Abandoned in Death

Abandoned in Death by J. D. Robb (pseudonym for Nora Roberts) brings murder, romance and suspense to a well-written futuristic police procedural set mainly in New York City. This novel has a slightly different format for this series in that it alternates timelines between the early part of the twenty-first century and June of 2061. What happens when the past and the present collide?Our protagonist, Lieutenant Eve Dallas of the NYC police department, arrives at a crime scene at a playground near friends Mavis and Leonardo’s new house. Joined by her partner, Detective Delia Peabody, they find the body of a young woman with vintage make-up, hair, and clothing and a note written in crayon saying “Bad Mommy”. With clues pointing to an older antagonist and no records of crimes with a similar MO, how will Eve, Delia, and the team solve the crime? Learning that other young women have recently vanished, they know they need to solve this case quickly.Time spent with Eve, her husband Roarke, and Eve’s colleagues is always entertaining. Eve is definitely a compelling and three-dimensional character. Her need to serve and protect comes through in every book, but the underlying impetus for this is best understood by reading this series in order. Due to the way Eve was raised, she often doesn’t understand commonly used phrases and this comes into play a few times in this book making her seem more real and less perfect. As always, the interactions between Eve and Roarke are enjoyable and bring a different facet of Eve’s personality to light. Many of the reoccurring police characters play significant roles in this book. In addition, readers also get to see a bit of their private lives. I especially enjoyed seeing the character development of intern Jamie Lingstrom. Additionally, I was delighted to see a different side of Detective Jenkinson near the end of the book. As always, Dr. Mira’s psychological profiling, Morris’ autopsy results, and Roarke’s computer skills, as well as Eve and Delia’s efforts, work against time to solve the case.The writing is fluid and flows well. The prose is suspenseful and engrossing in this intense race against the clock. A thought-provoking, stunning, deeply involved, and tragic plot gripped this reader immediately. It is appalling in places and uplifting in others. Will you guess the identity of the killer? This one was a surprise to me. As always, the interview segment near the end of the story is compelling. Seeing Eve and Delia working it together with Dr. Mira added another dimension to it.Robb manages to embed humor in her novels, providing some much needed levity to offset some of the more serious and grim aspects of the story. She brings strong characters, great plots, wonderful relationships, and excellent pacing to this series. Themes include murder, justice, and family dynamics, as well as standing up for the innocent and the dead.If you enjoy engaging near-future police procedurals with some romance and humor, then I recommend this series. This is the fifty-third book in the In Death Eve Dallas series and I have read all of them up to this point. Overall, it is entertaining, and over time, it is like spending time with old friends. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and are not biased in any way. Publication date was February 8, 2022. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

Great story, as always

Another intriguing Eve Dallas novel. I tried to read only when I got into bed, but I finally just had to turn of the tv nd take an evening to finish it. Wow! What a story!

I’ve read many of the books in the series. The characters are familiar and predictable even with the character development that’s occurred over the years. So I just read along enjoying the familiarity of the setting and characters.It’s the endings that are quite varied. This one did not disappoint. The perp was well developed and in a twisted way entertaining.

Book is so good like her whole series loved it

Excellent book. Dragged on a bit more than usual Dead reads but ended on a high note. Would always recommend Robb’s Death series in order.

Eve and Roarke's riveting story continues with an extensive cast of memorable characters with their own storylines. And of course a murder investigation which is sad, violent and disturbing. This is #54 in this series and I have enjoyed reading them all.

JD Robb didn’t disappoint

J. D. Robb new book it's up to my expectations. Very good sequence to the series.

This author always writes the most engaging, scary cop stories. Eve Dallas shines in Abandoned In Death and I’m left with some tears and a few laughs plus the edge of seat gasps. A brilliant novel.

Always a good author guaranteed absorbing read

fab book.

Not a favourite but still a pleasant read that I stayed up late to finish.Things hit close to home for Eve in this one. A body is left in the playground near where Mavis and her family, and Peabody and McNab are renovating their new home. It also brings up Mommy issues for Eve and I was glad to see she dealt with them extremely well. Eve even had a bit of payback to her own self as a child, which I found adorable.I loved catching up with a host of characters that I really adore and seeing the progress on how their lives are moving forward. Having Jamie being a part of this was also fun. There is also a couple of characters that show a different side to themselves.The interactions between everyone were as usual a pleasure.But the story itself, though sad that two women lost their chance at a future, held little tension or edge of the seat excitement. I would have to say it pretty much coasted along with hardly a ripple for me.The killer was a good twist and I will say I for once felt sorry for what happened to cause his snap.But the biological mother’s viewpoint that we are given, by going back in time, just made me dislike her and find her a coward. If she had been a decent person, she would have not hidden with the doctor but tried to find out who she was, rather than have six decades of a happy life.To then do what she did out of guilt was the trigger for the killer.