cover image Innocent in Death

Innocent in Death

J. D. Robb, writing as J.D. Robb. . Putnam, $25.95 (400pp) ISBN 978-0-399-15401-0

Once again Lt. Eve Dallas shows why she's "New York City's top murder cop" in Roberts's 24th thriller under her Robb pseudonym set half a century into the future (after 2006's Born in Death ). Dallas tries to close a case at the exclusive Sarah Child Academy, where two bright 10-year-old girls discover the body of Craig Foster, a popular history teacher who proves to have been poisoned by ricin-laced cocoa. Dallas wonders if another staff member or a parent might be involved, but after the prime suspect, a promiscuous teacher who's been harassing another employee, turns up dead, the investigation takes a shocking turn. Besides a provocative puzzler, Robb provides an intense relationship update on Dallas and Roarke, her Irish power broker hubby, whose dark past—in the form of a crooked ex-girlfriend—returns to cause trouble. This prolific author, a recent Quills romance winner, is still at the top of her game. (Feb.)