A young detective probes a puzzling murder on board an intergalactic pleasure palace in this science fiction mystery by a five-time Hugo Award-winning author. Welcome to the Velvet Comet, whose business is its patrons' pleasure. Owned by the vast Vainmill Syndicate, the space station caters to the rich and famous, boasting casinos, upscale restaurants, a two-mile-long shopping mall, and a team of highly trained sex workers. It's a well-oiled machine, functioning twenty-four hours a day-until one of its guests is murdered. The Syndicate dispatches its chief detective, Andrew Jackson Crane, to solve the case-and prevent a publicity nightmare. But the ambitious detective must navigate a twisted path to bring the killer to justice. The Comet's madam, the Black Pearl, is under orders to aid Crane's work-but with more than five hundred self-centered patrons remaining on board, she has other worries. The Dragon Lady, the Comet's head of security, is torn between her loyalties and her judgment. And the Comet's computer, which should be most helpful in the investigation, is actually more interested in psychoanalyzing Crane. But what's even more troubling to Crane is that the killer hasn't left the station. Perhaps they all have more work to do . . . "As good as its predecessor and in some ways even better. Well plotted, good characterizations, and an exotic setting. As good a mystery novel as it is science fiction." -Science Fiction Chronicle The perfect choice for readers of Alan Dean Foster, Timothy Zahn, and Joe Haldeman.