Rapture In Death/Ceremony In Death

Rapture In Death is the fourth book in the popular In Death series by American author, J.D. Robb. Her three-week honeymoon with Roark is cut short when the apparent suicide of a crew member at his still-under-construction off-planet resort on Olympus sees Lieutenant Eve Dallas donning her cop hat. Jack Carter can't believe that his brilliant roommate, audiotronics tech Drew Mathias would take his own life.

Back in New York, the next case Eve and her new aide, Officer Delia Peabody catch is the death of notorious lawyer, S.T. Fitzhugh, a very bloody scene involving an antique knife and a bathtub. Eve isn't convinced it's suicide but firm alibis clear any possible suspects, and the autopsy reveals a brain anomaly which, it turns out, he has in common with Drew Mathias and a politician who threw himself off a building while Eve and Roark were away.

There is nothing to link the three, except their use of a new VR unit and program. When Eve finds herself at the scene of yet another inexplicable suicide, she is determined to find the who and why of it before Commander Whitney makes her wrap up the cases as suicides.

It's no doubt a gamble to write novels set some six decades into the future when the author doesn't know (but might hope) that they will still be read thirty years on, especially when a lot of tech is involved. Thus, Robb does predict music and voice tech, but about three decades late; ditto the proliferation of AI.

Her regular characters in this series already have plenty of appeal, the banter between them is always fun, and there's plenty of action leading up to an exciting climax (or two) before the final reveal. As might be expected for a newly married couple, Eve and Roark do go at it like rabbits. This speculative crime fiction series is entertaining and addictive: Ceremony In Death is eagerly anticipated.