by J. D. Robb

J.D. Robb fans are fanatical about New York City supercop Eve Dallas and her mysterious billionaire husband Roarke. Robb's futuristic (circa 2059) ...In Death series wages a two-front narrative war (the battle of good and evil and the battle of the sexes) and both author and readers come out winners.

When Darlene French, a maid at the Roarke Palace Hotel, is brutally beaten, raped, and strangled with a silver wire, Eve is at a loss to explain the apparently professional nature of the murder. Who would hire a hit man to kill such an ordinary woman? As she and her team of detectives (with a little grudgingly accepted help from Roarke, whose money, name, and talents can dig up a wealth of information) investigate the evidence, they find themselves in pursuit of Sylvester Yost, a vicious hired gun who's made millions in his bloody pursuit of career excellence. But it isn't until more victims appear that Eve realizes Yost's real target is Roarke himself. To discover the driving force behind the murderous campaign, Eve and Roarke will have to delve into their own pasts, which holds secrets and terrors for them both.

Robb is the nom de plume of romance writer Nora Roberts, and this series certainly delivers the same sexually charged tension and improbably gorgeous characters as Roberts's extremely popular romances. But even those readers, who generally try to steer clear of heaving bosoms and ripped bodices, will have little to fear and much to appreciate in Betrayal in Death. Eve and Roarke are impressive physical specimens, but they're also witty, gritty, and often antagonistic, irritably staking out their territories and reluctantly collaborating in the crimes that come their way (think Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd in Moonlighting, or Nick and Nora Charles on steroids and in a mood). Add in Robb's surprisingly light touch with humor, and the 13th installment in the series is a lucky find indeed. --Kelly Flynn