Origin in Death

Set in the year 2059, this latest in Robb's long-running series (Naked in Death , etc.) featuring acerbic Lt. Eve Dallas of the New York police is the best in recent memory. In the past, Robb has kept whiz-bang futuristic effects to a minimum, allowing her world to grow organically out of dialogue and characterization; this time she incorporates science fiction elements—including the future of cosmetic surgery, cloning, scientific morality and physical mortality—into her plot, giving the series a big shot of adrenaline. Eve and her partner, Det. Delia Peabody, are visiting the Wilfred B. Icove Center for Reconstructive and Cosmetic Surgery on a celebrity murder case when the center's founder, old Wilfred Icove, is discovered with a scalpel rammed into his heart. Wilfred Jr., also a surgeon at the center, is grief stricken, as is his family and most of the rest of the country. Wilfred Sr., everyone agrees, was a saint. Except he wasn't, as Eve and savvy mystery readers will have already guessed. Eve gathers her usual crime-fighting crew around her, including her drop-dead gorgeous, fabulously wealthy, staggeringly brilliant husband, Roarke. Robb tones down the romance and ups the action ante as the team uncovers an increasingly horrific crime that builds to a race-against-the-clock climax that will have readers cheering. (July)