BOOKS: Consequences, Kristine Kathryn Rusch (2004)

Third in the "Retrieval Artist" series.

The background to Rusch's series is a universe in which humanity is only one of many intelligent races. As part of being allowed to join the galactic community for trade and such, Earth has had to agree to one basic principle of justice: If you break the law on another planet, you're subject to its judicial system, no matter how draconian or barbaric it may be by the standards of your own culture.

This, of course, creates an underground network of Disappearance Artists, who are sort of the witness protection agents of the future; if you want to avoid punishment, a Disappearance Artist can -- for a sizable fee -- help you go into hiding with a new identity.

And where there are people trying to hide, there will be people trying to find them. Two types of people, in this case: Trackers, who are hired by various governments to track down fugitives from their justice; and Retrieval Artists, who are hired by families of the Disappeared to find them if it becomes safe for them to return.

Miles Flint, the main character in this series, is a Retrieval Artist, and as Consequences begins, he's been hired to find Carolyn Lahiri. Carolyn is unusual for a Disappeared, in that her crimes weren't against an alien society; she was wanted for her involvement in a civil war among the human settlers on the planet Etae. That war has ended, and the new government has pardoned all war criminals.

But shortly after her return, Carolyn and her parents are murdered, and Miles fears that if he doesn't solve the crime, he'll be the primary suspect. Heading up the investigation for the police is Noelle DeRicci, who was Miles' partner when he was still a cop.

It's not easy to write mystery novels against a science-fiction background; it's too easy for the writer to cheat by introducing some last-minute technobabble or previously unknown gizmo that allowed the crime to be committed in a way the reader could never have suspected. (Isaac Asimov's Baley & Olivaw mysteries are still, I think, the gold standard for SF mysteries; David Brin's Kiln People is also a solid piece of work.) Rusch never falls into that trap; her mysteries are fair, and any technology involved in either the crime or its solution is introduced early on, so there are no unfair surprises.

This is an entertaining novel, but I think it's the weakest of the series so far (its predecessors are The Disappeared and Extremes), mainly because it lacks the interesting alien presence that the earlier books had. A backdrop like this allows for some fascinating alien societies, and some difficult moral issues surrounding alien views of what justice means. To give up those opportunities for an all-human story, as Rusch does here, sacrifices most of the best possibilities inherent in the premise. But it's still a good series, and the fourth volume, Buried Deep, is already on my shelf.