks

3. nightmare boxes full of strangers who want to talk to you about movies
   …and Eve Dallas is spiritually allergic to all of it.

• Peabody & McNab’s elevator “we’ll arrest each other after” moment (romance trope + city ordinance violations = true love)

• Eve going feral in a public elevator… and Roarke being Roarke (and yes, the stolen sex-toy detail is still weird)

• Somerset vs. Eve: “Take the elevator.” Eve: “I would rather perish out of spite.”

• Roarke casually clearing the elevator like it’s nothing while Eve insists she enjoys having a pissing match with a machine

• Peabody & McNab fighting, making up, and getting caught mid-grope (Eve: “there goes my appetite”)

• Origin in Death: a ticking-clock escape + a screaming baby + Eve and Roarke arguing about who has to HOLD THE BABY while they’re about to die

• “You look just like Marlo Durn.” Eve, trapped in Oscar talk hell, being mistaken for… herself (but movie version)

• Dark in Death: Eve meets a tinfoil-hat conspiracy guy and immediately chooses STAIRS

• ALSO Dark in Death: the infamous flying dwarf / creepy garden gnome attack, complete with “boobies!” and the bullpen going full trauma-care mode

• Lying Liars Unite: a random elevator group therapy session about exes who lie like breathing

• Fruicki’s undercover stink strategy (“Do you bathe in piss?”) and Eve’s immediate refusal to share air with him

• Cromwell’s elevator blubber-fest: “What’s his problem?” “Love.”

• Murder Face: Eve jokes about arresting someone for “murder face,” and suddenly every cop in the elevator has a personal brand of murder-face analysis

• Jenkinson’s tie crimes in a small enclosed elevator space (Eve’s corneas may never recover)

• AJ’s Vegas story: two extremely drunk guys, a Michael Jackson show, and the wise decision to wait for the next elevator

• Tara’s elite catchphrase moment: “Words are hard.” (and they were, in fact, hard)

• Surprise sports talk, delivered with maximum confidence and minimum accuracy (“the sports are really going at it”)

• AJ reflects on turning 60 and how 59 feels real but 60 sounds like a fake age people made up as a prank

• A voicemail from Sky, who uses every second of voicemail time like it’s an Olympic sport

• Listener Sally not understanding how Earthquakes could be part of "California Casual"

• Huge thanks to Beverly for upgrading to an annual Detective-level Patreon membership (AJ is working on new trading cards!)

• Reminder: the show is no longer on TikTok (terms of service gave AJ the ick), but you can still find them elsewhere.

Did we miss a legendary elevator moment? Send it in and we’ll happily do Elevator Encounters Part 2—because the only thing more dangerous than homicide is a confined space with strangers and a conversation starter.

Contact:

• Email: show@podcastindeath.com

• Voicemail: 205-476-2753 (aka 205-4ROARKE)

• Website SpeakPipe: podcastindeath.com → Contact Us

• Socials: Instagram + BlueSky + Facebook group

In Episode 293, AJ & Tara recap (and absolutely pick apart) the case of Paul Rogan: a devoted husband and dad forced into a suicide vest at a corporate conference aimed at tech powerhouse Rosalind Pearson. From there, the pattern escalates—hostages, compromised security, and another “father-as-bomber” hit that drags Eve from sleek boardrooms into the art world (Jordan Banks, bad decisions, and a gallery situation that’s basically a neon sign screaming: FOLLOW. THE. MONEY.). We dig into the motive: stock manipulation, leverage plays, and profit built on other people’s bodies.

As the net tightens, suspicion lands on Lucius Eiler—generational wealth, a heavy military family legacy, and a brother (Terry) whose “hero story” becomes the excuse for a whole lot of murder. The endgame? A partner with training, tactics, and explosives (Oliver Silverman) and Eve doing what she does best: methodical, relentless, and utterly done with everyone’s nonsense.

And because this is an In Death book, the personal stuff hits just as hard:
• Eve’s guilt spiral + Roarke in full “I can be your Peabody” support mode
• Nadine’s The Icove Agenda gets an Oscar nomination—and Peabody & McNab are READY to go (transport + accommodations, and Roarke calling in Leonardo for wardrobe because of course he does)
• The epilogue Oscars coverage is pure delight: Peabody on the red carpet, Mavis on camera, and Nadine hauling in awards (including Best Adapted Screenplay… and then multiple wins that have Eve quietly begging the universe to make it stop)

Also in this episode:
• AJ’s “Ghostwriter Experiment,” where ChatGPT gets dragged into the fandom debate
• A real-life earthquake hits mid-recording (yes, you can literally hear us react in real time)

Spoilers ahead—come for the case, stay for the Oscars hype and the seismic interruptions.

AJ and Tara are back for Episode 292—only 8 episodes away from #300—and since it wasn’t quite time to jump into the next book, they go delightfully off-script with a listener-inspired topic: “Bimbos in Death.” They unpack the term (making it more about naive/gullible/foolish than the old stereotype) and then read/riff on scenes featuring some prime Eve-eye-roll candidates, with plenty of love for Susan Ericksen’s “bimbo voice” work. Highlights include Bambi Pettibone (Reunion in Death), Silk/Satin/Linen/Polyester plus the return of Maxia (Ritual in Death), Rini “Pike” Pajkowski (Purity in Death), Camilla Jane Lester (Echoes in Death), Oola Pence (Salvation in Death), and Felicity Prinz (A Festive in Death)—ranging from “painfully clueless” to “tragically manipulated,” with Eve’s patience tested accordingly.

REMINDER: AJ is collecting listener submissions for Episode 300—send your favorite moments from the last 100 episodes. ALSO: Send us your “small scene wishlist” ideas (like seeing a full Mavis performance or a takedown from a non-cop POV). Email show@podcastindeath.com or call/text 205-476-2753 (205-4-ROARKE).

We’re nine episodes away from #300, and AJ needs your help building a “best of the last 100-ish episodes” compilation — send in your favorite moments!

This week, AJ brings in a special guest: Caitlin (AJ’s daughter) for another round of newbie questions—but with a thoughtful twist as Caitlin and Tara talk about the In Death series through an LGBTQ+ lens, plus chosen family, therapy/Dr. Mira, and which books Tara would skip (yes, Chaos gets roasted).

Also: the dogs are loud, the vibes are chaotic, and Caitlin casually drops that she’s getting a disco snail tattoo. Because of course she is.