2023 romance/SF/mystery; 56th novel of J. D. Robb's In Death series
(SF police procedurals). The famous actress throws a party to
celebrate a new project; then her husband drops dead of a champagne
cocktail meant for her.
Well now, that was unexpected. These stories tend to be pretty
light mysteries at most, and I read them largely for the atmosphere.
But this one contains a genuinely challenging mystery plot, with
multiple plausible suspects, even if it still takes the format of a
thriller (there's no point where Robb hangs a sign saying "you now
have all the evidence, make your choice").
There's the shadow of the past, and people who are horrible but not
necessarily murderers, and people who are lovely and possibly are
murderers. There's a genuine sense of loss at the death. Of course,
most of the people involved are professional actors, so…
All right, I think Robb has the LD of cyanide off by an order of
magnitude, but honestly it would have been fine if she hadn't named a
quantity at all. Some of the series regulars turn up, but the story is
mostly for the principals and guest cast.
This series has its ups and downs, but for me as a traditional mystery
fan this one's a winner.
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