Ah yes, Immortal in Death, the third of the “In Death” series by J.D. Robb, in which yet another critical side character gets her turn to shine in the spotlight as Eve’s investigations must involve her. This time around it’s Mavis Freestone getting the plot love, when she winds up being the prime suspect in the murder of a top supermodel. Turns out her current boyfriend was going to work with said model, and there were heavy rumors of romantic entanglement–until Mavis came along!

The plot’s complicated by the rumblings about a new wonder drug that’s said to dramatically slow the effects of aging, a veritable fountain of youth. Not terribly surprisingly, the investigation into the murder and the investigation into the drug eventually dovetail, like they do in an “In Death” book. But Mavis brings an undeniable effervescence to the story, enough that you almost regret that she and Eve are already established friends as of Book 1. It would have been fun to actually see their meeting on camera.

I like as well that this is one of the “In Death” books that reminds you that this is a setting far enough in the future that space travel is in fact commonplace. The drug around which much of the plot hinges has offworld ties, and even though that’s a fairly offhand worldbuilding detail, it’s still nice to see for a skiffy fan like me.

All in all, a fun early episode in the series. Four stars.