ABANDONED IN DEATH by J.D. Robb

The first chapter of ABANDONED IN DEATH is a gruesome introduction to J. D. Robb’s 54th In Death book. Then, there’s the fact that the dead woman is found on a playground bench with a note pinned to the body that reads “Bad Mommy.” The playground that Bella, the daughter of Eve Dallas’ closest friend Mavis, soon plans to call her own.

The beginning of number 54 makes it challenging to read, even to want to continue. As usual, Eve consults with Dr. Mira, her consulting shrink, on this killer’s profile and quirks. The detective also deals with the demands for details from the TV reporter and her friend Nadine. The proximity of the crime scene to the new home of Mavis, Leonardo, and Bella necessitates connecting with Mavis to assure her the killer will be caught and warn her to be careful.

Around the precinct, Ms. Robb introduces new characters, and she updates what’s going on with the already familiar officers. Husband Roark also provides support as her investigation intensifies. Butler Sommerset and their cat Galahad welcome the couple when they finally make it home.

Ms. Robb writes an intense police procedural that comes off a little heavier than usual. The killer’s identity turns out to be quite a twist. ABANDONED IN DEATH is not for the fainthearted.

The woman’s body was found in the early morning, on a bench in a New York City playground. She was clean, her hair neatly arranged, her makeup carefully applied. But other things were very wrong—like the tattoo and piercings, clearly new. The clothes, decades out of date. The fatal wound hidden beneath a ribbon around her neck. And the note: Bad Mommy, written in crayon as if by a child.

Eve Dallas turns to the department’s top profiler, who confirms what seems obvious to Eve: They’re dealing with a killer whose childhood involved some sort of trauma—a situation Eve is all too familiar with herself. Yet the clues suggest a perpetrator who’d be roughly sixty years old, and there are no records of old crimes with a similar MO. What was the trigger that apparently reopened such an old wound and sent someone over the edge?

When Eve discovers that other young women—who physically resemble the first victim—have vanished, the clock starts ticking louder. But to solve this case she will need to find her way into a hidden place of dim light and concrete, into the distant past, and into the cold depths of a shattered mind.

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"An intense visit with Dallas, Roark and the 'In Death' characters..."

ABANDONED IN DEATH
J.D. Robb

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