In Reichs' latest (and uncharacteristically lethargic) Temperance Brennan novel, the forensic anthropologist discovers the bodies of several babies in a seedy Montreal apartment. The babies appear to have been born to the same woman, an Edmonton prostitute who's on an RCMP list of missing women (a list compiled as part of an investigation into a man who killed prostitutes). Brennan and Quebec cop Andrew Ryan fly out to Edmonton to try to track down the mother, and Brennan reunites with a local cop with whom she had a previous personal relationship. Although the writing equals Reichs' customary quality, the novel's pace is unusually slow; Brennan is normally juggling a couple of primary cases, with others intruding on her time, but here she's mostly focused on a single investigation, and the story tends to drag on, rather than zipping from scene to scene. It's not a bad book by any means and definitely should be recommended to fans of the series, but it's certainly not among the best of the Brennan novels. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Even subpar Reichs will generate demand from both the novel's novels' ? and TV spinoff's fans. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: delete??--Pitt, David Copyright 2010 Booklist

Three dead infants and the search for their mother (and prime murder suspect) sends forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan to the remote Canadian north in Reichs's solid 15th series installment (after 2011's Flash and Bones). A woman arrives at a Montreal hospital showing signs of postnatal bleeding, but her disappearance before doctors can examine her arouses suspicion; as a result, Brennan is called to investigate. At the woman's home, she discovers the hidden corpses of three infants, but the suspect-who gave her name as Amy Roberts but also goes by Alva Rodriguez and Annaliese Ruben-is long gone. Reminded of her baby brother Kevin's death from leukemia when she was a child, Brennan takes the case personally. Along with Detective Andrew Ryan and the cocky Mounties Sergeant Oliver "Ollie" Hasty, with whom she once had a brief fling, Brennan discovers that the woman, who has a history of prostitution, is headed to Yellowknife, a small outpost in the Northwest Territories. The trio heads to the tiny diamond mining town and find themselves in the middle of a drug war and a bitter battle over diamond rights, with the mysterious woman caught in the middle. Reichs always delivers a pulse-pounding story, and here she also sheds light on very real issues surrounding Canadian diamond mining. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

A grisly discovery at the home of a suspected baby-killer leads forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan and the Sret du Qubec on a wild chase to the depths of far-off Edmonton and environs. Complaining of vaginal bleeding, Amy Roberts gives every sign of having recently borne a child. So when she disappears from the Hpital Honor-Mercier, the law naturally goes after her. They don't find Amy, but they do find a slew of interchangeable false names and something much more horrible: three dead infants, one recently deceased, the others not so recently. The investigation would be ticklish even if it didn't bring Tempe together with her long-ago fling Sgt. Oliver Isaac Hasty, who's convinced against all the evidence that she wants to get back together, and Lt. Andrew Ryan, her much more recent and serious lover. The ill-matched trio follows the trail of Annaliese Ruben, if that's indeed her real name, to Edmonton, where a fellow prostitute reported her missing four months after she quit working the streets. There the case takes an abrupt turn from personal vice to grand-scale economic malfeasance with the news that Ruben's late father, Farley McLeod, had been involved in a quest for diamonds that pitted McLeod's unexpectedly numerous brood of survivors against environmental activists like Friends of the Tundra's Horace Tyne, with the DeBeers organization hovering barely offstage. Nor are the opportunities for forensic surprises at an end. Reichs (Flash and Bones, 2011, etc.) delivers solid, albeit grueling, post-mortem work, nonstop complications and enough action for a weekend at the bijou. Even if you can't keep track of all the suspects, you'll be deeply relieved when she brings down the curtain.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.