THE CRADLE ROBBERS

Just what p.i. Juliet Applebaum needed to make her Mommy-Track Mystery series (Murder Plays House, 2004, etc.) complete: a pair of babies.

Sandra Lorgeree has not seen her son since the day he was born. In California, prisoners lose their parental rights if they can’t arrange custody of their children within six months. Sandra’s sentence for heroin possession runs 15 months, much too long for her to reclaim Noah. So she’s left him with the Lambs of the Lord, an agency that places children in temporary foster care until their parents can care for them. But there’s a problem: A foster family from the Lambs has simply made off with Noah, and Sandra is frantic to find out what’s become of him. The night Juliet agrees to help Sandra, Sandra is killed by an inmate. Now Juliet must track down Noah herself. With her four-month-old, Sadie, attached at the hip, Juliet investigates, leaving a trail of milk and diapers in her wake.

Juliet negotiates each dead end with her customary humor and grace. But beneath her dependably tart mommy-track wisecracks is her saddest case yet.