I had fun reading this quirky story. Science fiction fans
should beware that FLY ME TO THE MOON is a fantasy with
not much effort put into the science. Think of an episode
of Star Trek Next Generation and you're halfway there.
All the action occurs aboard a spaceship which is the
equivalent of a luxury liner, carrying wealthy tourists
from one major planetary moon to another, though we don't
meet anyone but crew. Sneaking aboard to work in the
wardrobe department is Sylvia Stryker. Her skin is a
fetching shade of lavender, since she's half Plunian, a
fact that recurs through the story. Sylvia just wants a job
to get her off-world, and she altered the company's
computer records to take the place of an injured crew
person; despite her claim to be a skilled hacker, we get no
demonstration of hacking.
What we do find is more mentions of the word uniform than
I've ever seen. This is author Diane Vallere playing to her
strengths which have led her to create a few series of cozy
crime stories around fashion and fabric. Sylvia folds and
refolds uniforms, stacks them, changes in and out of them,
notices different colors of them, and gets caught changing
more often than seems practical. Maybe the sole security
officer Neptune is stalking her? He certainly doesn't trust
her. When Sylvia discovers a dead officer bundled into a
uniform cupboard, she becomes a suspect -- with the closed
environment of the ship, the murderer must be aboard.
I was working so hard to accept just one security person on
a ship that's making a run known for dangers and pirates,
that I kind of took the little pink gremlin in my stride.
As I say, treat FLY ME TO THE MOON as a light read with
a mystery and you will enjoy it, so maybe this will help
some crime fans start reading science fiction and vice
versa. Author
Diane Vallere has kept colors and fabrics firmly in her
mind just as in her more usual Buyer Beware and
Mad For
Mod mysteries.
“It's as if Star Trek married a cozy...very well done! Read and enjoy!” – Sharyn, Goodreads
Set phasers to cozy!
Sylvia Stryker has no business being on the next Moon Unit Cruise Line, unless you count aspirations and dreams. The career that once felt within her reach—Intergalactic Cruise Ship Security—disappeared the day her dad was arrested for collusion with space pirates. Since then she’s begrudgingly been running the ice mine for her aging mother, the two of them social pariahs amongst their fellow Plunians. Everything changes when the uniform lieutenant position on Moon Unit 6 opens up days before departure. Sylvia immediately puts her hacking skills to use, uploading bogus credentials onto the crew manifest. Now to just lay low, do her job, and impress the new boss.
Her plan goes off without a hitch until a non-celestial body falls from the uniform inventory closet after departure. Reporting it means drawing attention, the very opposite of laying low. When the head of security shows up to investigate and throws her into the spaceship holding cell, her onboard status shifts from staff to prisoner. If Sylvia can’t expose the killer herself, she’ll be bunking with her dad at the local space prison.
Murder on a Moon Trek is the quirky first novel featuring uniform lieutenant Sylvia Stryker. If you like unique characters, delightful plots, and cool futuristic fashion, you'll love Diane Vallere's entertaining interstellar series.
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