It's not skeletons in the closet that forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan must examine, but ones found in the basement of an old pizza parlor. She thinks they're the remains of three young girls.
But the investigating detective disagrees, so Tempe decides to look into the building and its history on her own. After someone vandalizes her apartment, Tempe realizes she's hit a nerve. On the personal front, meanwhile, she's frustrated by the limbo state of her relationship with detective Andrew Ryan. Something is going on with him, but he's not sharing.
A complex plot and nail-biting suspense are hallmarks of Reichs' books. Her attention to forensic detail is, as always, riveting, but it's her exploration of the nature of human evil that is most striking here. (Jun., 320 pp., $25.00)
Jill M. Smith