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Retirement Starship Mysteries #1
Hydroponic Hazard
A retirement starship. A dead captain.
Welcome to the Fresh Start, an interplanetary retirement cruise starship...
In the old days, some wise old people would tell you that every cloud has a silver lining.
The first thing Marcy realized the day she boarded the Fresh Start was that these people were simply full of crap.
The second thing she realized was that her list of problems could actually grow faster than kids starting to cry and fight, and wanting to go to the bathroom all at the same time in her classroom back on Earth, a fact which she had previously thought to be statistically impossible!
But nobody said retirement would be safe!
The third thing she discovered was that you can actually kill the captain of the starship and endanger tens of thousands of lives on your first day at your job at the Galactic Bites Cafe, a job which, by the way, she had no clue of.
Welcome to the Fresh Start—your safe(ish) interplanetary retirement cruise.
Safe… unless you count the occasional unscheduled space ejection.
Gravity works*
*Keep those special boots on. (And don’t ask too many questions.)
A state-of-the-art hydroponics bay for all your earthly plant needs. Wink Wink
A captain who cares, until of course, he’s dead.
An AI that runs everything… and insists this is fine.
So what could possibly go wrong?
When she discovers that the apple crumble dish she served is the sophisticated murder weapon and she is now accused of killing the captain, things start to get weird. Now she must use her finder and superpower of finding order chaos to find out who was responsible while battling senile retirees, and an ultra-organized annoyed boss, so organized that even his organizers have organizers.
HYDROPONIC HAZARD is a locked-room murder mystery in space—Book 1 of the Retirement Starship Mysteries.
The book is part of the Retirement Starship Mysteries, a light sci-fi whodunit for readers who enjoy starship secrets, amateur sleuths, strange technology, suspicious passengers, and dry humor in space.
Read now on Kindle or Kindle Unlimited.
Books in the series (each can be read independently):
Hydroponic Hazard
Biodome Blues
Cryogenic Clues
Dangerous Duality
Euler's Enigma
Each mystery can be enjoyed independently.
Welcome to the Fresh Start, an interplanetary retirement cruise starship...
In the old days, some wise old people would tell you that every cloud has a silver lining.
The first thing Marcy realized the day she boarded the Fresh Start was that these people were simply full of crap.
The second thing she realized was that her list of problems could actually grow faster than kids starting to cry and fight, and wanting to go to the bathroom all at the same time in her classroom back on Earth, a fact which she had previously thought to be statistically impossible!
But nobody said retirement would be safe!
The third thing she discovered was that you can actually kill the captain of the starship and endanger tens of thousands of lives on your first day at your job at the Galactic Bites Cafe, a job which, by the way, she had no clue of.
Welcome to the Fresh Start—your safe(ish) interplanetary retirement cruise.
Safe… unless you count the occasional unscheduled space ejection.
Gravity works*
*Keep those special boots on. (And don’t ask too many questions.)
A state-of-the-art hydroponics bay for all your earthly plant needs. Wink Wink
A captain who cares, until of course, he’s dead.
An AI that runs everything… and insists this is fine.
So what could possibly go wrong?
When she discovers that the apple crumble dish she served is the sophisticated murder weapon and she is now accused of killing the captain, things start to get weird. Now she must use her finder and superpower of finding order chaos to find out who was responsible while battling senile retirees, and an ultra-organized annoyed boss, so organized that even his organizers have organizers.
HYDROPONIC HAZARD is a locked-room murder mystery in space—Book 1 of the Retirement Starship Mysteries.
The book is part of the Retirement Starship Mysteries, a light sci-fi whodunit for readers who enjoy starship secrets, amateur sleuths, strange technology, suspicious passengers, and dry humor in space.
Read now on Kindle or Kindle Unlimited.
Books in the series (each can be read independently):
Hydroponic Hazard
Biodome Blues
Cryogenic Clues
Dangerous Duality
Euler's Enigma
Each mystery can be enjoyed independently.
268 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 15, 2026
About the author
Zeph Baxter
38 books6 followersZeph's background includes electrical engineering and computer science, with a Master's from Boston University and a PhD and postdoctoral experience from the University of Stirling, Scotland. He writes cozy mysteries, sci-fi, and LitRPG.
When he wrote his first novel, he was 98% sure he was about to become the next great voice in literature. He quit his job, embraced his destiny, and—yes—grew a long beard, because nothing says “serious writer” like facial hair that could double as a small woodland habitat.
Six months later, the beard was still thriving. The fame? Not so much.
But Zeph didn’t quit. Years later, he’s written several books and is still writing, and dreaming of becoming a full-time author.
For more weird adventures and stories that are a mix of genres, be sure to check out his books.
When he wrote his first novel, he was 98% sure he was about to become the next great voice in literature. He quit his job, embraced his destiny, and—yes—grew a long beard, because nothing says “serious writer” like facial hair that could double as a small woodland habitat.
Six months later, the beard was still thriving. The fame? Not so much.
But Zeph didn’t quit. Years later, he’s written several books and is still writing, and dreaming of becoming a full-time author.
For more weird adventures and stories that are a mix of genres, be sure to check out his books.
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