A joyful pre-wedding party celebration turning into a murder scene will immediately pull readers into the story in Passions in Death, the fifty-ninth book in J. D. Robb's well-written futuristic police procedural set in August, 2061 in New York City. This series features homicide Lieutenant Eve Dallas, her partner, Detective Delia Peabody, and her husband, Roarke, along with an assortment of regular secondary characters. The two brides, Erin Albright and Shauna Hunnicut, and their friends are having a girls' night out five days prior to the wedding. One bride has a surprise for the other and has rented a private room to prepare for the big reveal. However, someone has a surprise planned for her. Dallas and Peabody arrive on the scene, but useful witnesses are hard to find. Can they find the murderer?

Murder, suspense, and drama immediately pull readers into the storyline. The author continues to use prose to elicit a strong emotional response from readers. She also is skilled in using humor to bring out character personalities as well as to offset some of the more serious aspects of the story. Complex plots, strong characters, excellent pacing, and delightful relationships are a constant in this series. Woven through the novel are threads of friendship, standing for victims, complicated relationships, ego, justice, trust, anger, found family, jealousy, manipulation, and much more.

Robb is an excellent storyteller who combines a clever plot with gripping scenes, lots of solid police investigation, and engaging characters with depth. Besides the investigation, Dallas's strong investigative techniques and her relationships with Roarke, her friends, and her colleagues drive the narrative. It has the right balance of mystery, police investigation, romance, and creative twists. While it was a little too easy to discern who the killer was, the full motivation took some time to become apparent.

Overall, this novel was an emotional and twisty tale with great characterization that kept me engaged throughout the story. If you enjoy intriguing near-future police procedurals with a strong female lead, then I recommend this series. I can't wait to read the next book.

St. Martin's Press and J.D. Robb provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for September 03, 2024.

I have read and have everyone of J.D.Robb books and for the first time I was disappointed. I could just not get into the story at all. I was really sad about this as I normally enjoy her books. Better luck next time.

I got this email with #sweepstakes asking for a review. This book was a birthday present to me. Her books grab you and keep you entertained. And the club price is right!

Dallas' world is not where I would want to live, but I strive to be like the main characters whose blossoming storyline continues to hook me to read more. I would love to find me a Roarke!