Seduction in Death
New York Timesbestselling author Nora Roberts, writing as J.D.  Robb, continues her prolific string of hits with her latest installment in the  In Death series of futuristic thrillers starring 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. What a nightmare!  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