Dream Town

In bestseller Goldberg’s wobbly fifth Eve Ronin thriller (after 2022’s Movieland), the youngest homicide detective in the history of Los Angeles County investigates the robbery and murder of Kitty Winslow, star of the Kardashians-like reality series Life with the Winslows. The home invasion jolts Hidden Hills, a gated enclave whose wealthy, conservative residents are leery of the recent influx of new money, which they see as a threat to the neighborhood’s old-fashioned values. When human remains are found in a nearby public park shortly after Kitty’s murder, Ronin and her investigators come to believe they’ve discovered a gang burial ground. Additional intel from Hidden Hills’ sheriff leads Ronin’s team to believe that the Winslows may have been targeted by a Chilean gang. While Ronin struggles to establish a link between the Chileans and the Winslows, she must also endure the psychological vertigo of seeing her previous cases turned into fodder for a TV procedural directed by her estranged father. Goldberg is on autopilot here, failing to make much of some chewy contemporary ingredients, but even a phoned-in Goldberg plot still has its share of slick pleasures. Surprises are in short supply, but series fans will enjoy themselves. (Jan.)