Going strong in the long-running In Death series by NYT Bestseller J.D. Robb (who also writes as romance author Nora Roberts) brings us book 55: DESPERATION IN DEATH.  The In Death series features one of my favorite female protagonists: Lieutenant Eve Dallas.  Eve is a hard-nosed detective with a lot of snark and a bad attitude.  But she's got a rock-solid heart underlying that, and she stands for the victims whose murders she and her partner Detective Delia Peabody investigate.  Eve is married to the richest man in the world, Roarke, who also seems to be the sexist man in the world!  Eve uses Roarke as a civilian adjunct for investigations, and the married couple makes a formidable crime-fighting duo.

A beautiful missing teen is found dead in New York City, impaled through her heart with a rough piece of wood.  The blood of another missing beauty is found on the first teen's body, and the search for a child trafficking ring is off and running.  As is sometimes the case in the In Death books, the reader knows who the killers are fairly early in the book, but that does not at all diminish the enjoyment of the story.  We still get to watch Eve & Company work their way through the clues to discover who the evil-doers are and ultimately thwart their nefarious plans.  A fresh and inventive crime here keeps the series lively.

The best part of this series for me is the characters.  As Eve has progressed in her career over the course of the series, her social circle and professional circle continue to expand, and it's delightful to see so many of my favorite characters appear here.  As always, I adore the push and pull that Eve and Roarke have.  Reformed master criminal Roarke has turned his powers toward helping the police now, but husband and wife still manage to find plenty to clash (enjoyably for us) about.  Too, the other detectives that Eve commands are marvelous individuals, and Eve's friends bring their own heft and fullness to the story.  A solid entry to the series, Robb's DESPERATION IN DEATH provides readers just what they want in an Eve Dallas story- plenty of mystery as a backdrop to watching kickass Eve interact with Roarke and others.