J.D. Robb may be better known to readers as Nora Roberts, the author of many many romance novels. There are also some 20 books in the Eve Dallas series of mysteries. I’m not sure just why Lieutenant Dallas’ tales are set in the 2050s, but they are. In this novella, which can be had as a single volume, in a collection with two other short pieces, or in audio as CD of MP3, Dallas is tasked to give a seminar on police procedures, Much to her annoyance this has to take place at the Olympus Resort, one of a number of offworld hotels owned by her husband, a former (maybe) mobster named Roarke.
Things get out of hand when there is a murder at the opening reception, and it rapidly becomes obvious that one of the other presenters, a legendary police commander, has his sights set on Roarke as the perp.
I’d have to say that there really isn’t much of anything that would require this book to be set in the future. The setting does feel a bit like window dressing, but it was entertaining for all that.