Random in Death

This sturdy entry in Robb’s long-running procedural series featuring New York City police lieutenant Eve Dallas (after Payback in Death) again takes place in the recognizable future of the 2060s. This time around, Dallas and her team are on the hunt for a cunning killer who’s targeting Manhattan teenagers. His first victim is nascent songwriter Jenna Harbough, who’s injected with a cocktail of drugs at the trendy downtown Club Rock It and dies in the alley behind the venue. A short time later, another teenager dies under similar circumstances. Dallas is assigned to the cases and comes to the disturbing conclusion that the killer’s victims were chosen at random. Interwoven throughout the murder investigation are long sections depicting Eve’s idyllic marriage to the sexy, supportive, and ultrawealthy Roarke, including descriptions of the “castle he’d built in the heart of New York City” for the pair to inhabit. These envy-inducing segments can feel more frisky than the rote procedural beats, but Dallas’s final confrontation with the killer has some heat. Series fans will get what they came for. (Jan.)