by Wil McCarthy
First published 2023
Detective Raimy Vaught competes on a Mars colonization reality show, but she's losing badly. When a fellow contestant dies suddenly at a lunar monastery, Vaught finds herself investigating a murder in space. The monastery, run by Benedictine monks, trains people for life beyond Earth. Brother Michael wants to shepherd humanity's future among the stars. Asteroid miner Andrei Bykhovski fights to escape his contracts that keep him trapped in servitude. Hydroponic farmer Bridget Tobin studies greenhouse techniques on Luna. These four people discover that the death connects to forces more powerful than wealthy corporations or governments. Labor conflicts spread across the space between Earth and Moon. The choices made by ordinary individuals will decide which vision of humanity's future survives and which dies in the void.
Genres: science-fiction, mystery, space-opera, thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, found-family, ordinary-people
Setting: Mars, Moon, Earth, Lunar Monastery
Period: 21st-century
464 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Baen