Origin in Death (In Death Series #21)

by J. D. Robb, Nora Roberts

Overview

"New York Police Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her partner Peabody enter the hallowed walls of the Wilfred B. Icove Center for Reconstructive and Cosmetic Surgery on a case. A hugely popular vid star has been beaten to a bloody pulp - and has killed her attacker in the process. After a post-op interview, Dallas and Peabody confirm for themselves that it's a clear-cut case of self-defense, but before they can leave the building, another case falls into their hands." "Dr. Wilfred B. Icove himself has been 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 discs 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, his 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 doctor? With her husband, Roarke, working behind the scenes, Dallas follows her darkest instincts into the Icoves' pasts. And 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425204269
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/31/2006
Series:	In Death Series , #21
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	11,957
Product dimensions:	6.60(w) x 11.02(h) x 1.04(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Nora Roberts is the number-one New York Times-bestselling author of more than 150 novels, including High Noon, Angels Fall, Blue Smoke, and Northern Lights. She is also the author of the bestselling futuristic suspense series written under the pen name J. D. Robb. There are more than 280 million copies of her books in print.

Hometown:

Keedysville, Maryland

Date of Birth:

1950

Place of Birth:

Silver Spring, Maryland

Website:

http://www.noraroberts.com/

Editorial Reviews

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.

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.

Publishers Weekly

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.

Library Journal

Who killed the beloved old plastic surgeon, and why is Eve Dallas so skeptical of the good doctor's sterling reputation?In her 21st recorded case (Survivor in Death, 2005, etc.), NYC police lieutenant Dallas is called to the impressive Wilfred B. Icove Center for Reconstructive and Cosmetic Surgery. The year is 2059, and the Big Apple's glitterati still like to partake in the occasional nip and tuck. Dallas is there to investigate a brutal attack on famed beauty Lee-Lee Ten. In seclusion at the Center, Ten is tight-lipped about the assault, and Dallas sidekick Delia Peabody can't shake her. Since they're on the premises, the detectives decide to talk to the great man himself. They discover Icove dead in his plush chair, killed by a single, expertly delivered stab through the heart. Dallas quickly clears Icove's inconsolable son and partner, Wilfred Jr., as a suspect. While Peabody's research pinpoints the perp as a "Spanish woman" who visited the doctor by appointment, the lady subsequently vanished without a trace. Moreover, there appears to be no motive for the killing of squeaky-clean Icove, nicknamed Dr. Perfect for his charitable work and devotion to family. Dallas assumes the Icoves are too good to be true, a suspicion borne out when Junior suffers the same fate as Senior. An exclusive finishing school and a cloning secret lie at the heart of the mystery, which includes some nice curves and sci-fi touches for an extra level of fun. But the real appeal stems from Roberts's frothy prose and the chemistry she creates, both in the edgy banter between Dallas and Peabody and the charged relationship of Eve and husband Roarke, the perfect bed partner and sounding board as usual. Whileother series of this duration seem to be running out of gas, this one is just hitting its stride.

Kirkus Reviews