This is not a standalone series, you have to read the previous books to understand the context here. When this series started it had one of the best portrayals of aliens I had found in a long time. So it's with some sadness that I note there were no aliens at all in this book. The series has devolved into a satisfying space mystery, with all the heroes and villains being all too human and the initial exploration of the alien is gone. That is not to say I don't enjoy spending time with Miles and his assorted cronies. I like his budding relationship with his just found daughter; I like enemies from previous novels getting their comeuppance. It's just more ordinary, despite being set on the moon, than her earlier works.

It could be that she is finishing the series here, many dangling threads have been tightened, and Miles is going to radically change his career, and perhaps his adventures will end. If more books do come, I hope they have more alien culture explorations. ( )

This is the 7th book in the Retrieval Artist series.

In this book the fall-out of the the murder of Paloma (book 5 Paloma ) the mentor of the POV Miles Flint, continues. Miles was a police officer but could no longer turn basically innocent people over the the aliens for vengeance. He left to become a Retrieval Artist, those who find the Disappeared (those who go into hiding to escape the aliens) who are no longer in danger. Paloma, a close friend set him up in business and trained him.

Treaties with the aliens made by the human power structure to facilitate trade ($) mandate that if an alien law is broken, alien law applies. So people who walk in the wrong place and damage flowers or grass, in all innocence, may be given the death penalty, or have to turn over their children to the aliens. Rather than do so, they Disappear.

The series is about the human alien interactions that go wrong and involve the law. The stories are about crime, mystery, CSI like information from crime scenes, and the political machinations of those in power.

In this book one of the items that fell out of the murder was the fact that Miles' ex-wife had cloned their daughter Emmaline, before she died as a toddler. Miles' ex-wife was killed in the last book and Miles ended up with the cloned teenager. Talia. He of course doesn't care that she is a clone, though their society does. He made her his real daughter and took her back to the Moon to live with him.

A dependent is a dangerous thing for a Retrieval Artist to have. They are hunted by the police (to catch them breaking the law), trackers who are looking for the Disappeared for the aliens, and the aliens themselves who may send assassins to find the Disappeared. Talia is way to hurt and control Miles.

Before he knew about Talia, Miles set in motion a plan to bring the person he considered responsible for Paloma's murder to justice. He was giving information from secret files Paloma willed him, to a reporter who was doing an expose on the law firm owned by the man who killed Paloma, her own son. The book opens with the reporter's murder and Miles has to move fast to see if he or Talia is next on the list.

The book/series has great settings, interesting characters (aliens in the early books were a bit weak), and page-turning stories. The writing is smooth and flowing. It is one of the books I read as soon as I buy it. Now I can't wait for the next one. ( )