Forecast: Murder

Dark Side of the Moon Mysteries

by Terri Lynn Main

This sequel to Dark Side of the Moon finds Carolyn Masters and Michael Cheravik investigating some glitches in the weather controls in Armstrong City on the moon. Meanwhile, Carolyn is juggling her criminal investigations with her job as a history professor and a member of the provisional lunar council trying to come up with a constitution for the new Luna republic. The mystery deepens when the glitches in the weather controls leads to an investigation of sports bookmaking, big time wrestling, steroids for the brain and murder.

Stormy Weather continues the tradition of Dark Side of the Moon of placing a cozy mystery in a science fiction setting. Even people who claim not to enjoy sci-fi have praised Dark Side of the Moon. This story expands on that as our sleuths visit some of the lunar settlements we haven't seen before, like the "company town" of Aldrin on the other side of the tube tracks. While maintaining the cozy mystery elements of a small town setting, closed community and unofficial or semi-official detectives working the case, Stormy Weather adds a touch of the exotic in the setting of a lunar colony.

This book emphasizes the science in science fiction. Taking a "hard science fiction" approach to the genre, the author builds a future culture based on an extrapolation of technology already in the works. However, the story blends in elements of that which will not change. Most of us could find ourselves quite at home in Armstrong City, at least until you forget and jump up too quickly propelling yourself to the ceiling.

Is this a cozy mystery or science fiction? It is a bit of both. Mystery fans will find a complex murder mystery with plenty of twists and turns and red herrings. Science fiction fans will enjoy the dynamics of a future world set in a lunar colony very like our own world, yet totally different at the same time.

Fans of Michael and Carolyn now have another treat to enjoy.

180 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

I am a retired college professor. I live in California's Central Valley where it gets hot in summer. I hate summer. Currently, I'm writing full time. I don't think of myself as retired as much as the college is paying me to write my novels and Bible studies. I've been published in just about every venue. Fiction, nonfiction, radio drama, live drama, video documentaries, novels and book length nonfiction. I've been traditionally published in magazine and book format, and I'm currently engaged in Indie writing publishing my own stuff and loving it.

I live a fairly quiet life. I'm a life long single and live with my five cats. So, I'm keeping alive the cultural archetype of the Retired Old Maid School Teacher with Cats.

I write science fiction and cozy mysteries and have combined the two in my Dark Side of the Moon mystery series. I also teach writing and self-publishing in my online classes. Once a teacher....

Reviews

[Tabitha Ormiston-Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like its predecessor, Dark Side of the Moon, this is an entertaining and well-constructed detective mystery. I could not fault the construction of the plot and it was an intriguing and satisfying read from that point of view. If Main has a weakness it is dialogue - I thought the dialogue often stilted and unnatural, and despite the very different backgrounds of the two main characters it was often difficult to know who was speaking.

Where the book falls down, though, is in the quality control area. There is much poor grammar, including the appallingly cringe-making intransitive 'lay', and even spelling errors. I found this particularly irritating in the mouth of a character who often remarks about her own perfect grammar.

Main has a real talent, and I thought it a great pity this book did not receive the care and attention that it deserved.