The Starliner Murders, by Kari Charsper, is a new space mystery novel.  Avei Themis, the protagonist, is an inspector for Mernin Security Forces, and along with her AI companion, she’s made a career out of hunting the galaxy’s most dangerous serial killers. Unfortunately, an unscrupulous novelist has also made a career out of writing sensationalized, over-the-top versions of Avei’s cases.

After a horrific last mission, Avei’s given in her notice. I mean, horrific by the standards of a professional serial-killer catcher.  It’s not gory, but there was a high body count, including 2 of Avei’s dear friends. Avei has just a few days of desk duty left before her retirement paperwork comes through and she can start a new life, hopefully a serial-killer-free life, where she can recover and heal, and maybe focus on her family interest in arachnids.

Avei’s retirement is delayed when a suspicious death occurs on the luxury starliner Delphi. With wealthy guests from across the galaxy expecting the best service on their travels, this investigation needs to happen carefully, without upsetting or inconveniencing any of the passengers or accusing the wrong person, and the investigation must find out the truth, quickly. There’s a locked-room mystery aspect of a murder on the luxe starliner that I really enjoyed, and this added stakes to the story which helped to keep the world of wealthy alien vacationers from feeling campy.

The Starliner Murders shines with a galaxy filled with aliens, hybrids, cults, and opulent space travel. I always like a pulpy, escapist world, full of weird creatures and space adventures.  It’s mostly a fun and fascinating galaxy, but there are moments where the pacing slows as the novel needs to explain the background. We readers don’t know what it means when a character has left the Bhindoir commune or why a character with a quarter Thumal DNA is unusual, for example, and this can slow down the action while we discover more about the world.

Avei is a well-developed character, which helps keep the story dramatic and not too campy. Her complicated relationships with others — including her parents, her supervisor, her crush, and her AI partner — help this feel like a full person living in a real society.

The luxury spaceliner setting leads to wild motives and wild creatures, and Avei’s personal story helps ground this story. The result is a fun locked-room murder mystery in space. Without revealing the ending (or too much of the investigation, since you’ll want to discover it with Avei), I can say there’s a satisfying reveal that works well for the established scifi world.

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