How To Solve A Murder Before Checkout

by Hadwin Fuller

Simon Lawson, the last man from Earth, has done the impossible—survived the apocalypse and turned his deep-space hotel, The Celestia, into a galactic empire. After earning a coveted one-star review from the dreaded critic Tiscu Pennor, business is booming. Now Simon’s expanding into the Coreworlds, opening a glittering new branch on the exclusive planet Orgoa II.

The grand opening promises to launch him into the highest circles of galactic hospitality—especially with the Chief Arbiter of the Galactic Council, the most powerful being in existence, attending in person. But when the Chief Arbiter is murdered during the ceremony, the festivities are replaced by chaos.

Galacticop Officer Targ—a by-the-book investigator Simon once humiliated—immediately locks down the hotel, trapping every guest and staff member inside until the killer is found. For Simon, it’s the ultimate no customers leaving, no new ones arriving, and his luxury launch grinding to a halt.

Determined to get his hotel back open, Simon takes matters into his own hands. With his sceptical new manager, Parn, at his side, he dives headfirst into the mystery, juggling panicking guests, a rampaging native beast, and a lineup of eccentric VIPs—including a secretive robocombat star and a diva pop idol hooked on Cornarian cactus oil.

Can Simon solve the murder before Officer Targ’s investigation destroys his reputation—and his business—or will the grand reopening of The Celestia become its last?

Kindle Edition

Expected publication January 31, 2026

About the author

Hadwin Fuller is the author of the space opera series Star Inferno. He writes sci-fi novels packed to the air seals with blaster brawls, space dogfights and misfit crews of loveable weirdos who are forced to band together to save the universe.

Like most sci-fi writers, Hadwin is the victim of a misspent youth (he blames his parents) in which his head was buried far too often in sci-fi novels and far too rarely in schoolbooks. It is from this vast expanse of wasted time that he channels his inner sci-fi writer.

Hadwin lives in Vietnam with his wife, newborn baby and robot vacuum cleaner. When he’s not pressing his eyeballs up against the display of his e-reader, Hadwin can be found blasting around town on his motorbike, loafing around in coffee shops and eating his way through every Vietnamese food they have a name for.

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