Conspiracy in Death by Nora Roberts (1999)

Nora Roberts, writing as J.D. Robb, once more turns her attentions from love to death in the eighth book of the Eve Dallas series. Loved by millions of readers for her rich characterization and her ability to weave true emotion into her storytelling, she adds aspects of science-fiction, mystery, and suspense to romance, and gets a surprisingly well-blended style of writing, unique even from her other works.

Lieutenant Eve Dallas, of the New York Police and Security Department, has faced serial killers before. Yet now, she must match wits against an entire conspiracy of murder. A conspiracy encircling the worldwide medical community, the government, and even her own police department. Killers who believe that they should have the power of life and death, not only over individuals, but also over the entirety of human society.

Not wanting any interference in their plans, this conspiracy engineers a plan to turn the hand of justice back on Lt. Dallas. In her efforts to bring the killers to justice, she is threatened with the loss of that which is most important to her. She is forced to re-evaluate the priorities in her life, and comes to grips with the possibility of having to go on without that which she considered most important.

This book has the same great quality of the other J.D. Robb books, and there's a lot of focus on, and change in, the relationship of Eve and Roarke. There are also a few surprises in store for Eve's partner, Officer Peabody, forcing her to re-evaluate a number of aspects of her own life. This book places a much greater focus on the plot and action of the book than on characterization, making for an interesting change of pace.