Here’s an enjoyable science fiction murder mystery, THE RUNAWAY MARTIAN, set aboard the equivalent of a cruise liner. Taking off from a lunar crater, the luxurious spaceship will carry hundreds of people, including Thea Black, our guide and reluctant sleuth, to Mars.

For Thea, it’s a return trip as she grew up on Mars. She doesn’t intend to be there long, using it as a staging point for a new job on a colony on Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon. We learn that by this point, special mental abilities are appearing in some families. Thea’s an Askovian, a strain with some telekinesis. On her voyage from the moon to Mars, she’s first queried by the ISP (Interstellar Police) over her identity bracelet – well, she did change her name – and later, they need to question her because of the sudden death. You know, when someone using the facilities as normal was killed and dumped in the lift shaft on top of Thea’s lift. That one. She could not have killed the person herself, but some system anomalies make the police suspicious.

Thea is an excellent guide to the various entertainment, educational and dining facilities aboard, and with little else to occupy them, some ladies start to involve themselves in the murder mystery. They befriend Thea, but neither she nor they are a hundred percent sure everyone is innocent. Captain Ebert is helpful but needs to stop the killer, as does ISP Agent Walker.

So yes, I like the robot, the airlock, the various toxins – author Katherine Okia has clearly been thinking up as many ways to die aboard the spaceship as to enjoy the trip. Have fun, stay away from the problematic hardware, and join me in booking a ticket aboard Thea’s next flight. THE RUNAWAY MARTIAN is a standalone story, but I want to know what happens next.