Random In Death is the fifty-eighth book in the popular In Death series by American author, J.D. Robb. In the heat of the 2061 summer, the youth of New York City are flocking to entertainment events. Eve and Roarke’s Saturday night is disturbed by a call from her friend, Nadine Furst, attending a special concert for the under twenty-one crowd at Club Rock It where her boyfriend Jake Kincade is playing in popular band, Avenue A. Even though the venue is dry and strictly controlled, a sixteen-year-old girl has been involuntarily injected with something nasty, and has died in the rear alley soon after, despite Jake’s efforts at CPR.

A conscientious student with outstanding musical talent, Jenna Harbough has been murdered by a non-descript man wielding a syringe containing a quickly-lethal cocktail of opiates and other vile substances. Questioning of those close to her reveal no potential grudges or motives. Jenna didn’t recognise her attacker, so what made her his target? Tracking him down without more information will be near impossible, although scant trace at the scene, and some witness observations may help.

The next night, though, at the annual Battle of the Bands gig in Memorial Park, an identical attack on seventeen-year-old Arlie Dillon has Eve and her team scrambling. When not even the vaguest connection between the two teens, beyond their being young, pretty and female, is found, Eve and Peabody begin to fear the killer is selecting his victims at random. And worse, he’s unlikely to stop at two.

There’s a lot of legwork in this instalment: leads on shoes and clothing mean questioning retail assistants after a nudge in the right direction by Roarke’s young intern, Jamie, and Nadine’s intern, Quilla. The quality and combination of drugs used have them looking for a super-smart high-school teen with access to, and knowledge of, chemical manufacture. And then they catch a break with the third victim.

Excellent deductive work is interspersed with some domestic scenes involving favourite characters and plenty of enjoyable banter, a few hot love scenes between Eve and Roark, and a hint of romance between the interns, all leading up to a nail-biting climax. And, as always, Roarke steps in to assist and support to “keep his cop safe”. A notable difference between Robb’s 2061 and our own 2024 is that in this NYC, dozens, if not hundreds, of teens would have recorded the fatal attacks on their phones: suspend your disbelief for that, I guess. This is futuristic crime fiction at its most entertaining.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group.