2015 SF/mystery novella; fifty-second (roughly) of J. D. Robb's In
Death series, published as part of Down the Rabbit Hole, a
multi-author anthology of stories loosely inspired by Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland. Apparently Darlene Fitzwilliams fatally
stabbed her brother, then jumped off his fifty-second floor balcony.
But there's no sign that she was the sort of person who'd do that.
This is another Robb which commits, for me, the cardinal sin of a
mystery: removing the mystery. An introductory chapter gives a
killer's-eye view and makes it clear exactly what's going on and who's
responsible. So again there's no puzzle for the reader to solve; all
there is for the mystery fan is observation of the police procedure as
the detectives catch up with what the reader's known from the
beginning. (If you haven't read this and decide to, please skip
chapter one and read it afterwards to fill in any blanks, and let me
know how it goes.)
This is only a tiny part of a huge series, and there's no real
character development here, but the regulars we meet are true to
themselves without being stereotyped (unlike the worn-grey copies of
Devoted in Death).
The Alice connection is a little forced, but just about works. The
story doesn't really need that connection, though without it it would
risk recapitulating the similar plots of Rapture in Death or
Delusion in Death, both of which are referenced here.
You could start reading here and not be lost, but you'd be missing
most of the good stuff: these characters have been built up over a
long time, and much of the fun in this comes from meeting them again.
(I haven't read the rest of the anthology.)
Comments on this post are now closed. If you have particular grounds for adding a late comment, comment on a more recent post quoting the URL of this one.