A glamorous party at Roarke Palace hotel is interrupted by a naked man covered in blood, wielding a knife and claiming he might've killed someone. Tracing his bloody footprints, Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her husband, the hotel's owner, find suite 606 filled with signs of ritualistic debauchery—complete with a dead body lying on a pentagram...


Too short to develop any real "meat" with a case that was rather easily solved, a cameo from one of the past cases, mentions of Satanism, a first suspect with an idiotic reasoning, and a marital quarrel between Eve and Roarke thrown into the mix for variety, I suppose.

Definitely nothing to write home about, but not bad to spend an hour with.

Eve Dallas and her multi-gazillionaire husband are at a swanky party with one of his society friends in one of his many New York hotels. Suddenly a naked man staggers in, clearly disorientated, covered in blood and clutching a knife. Eve traces the bloody footprints to another hotel suite, where they find a young woman clearly murdered in what appears to be intended as a Satanic ritual of some sort. The suite shows clear signs that quite the raucous party with food, drugs, wine and sex took place before the festivities were finished off with a spot of sexual assault and murder. The blood-covered man remembers absolutely nothing and has clearly been heavily drugged. As the crime scene is one of Roarke's properties and the security has been compromised, he is just as invested in having the crime solved quickly and the murderers apprehended as his wife.

There are hints of supernatural elements in this novella, as Roarke, initially going against the wishes of his wife, calls on a former flame, a woman who practises witchcraft in order to figure out who is responsible for the grisly murder. As this is a novella, the plot moves a lot more quickly than in the novels, and there is less of a presence from the supporting cast, with the notable exception of Dr. Mira, who helps Eve try to get through to the various individuals who may be able to shed light on the situation, but who have all been drugged into oblivion.

Ritual in Death - J. D. Robb

The story was fast, but I liked the different ritual and of course Eve discovered super fast the responsibles and managed to get a confession. It's usually fun to see Eve all bored with parties and following Roarke because she needs too. Loved this novella.