FROM OUR EDITORS

Clues are scarce for NYPD detective Eve Dallas. The expert killer of Dr. Wilfrid Icove left behind an immaculate crime scene, and the cosmetic surgeon victim seems to have led a blameless life. Searching for a skeleton in the family closet, Dallas tracks down Icove's offspring, but to no avail: Son, like father, has been murdered. J. D. Robb (a.k.a. Nora Roberts) has concocted another insomniac's delight.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Set in 2059 in New York City, the number-one bestselling In Death series has given fans a searing glimpse into near-future law and order. Now, as scientists work to expand the limits of technology, Detective Eve Dallas tracks the cunning, cold-blooded killer of a father and son.

A pioneer of modern reconstructive and cosmetic surgery, Dr. Wilfred B. Icove, is found dead in his office-murdered in a chillingly efficient manner: one swift stab to the heart. Struck by the immaculate condition of the crime scene, Dallas suspects a professional killing. Security disks show a stunningly beautiful woman calmly entering and leaving the building-the good doctor's final appointment.

Known as "Dr. Perfect," the saintly Icove devoted his life to his family and his work. His record is clean. Too clean for Dallas. She knows he was hiding something and suspects that his son-and successor-knows what it is. Then, like father, like son, the young Dr. Icove is killed . . . with the same deadly precision.

But who is the mystery woman-and what was her relationship with the good doctors? While her husband, Roarke, works behind the scenes, Dallas follows her darkest instincts into the Icoves' pasts. What she discovers are men driven to create perfection-playing fast and loose with the laws of nature, the limits of science, and the morals of humanity.

In "a series that gets better with each book" (Publishers Weekly), Origin in Death proves once again the incredible appeal of Eve Dallas and the bestselling popularity of her creator. Whether writing as herself or as J. D. Robb, Nora Roberts continues to push the boundaries of suspense-and she takes delighted fans along for the ride.

Author Biography: Nora Roberts is the number-one New York Times-bestselling author of one hundred and sixty novels. There are more than 250 million copies of her books in print, and she has had more than one hundred New York Times bestsellers.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Set in the year 2059, this latest in Robb's long-running series (Naked in Death, etc.) featuring acerbic Lt. Eve Dallas of the New York police is the best in recent memory. In the past, Robb has kept whiz-bang futuristic effects to a minimum, allowing her world to grow organically out of dialogue and characterization; this time she incorporates science fiction elements-including the future of cosmetic surgery, cloning, scientific morality and physical mortality-into her plot, giving the series a big shot of adrenaline. Eve and her partner, Det. Delia Peabody, are visiting the Wilfred B. Icove Center for Reconstructive and Cosmetic Surgery on a celebrity murder case when the center's founder, old Wilfred Icove, is discovered with a scalpel rammed into his heart. Wilfred Jr., also a surgeon at the center, is grief stricken, as is his family and most of the rest of the country. Wilfred Sr., everyone agrees, was a saint. Except he wasn't, as Eve and savvy mystery readers will have already guessed. Eve gathers her usual crime-fighting crew around her, including her drop-dead gorgeous, fabulously wealthy, staggeringly brilliant husband, Roarke. Robb tones down the romance and ups the action ante as the team uncovers an increasingly horrific crime that builds to a race-against-the-clock climax that will have readers cheering. (July) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

A kindly cosmetic surgeon is killed with a single stab to the heart-and soon the son who inherits his practice is done in, too. Eve Dallas has to figure out what the good doctor might have been hiding. Another in Robb's futuristic " In Death" series, set in 2059 New York. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews