Book Details:
Murder on Moon Trek 1
Sylvia Stryker Outer Space Mystery, Book 1
Diane Vallere
Print Length: 216 pages
Publisher: Polyester Press
Publication Date: December 17, 2017
ASIN: B075XC9D8M
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About the Book:
When space academy dropout Sylvia Stryker hacks her way into the position of Uniform Inventory Manager aboard the Moon Unit 5, she jumps at the chance to leave her small planet behind. But when the ship's second navigation officer is found dead in the uniform closet shortly after departing the space station, Sylvia's problems become bigger than falsified test results. And when her supervisor places her on probation for her own uniform infraction, she's at risk of being dropped off at the nearest substation. Juggling red shirts, white lies, and an army of little green men, Sylvia has to expose a killer before the Moon Unit 5 becomes space dust.
Murder on Moon Trek 1 is a fun book in Diane Vallere's new Sylvia Stryker Mystery series.
Sylvia Stryker is half-Plunian/half-Earthing and a stowaway on Moon Unit 5. Well, not so much a stowaway as she is there illegally after hacking the system and setting herself up as uniform inventory manager after the current manager broke her leg. She's always wanted to be part of the space program and as a space academy dropout, under less than stellar reasons, this was her best chance to leave her small planet and family-owned/run dry ice mining business. Only, things are off to a rocky start when she trips over the dead body of the second navigation officer in her uniform closet. Then, things get worse when she's detained by Neptune, who then decides to use her to help with the investigation into the murder.
Sylvia and Neptune of fantastically created characters with a love-hate type of relationship. Sylvia is determined not to get kicked off of the ship so she agrees to help Neptune figure out what a second navigation officer was doing dead in her closet. Neptune is a low-key kinda guy who doesn't do a lot of small talk. Therefore, the discussions that go on the book are not filled with useless chatter. There is a nice amount of character development regarding Sylvia. The reader finds out a lot about her past, what brought her to Moon Unit 5, her family on her home planet, and more. Neptune is more of an anomaly, which is okay because it suits his character.
Murder on Moon Trek 1 was engaging from the start. The story pulled me in and kept me entertained. The interactions between Sylvia and Neptune cracked me up at times. Neptune was also kind of infuriating but that's another thing that made this book great. The characters weren't cookie cutter characters. They were unique and different, as was the entire story.
I enjoyed this new side to Diane Vallere's writing. Her trip into sci fi was well-written, perfectly paced, and full of fun (even though there was a murder). Sylvia's penchant for fashion was not lost on me, as that is Diane Vallere's specialty. I look forward to the next book.
My Rating:
