New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts, writing as JD Robb, continues her prolific string of hits with Seduction in Death, her latest instalment in the "in Death" series of futuristic thrillers. These star hard-boiled detective Eve Dallas and a quirky cast of characters, including Eve's husband Roarke, who owns most of Manhattan and can be relied upon to bring all his considerable resources to bear to help his wife solve the case whether she wants him to or not, and Peabody, Eve's uptight assistant, who has an off again-on again thing going with the irreverent officer McNab. This time Eve is on the trail of a serial killer--or maybe killers--who stalks young women looking for love in online poetry chat rooms. Once a romantic date has been arranged, the murderer sets the scene with roses, champagne and candlelight, then serves his unsuspecting victims a lethal combination of date-rape drugs that takes them to the height of pleasure and too far beyond. But this killer is really clever, altering his look to become each victim's dream date.

Detective Dallas is on the case, chasing an anonymous psychopath with a twisted taste in romance. But Eve seems a little more fragile this time around, still plagued by the nightmare of childhood abuse. Is retirement from the business of crime-solving in the near future for detective Dallas? Robb has found a winning formula in the genre, so hopefully we'll see a lot more of peppery Eve Dallas. --Alison Trinkle, Amazon.com

2005-02-21 "I really think he could be the one"

J.D. Robb has clearly found a winning formula: a futuristic setting, a strong female main character, a sexy and wealthy husband who allows the author to introduce various romantic scenes, cases that involve crafty and dangerous killers and an interesting set of supporting characters. On top of all that, the author has been able to find enough variation around this pattern to keep readers guessing in each novel as to which way the plot will turn and how the characters' stories will further develop.

At the beginning of the book we find that Lieutenant Eve Dallas is once again going through a tough patch with her nightmares. These revolve around the abuse suffered in the hands of her own father and the events that finally led her to kill the monster. She usually has these nightmares when her husband, Roarke, is not there sleeping with her. In this case, he is in Ireland going through a difficult time himself, because a friend that was part of a ploy to commit a robbery against Roarke ended up getting killed by his associates when he changed his mind and switched sides. We usually do not find a troubled Roarke (at least not at the beginning of the story), so this is a welcomed break from the ordinary. On the other side however, we have been presented with Eve's nightmares multiple times, and even though I understand the need to give the new readers information about the past, this is starting to be a little repetitive. Of course, this is not a huge drawback to the quality of the book, but it would be nicer if the author finds another way to share this tidbit of information.

Eve's problems become even worse when she is summoned to the scene of a death that at first sight looks like a suicide, but quickly proves to be a murder. Somebody seduced the woman in a chat room, then took her out and slipped drugs into her drink, had his way with her and finally tossed her out the window. Every time that Eve has to face a case involving rape, she has a tough time dealing with her own emotions, and this one is not different.

One thing that the author has done well in the past has been to reintroduce characters from previous books. She did that with Charles Monroe, a licensed companion that Eve met during her investigation in the first book, and who was absent for a few installments only to come back and become part of the usual cast. Now, she reintroduces Dr. Dimatto, a woman that loves to help people in need, who we met in "Conspiracy in Death". She saw the victim plunge to the street because she lives in the same building. Dr. Dimatto is an interesting character that adds spice and humor to this novel; hopefully she will also keep showing up in following books in the series.

Once more we get a fast-paced plot that results in late nights when you find yourself sleepy but saying "OK, just one more chapter". We also find a good character development and progress in the personal story of some of the main participants, Peabody and McNabb in particular. Peabody is Eve's aide and is still having a rocky relationship with the computer whiz, McNabb, who works for captain Feeney. The funny thing is that Eve and Roarke end up in the role that Eve desperately wanted to avoid, that of sentimental support for Peabody and McNabb respectively. All these factors make this another very good novel, and I am already looking forward to reading the next one in this series.