J.D. Robb - Visions in Death

Book 22 in the In Death series, published August 2004.



The summer of 2059 has been long, hot – and bloody. On one of the city’s warmest nights, a call from dispatch sends Lieutenant Eve Dallas in Central Park – and into a hellish new investigation. The victim was found on the rocks, just above the still, dark water of Central Park Lake. She wore nothing but a red ribbon tied around her neck. Her hands were posed as if in prayer. But it is her eyes – removed with such precision, as if by the careful hand of a surgeon – that have Dallas most alarmed.
As more bodies turn up, each with the same defining scars, Eve is frantic for answers. Against her instincts, she accepts help from a psychic, who offers one vision after another – each with shockingly accurate details of the murders. And when Eve’s partner and friend Peabody is badly injured after escaping an attack, the stakes are raised. Are the eyes a symbol? A twisted religious ritual? A souvenir? With the help of her husband Roarke, Dallas must uncover the killer’s motivation before another victim becomes another nightmare.


The first murder is vicious, and while Eve still is pursuing angles, the next one is laid at her feet. The body count raises quickly, and Eve believes there have to be more bodies, he had to practice first to make it so fast en perfect. She knows she is looking for a really big and strong guy, and hits the gyms and speciality clothes shops. But the real clue is crafts. All the victims visited craft shops. That is where the murder weapon is from. Only it is a really big clue, and will take lots of man hours to make the connections. And why can’t the psychic see his face? Everything else she tells them, they also find out through old-fashioned police work. So what good is she to the investigation after all?

I kept reading well into the night to finish this book, which says enough about it I guess. It was really good, the mystery part, but also the private parts. The fun things, like the dinner at Louise and Charles’ with Peabody and McNab (she finally told McNab she never had sex with Charles) and Eve and Roarke. Eve finally visited Dochas (the shelter Roarke had build), which was extremely difficult for her, and she told Peabody about her youth. Another bonding moment. Dr. Mira plays an important part in this book as well.


9 stars.