Twice a year, J.D. Robb (really Nora Roberts writing under a pen name) releases a new book in her In Death series. FRAMED IN DEATH is the 61st book featuring Homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her gazillionaire husband, Roarke. Each book begins with a murder and follows Eve as she locates and apprehends the perpetrator along with her partner Peabody, the bullpen of detectives, electronic and forensic science experts, and former thief now civilian consultant, Roarke.

I guess you could read any of the books as a standalone, futuristic police mystery, but you would miss all the amazing character development and backstories that developed through the thirty years that the series has been running.

FRAMED IN DEATH, like the others preceding it, starts shortly after the last book ended.  The killer hires licensed companions (yes, the oldest profession is still alive and well in the future) to model for a portrait. After being strangled and posed in the facsimile of a famous painting, the victim is left on a doorstep in the early morning hours. It added an interesting element to be able to visualize the actual crime scene by referencing the historical painting, e.g., Girl with the Pearl Earring by Vermeer. Robb invites you back into the primary and secondary characters' lives as Mavis and Peabody finally finish the Great House Project and move in with their families, superimposed on the grief and fast-paced investigation to catch a killer.  Loved it, but sad I have to wait six months for the next one!