J.D. Robb returns with another thrilling installment to the In Death series. In the 54th book, Robb takes a darker approach to her book.

A woman is found dead in a playground. At first glance, she looks clean. Her hair is done and even her makeup is perfectly applied. But she also shows newer tattoos and piercings. A message is found on her that simply says ‘Bad Mommy’ as if a child had written it. As Eve delves deeper, she realizes that other women have been vanishing and they might be dealing with childhood trauma that has gone out of control.

As I mentioned earlier, I definitely felt that this was one of the darker books that Robb has written in this series. Since it deals with childhood trauma, Eve is affected much more because of her own trauma as a kid. The descriptions and the way Robb was able to weave this story shows her excellent skill. I was darkly riveted to the pages, but because of everything that was going on with the case, I felt like we missed a bit of the interaction between Eve and Roarke. Oftentimes, these scenes are my favorites of the books. So I would have liked to see more romance between the two to balance the other aspects of the book.

Nevertheless, ABANDONED IN DEATH is definitely not a book that you’ll be able to put down easily. Gripping readers by the throat, it won’t let go until you flip the very last page.