One woman dead. Two missing. Time is a factor if either of them will be found alive. Detective Eve Dallas is facing a very difficult case. As always, her attention is more than riveted to solving this latest murder. The fact that the woman's body was found at a playground near her dear friends Mavis and Leonardo's neighborhood presses Eve even more. There is one clue that is rather curious - a note that says "Bad Mommy."

What could that pertain to? Well, between Eve and her team, as well as resident Dr. Mira, Eve begins to unravel events that took place decades previously. Actually. as the book opens there is a very sad case of a mother who was prepared to give up on life and this including taking her young son with her. What happened in that case, to the woman, to the child, and what does that have to do with the current case?

I have read thousands of books in my lifetime and for the life of me I could not come close to finding a similar plot line. A plot that took some time to unfold for Eve. Her skills of deduction, along with occasional help from her billionaire hunk husband Roarke, proved invaluable when it came to desperately try to find the other two missing women.

This 54th book in J. D. Robb's amazing series was a one-sitting read from start to finish. Impossible to put down, especially when the feeling of working alongside Eve as she connected the past with the present events. The sense of urgency never once let up.

I have read each and every book in this series - including the novellas - and I must say that Robb never ceases to surprise me. To engage me. To keep my attention from beginning to end. It is with eager anticipation that I look forward to reading Desperation in Death, set for release in September, 2022.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.