In 2036, the poisoning of a beloved actor at a swanky party celebrating his actress wife has Lt. Eve Dallas and Det. Delia Peabody scouting around for those who might not have considered him quite so beloved. Minutes after giving her champagne cocktail to Brant Fitzhugh to hold while she joins her co-star in an impromptu duet, Eliza Lane--who's headlining a revival of Upstage, the play that launched her career 25 years ago when Leah Rose's fatal overdose made her understudy an overnight sensation--is cradling her husband's body in her lap. Was he the intended victim, or was she--or was the murderer someone like actress Vera Harrow, whom Brant had dropped 10 years ago to marry Eliza and who wouldn't much have cared which of them she killed? Eve's suspicions alight first on Ethan Crommell, a fan who became such a dedicated stalker of Eliza that he was confined to an institution from which he's recently been paroled. He's followed by Vera, then by Eliza's bestie, thrice divorced Sylvie Bowen, who has ample reason to be jealous of her old friend. But Eve isn't satisfied that any of them fills the bill, and when she unearths a startling link between the long-deceased Leah Rose and one of the 200 party guests, she's ready to forget all those other false leads. Fans of detective fiction set in the present day, however, will find Robb's major plot twist so familiar that they're more than likely to beat Eve to the solution this time. An episodic, anticlimactic case notable mainly for the future Broadway glitz. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Early in bestseller Robb's entertaining 56th near-future novel featuring Lt. Eve Dallas, head of the New York City Police Security Department (after 2022's Desperation in Death), Eve and her crack homicide team are called to a crime scene: the Upper West Side penthouse of "golden god of stage and screen" Brant Fitzhugh and his Tony, Oscar, and Grammy winning wife, Eliza Lane. During a lavish party for around 200 of the couple's friends and colleagues earlier that evening, Brant collapsed after drinking a champagne cocktail intended for Eliza. Eve suspects cyanide poisoning. With a well-liked, much-admired movie star dead and his famous wife calling for action in finding his killer, Eve is under pressure from above to make a quick arrest. The suspect list grows long with ex-wives, theatrical rivals, and crazed groupies. Plenty of enticing details of life among the theater and movie set make up for a plot that will be familiar to any Agatha Christie reader. As ever, the main draw is Eve's relationship with Roarke, her swoon-worthy husband, who's not only handsome and mega wealthy but also sensitive and respectful of Eve's opinions and decisions. Series fans will be satisfied. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House. (Feb.)

Who was the intended victim? That is the first question facing NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas when she arrives at the palatial New York apartment of Eliza Lane and her husband, Brant Fitzhugh. While Brant is the one dead on the floor after sipping from a champagne cocktail laced with cyanide, the drink was originally intended for and on its way to Eliza. As Eve and her crew sort out the statements from the crowd invited to Eliza's party celebrating her return to Broadway, Eve must determine which of her suspects is playing the part of an innocent bystander, and who is really telling her the truth. With the fifty-sixth stellar entry in her long-running series, Robb (Desperation in Death, 2022) deftly delivers everything her fans crave, including a sleekly constructed plot that is laced with a dash of clever Christie-like clues and a glitz-and-glam setting complemented by a cast of supporting characters who would not be out of place in a revival of All About Eve.

As a celebrity couple, Eliza Lane and Brant Fitzhugh seem to have it all. They're still in love after 10 years of marriage. He's about to head to New Zealand for six months to star in a new production. She has a dream role on Broadway, where she hopes for a Tony Award in the show that launched her career 25 years earlier. It all crashes when Brant salutes his wife with a cyanide cocktail and dies in front of 200 party guests. Now Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her team investigate while coping with the media, who focus on every element of their case. Brant was well-loved, but Eliza has a harder side. If the cocktail was meant for her, there are more suspects. It's going to take digging into the couple's past, including stories from 10 and 25 years earlier, to find a surprise, but not surprising, villain. VERDICT The latest in the Eve Dallas series (after Desperation in Death) includes Roarke and other beloved characters and won't disappoint its myriad of fans. The celebrity culture of fanaticism and stalkers is handled beautifully in this solid, skillfully written procedural.--Lesa Holstine