Seduction in Death

New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb, continues her prolific string of hits with her latest installment in the In Death series of futuristic thrillers starring hard-boiled detective Eve Dallas and a quirky cast of characters, including Eve's husband, Roarke, who owns most of Manhattan and can be relied upon to bring all his considerable resources to bear to help his wife solve the case whether she wants him to or not, and Peabody, Eve's uptight assistant, who has an off-again, on-again thing going with the irreverent Officer McNab. This time Eve is on the trail of a serial killer--or maybe killers--who stalks young women looking for love in online poetry chat rooms. Once a romantic date has been arranged, the murderer sets the scene with roses, champagne, and candlelight, then serves his unsuspecting victims a lethal combination of date-rape drugs that takes them to the height of pleasure and too far beyond. But this killer is really clever, altering his look to become each victim's dream date. What a nightmare! Detective Dallas is on the case, chasing an anonymous psychopath with a twisted taste in romance. But Eve seems a little more fragile this time around, still plagued by the nightmare of childhood abuse. Is retirement from the business of crime solving in the near future for Detective Dallas? Robb has found a winning formula in the genre, so hopefully we'll see a lot more of peppery Eve Dallas. --Alison Trinkle