Desperation in Death

Set in 2061, bestseller Robb’s solid 55th novel featuring Lt. Eve Dallas, head of the New York City Police Security Department (after Abandoned in Death), takes Eve and her partner, Det. Delia Peabody, to a crime scene in Manhattan’s Battery Park, where a 13-year-old girl has been impaled through the chest with a spear of wood. Eve presses her identi-pad to the victim’s right thumb and up pops the name Mina Cabot of Devon, Pa., who vanished from her home months ago while returning from soccer practice. The case leads Eve to other murders, abductions, and the disturbing world of child trafficking, besides stirring up traumatic memories from her own past. Since the principals behind these abhorrent crimes are identified early on, and Eve and company do little investigating as such (electronic devices readily provide needed information), the pleasure, as always, lies in watching Eve stride into danger and triumph over her arrogant adversaries—and in the rapport between Eve and her sexy, supportive, and staggeringly wealthy husband, Roarke. Robb once again delivers exactly what her fans expect. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House. (Sept.)