Bone Deep

North seems an author in search of a series in this labyrinthine follow-up to her debut novel, the Edgar-nominated Criminal Seduction. Her new protagonist is plucky forensic anthropologist Iris Lanier, whose gender, expertise and detecting skills may make readers think of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta. Iris is busy at a Mayan dig in Guatemala when she is called to a Manhattan hospital where her father lies comatose from a gunshot wound. Because John Lanier had remained on their California ranch after her mother disappeared when Iris was eight, she can't fathom what he was doing on the East Coast-or why anyone would want to shoot him point blank in Riverside Park. NYPD detective Justine Kizmin's theory is that John was in the city seeking vengeance against his wife. Furious, Iris flies to California, where she learns details of her parents' tortured history, including a deep secret that lends Kizmin's theory credence. Back in New York, Iris gives Kizmin forensic help on the skeleton of a victim of ``the Locket Killer'' and discovers further secrets about her mother. Peripatetic Iris encounters further dangers in Guatemala, New York and Atlantic City, where a sordid clue leads to a conclusion that ties together plot strands-though one more surprise awaits the put-upon heroine. As before, North creates appealing, convincing characters, but the tangled excess of subplots and the implausibility of too much of what happens here may leave readers wishing that, next time out, North would go bare bones rather than bone deep. 50,000 first printing; major ad/promo; Literary Guild selection; author tour. (Sept.)