Glory in Death

Glory in Death by J D Robb (better known as the highly successful Nora Roberts) is the second in her series featuring feisty police lieutenant Eve Dallas. It's set some 50 years in the future with a gun ban and genetic screening for criminal behaviour in place, but there are still plenty of crimes to solve and perpetrators to catch. Eve's investigation concerns the murder of two beautiful and successful women. Why is the first victim found alone in such a sleazy area? As a prosecutor, she must have sent many violent people to prison who could have wanted revenge, but there are many more suspects among her own family, her lover and even Eve's commander and his wife. Eve is a tough and uncompromising detective, driven to do her best for victims and bereaved. A woman without roots who has had to create herself from nothing, the one person she is close to is her lover, Roarke. Their sexual relationship is ardent and passionate, but Eve finds it hard to give her lover the commitment he wants; when he gives her an ultimatum and seems to be linked with both victims and an old scandal, she forces herself to concentrate on the investigation to the exclusion of everything else. Now Eve could be in danger herself as the motivation for the murders becomes clearer; re-finding her emotional balance, she also makes the breakthrough she needs professionally. Eve Dallas is an attractive and complex character, and the combination of an investigation involving the rich and powerful with the automatically programmed cars, androids and interstellar travel of mid-21st century living and an appealing heroine is a page-turning mix. (Kirkus UK)