Salvation In Death, JD Robb

First day of the year and I already have my first finish. :)

Salvation in Death by JD Robb. It is #27 in the In Death series. I have enjoyed each of these as they have appeared. I think that this is probably one of my favorites. I can't really go into why without giving away an essential part of the plot.

Synopsis

Ancient church rituals meet cutting- edge crime solving in the latest novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series that's "Law & Order: SVU-in the future" (Entertainment Weekly).

In the year 2060, sophisticated investigative tools can help catch a killer. But there are some questions even the most advanced technologies cannot answer.

Ridley Pearson has praised J. D. Robb's suspense as "taut" and "nerve-jangling." Her latest thriller sets a new standard for suspense, as the priest at a Catholic funeral mass brings the chalice to his lips-and falls over dead.

When Detective Lieutenant Eve Dallas confirms that the consecrated wine contained potassium cyanide, she's determined to solve the murder of Father Miguel Flores, despite her discomfort with her surroundings. It's not the bodegas and pawnshops of East Harlem that bother her, though the neighborhood is a long way from the stone mansion she shares with her billionaire husband, Roarke. It's all that holiness flying around at St. Christobal's that makes her uneasy.

A search of the victim's sparsely furnished room reveals little- except for a carefully hidden religious medal with a mysterious inscription, and a couple of underlined Bible passages. The autopsy reveals more: faint scars of knife wounds, a removed tattoo-and evidence of plastic surgery, suggesting that "Father Flores" may not have been the man his parishioners had thought. Now, as Eve pieces together clues that hint at gang connections and a deeply personal act of revenge, she believes she's making progress on the case. Until a second murder-in front of an even larger crowd ofworshippers-knocks the whole investigation sideways. And Eve is left to figure out who committed these unholy acts-and why.

Publishers Weekly

Holy communion spells death for Fr. Miguel Flores, a popular Catholic priest in New York City's Spanish Harlem, after he swallows wine laced with cyanide during a funeral in bestseller Robb's unusually introspective 27th crime thriller to feature Lt. Eve Dallas (after Strangers in Death). The ensuing homicide investigation suggests that Flores could actually be Lino Martinez, a former member of a disbanded gang, the Soldados, suspected of two bombings before he disappeared. The death by cyanide of another religious figure, Jimmy Jay Jenkins, founder of the Church of Eternal Light, complicates matters. Are the two murders connected? Sussing out the answer to that question involves some serious digging. Dallas's husband, Roarke, and fun sidekick, Det. Delia Peabody, lend support. Robb offers a multilayered solution to several crimes that serves as yet another reminder that wolves sometimes hide in sheep's (or priest's) clothing, but justice, like faith, has no expiration date. (Nov.)